The symposium was held in English.
THE PRODUCTION AND CIRCULATION oF TNDONESTAN MODERN ART (1935-50)
ORGANIZED BY THE RIJKSMUSEUM AND THE STEDELIJK MUSEUM AMSTERDAM
21 JUN 2018
TEIJIN AUDITORIUM – STEDELIJK MUSEUM AMSTERDAM
ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM This symposium marks the starting point of a collaborative research and exhibition project on art and culture in lndonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution developed by the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and various individual and institutional partners in lndonesia. The program is conceived in conjunction with the exhibition The Djaya Brothers: Revolusi in the Stedelíjk Museum Amsterdam (9 June 2 September 2018).
CONTEXT The idea of modern lndonesian art was the subject of debate amongst artists, writers, and politicians from about the 1935s onwards. ln lndonesia, ideas about modern art emerged together with anticolonial and independence struggles, as well as with the questioning of commonplaces like ‘East’ and ‘West’. These discussions took place at the various sites of production and circulation of the concept of ‘the modern’ between 1935 and 1950, such as artist studios, printed media, and exhibition venues.
The symposium will particularly focus on the years of the lndonesian National
Revolution (1945-49). During this decolqrization period artists took on the significant role of visualizing the revolutionary spirit of the time. ln the years leading up to the revolution, the development of modern lndonesian art was characterized by a desire to break with the aesthetics of the Dutch colonizers. During the Japanese occupation (1942-45), this development was accelerated because the Japanese government provided artists with material and financial support. ln the years before the Japanese occupation, however, the ‘national spirit’ had already inspired the art practices of the members of PERSAGI (1938-1 942) as well as the debates about ‘the modern’ led by lndonesian intellectuals in Polemik Kebudajaan, a journal first published in 1935.
Questions the symposium sets out to address include, but are not limited to: Why and by whom were these sites of idea circulation organized? And for what reasons? Who were the people that introduced the concept of modern lndonesian art and culture? What were the artists’ positions regarding the definition of lndonesian modern art? How were ideas about’modern art’ and ‘the lndonesian’ visualized and verbalized?
PROGRAM
Welcome
Bart van der Heide, Chief Curator & Research, Stedelijk Museum
Morning Session
- ‘Revolusi. lndonesia and the Netherlands 1945-1950. Outline for an exhibition’
Martine Gosselink, Head History Deparment, Rijksmuseum - ‘The Djaya Brothers under the Japanese, 1942-1945’
Antariksa, Independent historian, Kunci Cultural Studies Center, Yogyakarta
- ‘lndonesian Ari during the Revolutionary War (1945-1949)’
Amir Sidharta, Art Historian, Museum Universitas Pelita Harapan, Lippo Village, Tangeran, RI
- ‘The Djaya Brothers in Amsterdam’
Kerstin Winking, Curator exhibition The Djaya Brothers: Revolusi in the stedelijk
‘Questions/discussions’
Moderator: Martine Gosselink
Exibition visit
Otto Djaya
Left: Wayang Kulit Show, 1949 / Watercolour on paper
Right: Kali with crocodile and other figures, 1949 / Watercolour on paper
Afternoon Session
- ‘President Sukarno as collector and patron of modern lndonesian art’
Mikke Susanto, lecturerat the lndonesian lnstitute of Art, Yogyakarta and curatorial consultant of Republic of lndonesia Presidential Palace
- ‘Art and propaganda during the lndonesian Revolution’
Bonnie Triyana, independent historian, Chief Editor Historia
- ‘Rogues and Heroes in a colonial art carousel’
Harm Stevens, curator History Department, Rijksmuseum
- ‘Between Nation and World, East and Agoes Djaya and Mochtar Apin and the cultural coordinates of modern lndonesian art’
Remco Raben, Professor Colonial and Postcolonial History ofCulture and Literature, Utrecht University
‘Questions/discussions’
Moderator: Kerstin Winking
End of Symposium
Indisch Museum 
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