Jompet Kuswidananto

Biography

As he explores Indonesia’s history and the complexities of contemporary life in a globalised world, Jompet Kuswidananto works across a diverse range of mediums, including installation, video, sound, performance and theatre. His practice focuses on issues of politics, colonialism, power and mass mobilisation in the context of post-reformation Indonesia.

Among Kuswidananto’s solo shows are On Paradise, Musée des Arts Contemporains Grand-Hornu, Belgium (2017); After Voices, Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation, Sydney (2016); Order and After, Govanhill Baths, Glasgow (site-specific installation commissioned by Sonica Festival) (2015) and Grand Parade, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam (2014). His work has also been presented in a number of group shows, including Celestial Sorrow (in collaboration with Meg Stuart), Kaaistudio’s, Brussels (2018); Sunshower, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2017); Rock the Kasbah, Institut des Cultures d’Islam, Paris (2017); Asian Art Biennial, Taichung, Taiwan (2015); Roots, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt (2015); Ural Industrial Biennial, Yekaterinburg, Russia (2015) and Missing Links, Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok (2015). Since 1998, he has worked with Teater Garasi, a multidisciplinary collective of artists presenting shows that reflect Indonesian life after the fall of the Suharto regime.

Kuswidananto received a Prudential Eye Award, Installation Category, Singapore (2014) and the Academic Art Award, Yogyakarta Institute of Art, Indonesia (2008), and he was a finalist for the Lecturis Award, Art Amsterdam (2011) and Asia Art Award, Seoul (2010). He has also participated in residencies at NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore (2015); Harbour International Art Residency, Darwin, Australia (2015); Art Centre of Silpakorn University, Bangkok (2015); San Art Laboratory, Ho Chi Minh City (2013) and Nagareyama City Lifelong Learning Center, Japan (2012), among others.

He graduated from Universtas Gadjah Mada, Faculty of Social and Political Science, Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 1999 with a degree in communications. He was born in 1976 in Yogyakarta, where he continues to live and work.

SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennial 14