Art, activism and a cancelled show - Wulan Dirgantoro

Late last year news media splashed the image of an elderly artist standing before a locked door at the National Gallery of Indonesia. The sign behind him displayed his name - Yos Suprapto – and the title of his solo exhibition 'Kebangkitan: Tanah Untuk Kedaulatan Pangan' (Revival: Land for Food Sovereignty), due to have opened on 19 December. The headlines explained that the gallery had cancelled the show with little notice. What followed was a battle of words and claims around the cancellation, or as the gallery described it, it's closure at the behest of the artist. The newly minted Minister for Culture, Fadli Zon, also weighed in.

What was it about this exhibition that made it so contentious? Who is the artist and why did this show become a lightning rod for controversy? More broadly, what might it mean for freedom of expression, art and activism in Indonesia?

In this week's episode Jemma chats with Dr Wulan Dirgantoro, a lecturer in art history and curatorship at the School of Culture and Communication, the University of Melbourne. 

In 2025, the Talking Indonesia podcast is co-hosted by Dr Jemma Purdey from the Australia-Indonesia Centre, Dr Jacqui Baker from Murdoch University, Dr Elisabeth Kramer from the University of New South Wales and Tito Ambyo from RMIT.

Image: Yos Suprapto with one of the controversial paintings in his now cancelled exhibition, December 2024

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