Art Jakarta holds on to its main vision to be the Southeast Asian-focused art fair in Asia, and one of the most exciting art fairs in the region. It is hosted in the region’s dynamic centre of contemporary art and is always a stimulating international forum for key stakeholders in Asia to serve the region’s contemporary art ecosystem.
Art Jakarta started as a fair by MRA Group to promote their magazine, which is called Harper’s Bazaar. That’s why it was called Bazaar Art Jakarta, it was one of the magazine’s activation events. So, it started off as Bazaar Art Jakarta and for the first 10 years it had been held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel Ballroom in Jakarta. In 2018, after a decade of journey, they decided to find a new team and a new business partner, which was myself, and then we set up a new team to rebrand and reposition the fair. What we did was we brought the fair to the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC), a complex of international convention halls near the city’s business district, so that it would look more proper as an international art fair.
At the same time, we improved the composition of the contents of the galleries. We had at that time 40% non-Indonesian galleries and 60% Indonesian ones. Further changes took place during the COVID years when we created Art Jakarta Virtual to showcase artists’ works in virtual spaces in 2020, and when we initiated Art Jakarta Gardens in 2022 to offer an experience of art in the open. Eventually, in 2023 we moved to JIExpo, in the northern part of Jakarta, and this year is our largest edition yet with 73 galleries. In this very tough time, economically, I think the fair did fairly well in terms of sales.
Art Jakarta is always focused on promoting contemporary art to the public, which in Indonesia remains relatively unfamiliar to many parts of society. We also believe in pushing corporate collecting, and we have projects with other art stakeholders, not only in Jakarta but also in other Indonesian cities such as Bandung, Yogyakarta, and Malang. It’s all to promote contemporary art.
Art Jakarta is holding its 14th edition this year, and we are proud to collaborate with more partners to showcase a greater number of intriguing art installations and more contextualised artworks that will entice audiences and offer them a unique experience. We are also pleased to welcome 73 galleries, many of which are returning from last year, along with five additional galleries. We believe that this expanded partnership highlights the Fair’s growth and the trust we have earned from stakeholders in the art scene. (Tom Tandio, Fair Director)