CP Open Biennale commences new art initiative

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

The CP Foundation through its chairperson Tjianan Djie and curator Jim Supangkat announced on Jan. 15 its upcoming CP Open Biennale in a press conference and discussion with Jakarta artists at the National Gallery here. The team, including co- curators Rizky A. Zaelani and Asmudjo J. Irianto, proceeded to Yogyakarta, Surabaya, Bali and Bandung to inform the art community and the general public about the event.

CP Foundation's initiative to provide as much information as possible on their undertaking may be welcomed as a new way of entertaining a dialog and consultation with a wide range of art practitioners and the public, particularly as the idea of CP Open Biennale is new both in the Indonesian as well as in the international experience.

As the team of curators for this event explained, CP Open Biennale is aimed at redefining the understanding of world art through exploring and highlighting other or sub-forms of visual arts. A combination of biennale in its usual understanding and an art competition, also in its usual understanding, CP Open Biennale is starting a new tradition of participation which now starts by registration, and not by invitation. A major consideration for selection will be the submitted work's compliance with the theme of the Biennale.

It goes without saying the news came as a flash of lightning, waking up everyone who has been slumbering or passing the days in some sort of inertia. After the boom of goreng-menggoreng, and the virtual demise of inspiring protest art, many artists have been in a kind of limbo.

The idea for the Open Biennale of course did not come out of the blue, but has been gestating ever since Jim Supangkat started pondering the dominating hegemony in the world of art. It has been a process with many actions and reactions, tested through many efforts, and has now reached a point where the idea has taken shape and the timing seems to be right.

Today a change is tangible all over the world, art appreciation is shifting, new realities emerging, and the question is now who will be determining the direction of art in the global context. Will a limited group dominate the art direction and others just go with the flow and take things for granted, only to continue moaning that they have been marginalized, or rather make a meaningful effort to join in widening the scope?

It goes without saying that the team of curators who went on a road show to inform the art public in several cities have met with suspicion, a lot of questions and critical comments from both artists and art critics. Suspicion is a vivid remainder of past times, and it will take time to restore belief in honesty and integrity. To its credit the team has responded with openness, frankness, and apparent honesty, reintroducing a way of unpretentious interacting. It is hoped that comments made and inputs given may be valid in many ways, given the fact that organizing this Open Biennale is a first experience.

Whether this innovative Open Biennale, scheduled to be held every two years in Indonesia, will make a substantial impact may take some time to determine. Yet the idea alone is an encouraging sign and comes as a fresh revitalizing wind, sweeping artists into a new habit of in-depth thinking, soul-searching, seeking more information, and grouping into lively discussions.

Taking the format of a huge exhibition, CP Biennale will be held from Sept. 4 until Oct. 4, 2003 at the National Gallery in Jakarta. Participants shall be living artists and art practitioners willing to question in their work whatever values have been taken for granted, be it in the personal, public or other spheres. The theme Interpellation should be understood in this context. Participants will also include a selected number of international artists. There is no age limit.

Works are invited in the form of paintings, sculptures, drawings and graphics, installations, multimedia, photography and three-dimensional works executed in material including ceramics, metal, wood, glass, etc.

Entry forms are available at CP Foundation, Jl. Haji Agus Salim 65, 5th Floor Jakarta, or www.cp-foundation.org. Entry forms should be received by March 24, 2003. For further information call 62-21 315 9222 ext. 135 or fax 62-21 391 9009, or biennale@cp-foundation.org