In TIM, Berlin and Jakarta Meet in Brushstrokes on Canvas
The painting exhibition Art for Peace and a Better Future: Collaboration at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM), Jakarta, 18–30 August 2026, displays 150 collaborative paintings from 27 artists across generations, including works by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), Indonesia’s sixth president. The exhibition also features works by Christopher Lehmpfuhl, known for his plein air painting style.
This was revealed during an Artist Talk session featuring Lehmpfuhl and three artists from the SBY Art Community (SAC) on Wednesday (19/8) in Jakarta.
Chairman of the SBY Art Community (SAC) 2026 Exhibition, Akbar Linggaprana, said Lehmpfuhl’s presence strengthens the cross-cultural element of the exhibition. The collaboration is also part of the sister city cooperation between Jakarta and Berlin, as stated by DKI Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung at the exhibition opening on Tuesday (18/8).
Pramono said the sister city relationship between Jakarta and Berlin has been ongoing for 31 years since it began in 1994. The cooperation focuses on smart city development, green digital innovation, sustainable transport, and culture to support Jakarta’s vision of becoming a global city.
Lehmpfuhl said Jakarta posed a major challenge because he had never seen a city this large, with its vast urban landscape, full of colour, and the sea visible from above. The city’s spaces are large and colourful, and even contain elements of the sea. One of his works that attracted attention in this exhibition depicts the National Monument (Monas), painted directly with his fingers.
In his home country, Lehmpfuhl is known for his outdoor painting technique using his fingers, with textured paint strokes; he has even painted using his body. “When painting outdoors, an artist must be ready to answer questions from passers-by, but I am also happy because a homeless person thanked me for capturing the area where he lives on canvas.”
The Art for Peace and a Better Future: Collaboration exhibition also features an iconic super-sized painting, 280 x 700 cm, in the Emiria Soenassa Gallery. The collective artwork was painted by Indonesia’s 6th President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) together with 20 artists from SAC. The painting depicts various animals at the top of the ecosystem, such as lions, tigers, wolves, and birds of prey, facing their potential prey, as a metaphor for power relations between the strong and the weak.
A super-sized painting (280 x 700 cm) stretches along one side of the Emiria Soenassa Gallery at TIM, a collective artwork painted by SBY together with 20 artists from the SBY Art Community.
The art exhibition also retraces the historical narrative of the Java War, which took place from 1825 to 1830, an important era that became a turning point in Indonesia’s history.