The Indonesian New Art Movement, also known as Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (GSRB) was an art movement of young artists from Bandung and Yogyakarta against the institutional concept of Indonesian fine art (Indonesian: Seni Rupa) being limited to paintings and sculptures. The movement emerged in 1974, first organised in a protest against the judging of the Second Jakarta Painting Biennale which awarded prizes to decorative style of paintings and sculptures. The protesters published the Black December Statement (Desember Hitam) criticising the lack of social and political consciousness in Indonesian decorative art practices.
The "new art" championed installations, ready-mades, photographs, found-objects and photo-realist paintings, which translate to the experimentation of different mediums and mixed media in Indonesian contemporary art. In 1987, a manifesto was written by key figures of the New Art Movement titled "Fine Art of Emancipation, Emancipation of Fine Art."
The New Art Movement ended in 1989 and is considered the beginning of Indonesian contemporary art.
History
In 1974, a group of young artists emerged calling themselves the New Art Movement. The movement was first and foremost an academic rebellion towards fine arts universities in Bandung and Yogyakarta, rejecting the institution's definition of fine art that was limited to decorative art, paintings and sculptures.
The New Art Movement arose spontaneously in both Yogyakarta and Bandung, the two groups having little contact with each other. It was the art critic Sanento Yuliman, a teacher at Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesian: Institut Teknologi Bandung or ITB), who noticed the anti-modernist tendency common between the two. He then joined them together under the name New Art Movement.
The movement first began in a protest against the judging of the Second Jakarta Painting Biennale of 1974, which awarded prizes to decorative styles of paintings. Protesters consisting of young artists from Bandung and Yogyakarta published the Black December Statement criticising the lack of social and political consciousness in decorative art, and declaring that it was indicative of the lack of creativity in Indonesian art.
Artists of the New Art Movement perceived decorative art as elitist and centralised on Western-derive aesthetics, which they claim were irrelevant to both Indonesia's traditional arts and to the issues of contemporary society. They wanted a more democratic and accessible art, in medium and in style.
By 1977, after the first Exhibition of the New Art Movement in Taman Ismail Marzuki, it was clear that the movement was against any narrow definition of art. They claimed that the existing rigid definition of fine art hindered the development of contemporary art and creativity in Indonesia. The movement emphasised the importance of redefining art and its purpose, supporting the basis for its name: "new art"
The movement's exhibitions in 1975-1980 and in 1987-1989 introduced artworks other than paintings and sculptures, championing installations, ready-mades, photographs, found-objects and photo-realist paintings.
On 2 May 1987, a manifesto was published by key figures of the New Art Movement titled "Fine Art of Emancipation, Emancipation of Fine Art."
The New Art Movement ended in 1989 and is considered the beginning of Indonesian contemporary art. Notable figures of the movement include Jim Supangkat, the art historian Sanento Yuliman, Dede Eri Supria, Dadang Christanto and FX Harsono.
Black December Statement
On 31 December 1974, Muryotohartoyo, Juzwar, Harsono, B. Munni Ardhi, M. Sulebar, Ris Purwana, Daryono, Adiyati, D.A. Peransi, Baharuddin Marasutan, Ikranegara, Adri Darmadji, Hardi and Abdul Hadi WM, presented the Black December Statement.
The statement critiques Indonesia's lack of clear cultural strategy in art making, and that the producers of arts and culture are not in the smallest sense aware of the discourse regarding the most basic human problems in Indonesian culture.