A New, Refreshed Art Jakarta

SINGAPORE ART COLLECTORS would be familiar with Tom Tandio. He was the warm, well-liked regional director of Art Stage Singapore, before he quit the fair in Jan 2018 and reemerged 10 months later as fair director of Art Jakarta (AJ), the biggest in Indonesia.

Now for his first edition of AJ which opens on Aug 30, Mr Tandio has made some dramatic changes to the 11-year-old fair. He has moved it from Ritz Carlton Jakarta to Jakarta Convention Center where its much larger space of 9,000 square metres allows for bigger booths and more public art works.

The smallest booth now is around 25 square metres, double the size of the previous fair's smallest booths, while the aisles are now 4 metres wide compared to the previous 2.5 metres. Jakarta Convention Center also has ceiling heights of 9 metres, allowing the fair to be more ambitious in bringing large-scale works.

Mr Tandio, 38, says: "The location change is just one aspect of it. We've changed the design and logo. We brought in the graphic designer Henricus Linggawidjaja (of Artnivora) and photographer Indra Leonardi (of The Leonardi) as the fair's Design Director and Director of Photography respectively. Architects and Designers Dua Studio have been commissioned to create fresh designs and concepts for the fair. And the fair's artistic director is Enin Supriyanto."

They, Mr Tandio says with a hint of pride, "are some of the best creatives in the country."

Looking at the numbers, galleries are responding positively to these changes. Last year's fair had 52 galleries; this year's fair boasts 70 galleries, of which 29 are Indonesian and 41 non-Indonesian. Some of the top galleries making their debut at AJ include Tang Contemporary Art (Beijing, Hong Kong, Bangkok), Project Fulfill Art Space (Taipei) and Tomio Koyama Gallery (Tokyo). Meanwhile, strong returning galleries include Gajah Gallery (Singapore), ShugoArts (Tokyo), Wei-Ling Gallery (Kuala Lumpur), TKG+ (Taipei) and ROH Projects (Jakarta).

Mr Tandio says despite the current bumps in the global art market, sentiment is generally positive in Jakarta: "Indonesia still has a fairly young median population age of around 30, and a growing minority has started to take an interest in art. Whereas in the past, young Indonesians would leave the country to study engineering and computer science, more are returning now with degrees in food science, philosophy, tourism and art history. All this is generating a stronger interest in art and culture, prompting a greater interest in art buying."

Apart from higher gallery numbers, the event has also generated key satellite events around the city. Phillips the auction house, for instance, is set to make its debut at the fair. Items to be auctioned off include art by top names such as Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, KAWS and Takashi Murakami, as well as luxury watches and jewelry.

The 11th annual Art Jakarta runs from Aug 30 to Sep 1 at the Jakarta Convention Center in Senayan, Central Jakarta. For more information, visit artjakarta.com