VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The work of artists from Indonesia is once again an attractive display at the world's oldest and largest fine arts exhibition, the 58th Venice Art Biennale (VAB), in Venice, Italy.

The Indonesian Pavilion located in the Arsenale area displays installation artwork by an artistic team consisting of artists Syagini Ratna Wulan and Handiwirman Saputra, with curator Asmudjo Jono Irianto and co-curator Yacobus Ari Respati.

The theme raised this time is "Lost Verses: reason does not come once, negotiation does not come once", comes from the Minang proverb which can be interpreted as the inclusion of a thing into one's thoughts and feelings through a long negotiation process.

This 500 m2 pavilion is a former seaside warehouse formerly filled with a series of installations consisting of five components of work, namely: Negotiating Tables, Cribs, Cabinet Arrangements, Smoking Rooms and Narrative Machines. Here, art connoisseurs have the opportunity to have their own interpretations of the work displayed.

Head of the Creative Economy Agency (BEKRAF), Triawan Munaf officially opened the Indonesian Pavilion on May 8, 2019. The event was attended by a number of invitations consisting of activists and art lovers from various countries. The opening ceremony was also marked by cutting cone and serving Indonesian coffee.

In his remarks, the Head of BEKRAF said that in the exhibition the times reflected the uniqueness of Indonesia in Bhinneka Tunggal Ika. "The Indonesian Pavilion no longer displays the work of a single artist, but is an accumulation of visions from several artists who joined one team, carried out the process of negotiating ideas in the midst of diversity," said the Head of BEKRAF.

Syagini Ratna Wulan expressed her joy after the Indonesian Pavilion was officially opened. "Preparing the Indonesian Pavilion was very tiring in a relatively narrow time. But today is very fun, because the main character of Indonesia, which is hospitality, is felt by all attendees, "he said.

One visitor, Paula from Austria who is an art activist commented, "The Indonesian Pavilion is truly amazing, with a very original and Indonesian-style idea."

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Representative of the Indonesian Embassy in Rome, J.S. George Lantu in response to the visitors' questions about the meaning of this exhibition for the relations between Indonesia and Italy conveyed, "This exhibition has special meaning along with the Commemoration of 70 Years of Diplomatic Relations between Indonesia and Italy in 2019, which take the main theme of increasing creative economic cooperation and SMEs between the two countries ".

The Indonesian Pavilion at VAB 2019 is managed by BEKRAF together with the Design + Art Indonesia Foundation, and is open to the public from 11 May 2019 to 24 November 2019.

The Venice Art Biennale is the world's leading art exhibition, starting in 1895, and becoming a barometer of high-value works of art. VAB 2019 was attended by 90 countries, taking the big theme: "May You Live in Interesting Time" with curator Ralph Rugoff. (kemenlu)