Art Jakarta Rounds Up its 11th Edition on a High!

Art Jakarta, Indonesia’s biggest art fair, closes its 11th edition with strong sales and high visitor numbers. This year, the Fair drew 39,066 visitors over three days from 30 August to 1 September 2019. Visitors included international and local collectors, art enthusiasts and art world professionals from all over the region. Among the prominent Indonesian collectors present were Deddy Kusuma, Budi Tek, Alexander Tedja, Prasodjo Winarko as well as Belgian collector Alain Servais and Taiwanese collector Rudy Tseng. Gridthiya Gaweewong, Artistic Director of the Jim Thompson Art Centre, June Yap, Curatorial Director of the Singapore Art Museum, Mami Kataoka, Chief Curator of the Mori Museum and Pauline J. Yao, Lead Curator of M+ were among the art professionals in attendance. 

The Fair saw a number of new buyers acquiring art pieces for the first time as well as renewed interest and purchases from buyers who had been inactive for some time. New international collectors were also spotted at the fair, thus expanding Art Jakarta’s collector base. 

Palpable at Art Jakarta 2019 was the Indonesian spirit of ‘gotong-royong’ (collaboration and co-operation), which defined the Fair’s 11th edition from the moment the doors opened. Collaborations with people, organizations and institutions from various parts of the art scene in Indonesia and the region brought the art communities together at Art Jakarta and gave the Fair its distinct identity. 

“The strength of the Indonesian art scene has always been its ‘gotong-royong’ or community spirit. This has lent Art Jakarta its very special Indonesian identity which translates into a very unique fair experience for our visitors, exhibitors and partners. It is only by working together that we can strengthen the art scenes in both Indonesia and Southeast Asia which will benefit the community as a whole,” says Tom Tandio, Fair Director, Art Jakarta. “We are very humbled by the positive response that we received as it is a measure of the confidence that Indonesia’s and the region’s art community has placed in Art Jakarta and the changes that we have implemented for this 11th edition of the Fair.” 

For many galleries, brisk sales started on the first day which continued all the way through to closing time on Sunday night. Galleries such as Gajah Gallery, Roh Projects, TKG+, Mizuma Gallery, and Arario Gallery reported strong sales and several have already made a firm commitment to return to Art Jakarta in 2020. 

Art Jakarta 2019 featured 70 Indonesian and international galleries. The Fair was on from 30 August to 1 September 2019 at Jakarta Convention Center Senayan. 

For more information on Art Jakarta, click here.