by Yin Shao Loong

In conjunction with last weekend’s Art for Grabs fair at the Central Market Annexe political scientist and historian Farish Noor delivered another of his occasional lectures on Southeast Asian history. This time on ‘Batik as a Trans-Cultural Signifier.’

by Yusuf Martin

There is an image refusing to leave my head. It’s of a youth, guitar in hand, kampung serenading. This iconic image, for me, represents all that is Malaysian, the serenity of idyll, the incumbent artistic muse and preponderance to nostalgia.

By Eva McGovern

Arresting in its criticality and positing of the most urgent questions surrounding art production and public engagement, the Jakarta biennale is a much needed respite for jaded art tourists. Its curatorial commitment, as well as sheer production has a stirring potency for multiple audiences. And its strategy to reclaim public spaces and cultural experiences in a city with a of population of 9 million people is without a doubt, a formidable self appointed challenge. Mission statements that look at the local, regional and international through the work of artists under 40, and all with a connection to Southeast Asia makes, for once, makes perfect sense as a remit, both conceptually and in its display

by Simon Soon

On view now in Cemeti Art House, Jogjakarta, is Eko Nugroho’s spell-binding foray into the world of wayang (shadow puppetry), exploring a centuries-old performance medium that functions both as popular entertainment and as a form of culturally sacrosanct art in his ever expanding body of experimentation with different representational formats.

by Simon Soon

Indieguerillas consists of Miko and Santi, a dynamic husband and wife tag team, who operate the label as a design firm/consultancy as well as an artistic collaboration. It’s not entirely true, though, to consider what they do as purely collaborative because an element of combat is central to their creative process, reflecting a practice that pays homages to two different cultural streams – one that is as contemporary as street art and as old as the wayang.

by Simon Soon

Once in awhile, it’s nice and healthy to be reminded how insipidly and painfully middle class KL is. That’s one big reason to travel.

by ARTERI

Exhibition opening and party pics for Bambang Toko’s Titian Muhibah: Serumpun, Senada, Seirama. Celebrating Malaysia-Indonesia relations with Malay retro rock and bad fashion sense.

by Simon Soon

Lining up against the entrance corridor into the main exhibition space at Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta, last December is an armed unit of five invisible standing figures, suggested through a skeletal furnishing of their martial disposition by the uniformity of their red helmets, strapped-on rifles and firmly planted boots. They allude to the ‘Lombok Chilli’, royal guards of the Yogya Sultanate who still plays a ceremonial role today, that protects, above all, a distinct sense of pride in the Javanese identity they represent.