A talk from ruangrupa, a group of artists in Jakarta
ruangrupa was founded in Jakarta in 2000 by a group of artists. The founders felt that there was a great necessity for “space” (physically and mentally) in Jakarta, where artists could work intensively and could direct their attention more to means of analysis and less to means of production. A space that conveyed the ideas of visual art – which are important to analyse, mediate, and furnish – like public art, performance art, and video art. The founders felt that this was the only way in which visual art could possess a critical sensibility, which is the most important position of art in society.
As a non-profit organisation, ruangrupa consistently advances artistic ideas in both an urban context and within culture at large through exhibitions, festivals, art laboratories, workshops, research, and by publishing books, magazines and online journals.
From its early beginnings, when they rented different houses in residential areas of Jakarta, up to the collective of collectives ruangrupa’s curation for SONSBEEK ’16: transACTION, and their Artistic Direction for documenta fifteen (2022), the Jakarta-based artists collective ruangrupa will share their vital use of space to build ekosistems in different contexts— from geographical up to institutional.
