Cemeti art house

Cemetiarthouse

Cemeti Art House has the legal status of an association. Brief introduction / History of the organization
Since 1988, Cemeti Art House founded by Nindityo Adipurnomo and Mella Jaarsma, has been exhibiting and communicating the works of both Indonesian and foreign contemporary artists. Since the beginning of Cemeti Gallery in 1988, it has functioned as an exhibition, information, documentation and promotion centre for the visual arts. All the files, archive and network was lodged in 1995 at the Cemeti Art Foundation. Recently, the Cemeti Art Foundation has changed its name to Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA). Cemeti Art House and IVAA function as two separate organizations, each with their own vision and funding. Cemeti Art House focuses on exhibitions, art projects, residencies and art management. IVAA focuses on documentation, education and information. We often work together and both organizations contribute to art discourse and art developments, locally, nationally as well as internationally.

Objectives and Programming Direction
Cemeti Art House’s main focus is stimulating art practices, art discourse and art management. Contemporary art in Indonesia can be seen as the form, concern, view and reflection of artists to issues developing in society. Through their work artists comment and depict general phenomena in society, whilst others express individual and personal approaches to their reality. These ideas and themes are expressed through a diverse range of media.

In 2010, Cemeti Art House launched a new platform in which the activities will revolve around and focus on reinventing ‘Art and Society’, emphasizing more alternative art practices that honour the ‘process’, rather than the ‘promotion’ of artists and art making.

Exhibitions and Art Projects
At least eleven exhibition projects have been organized each year in the gallery alongside site-specific projects, including solo exhibitions and group exhibitions, performances, discussions, presentations of the residency programs and artists’ talks which engage local and international artists, writers, art activists, curators and art managers. In 2005 - 2007 we worked and mentored curators and art managers on a series of related exhibitions that explored in depth a certain issue, subject or theme. In 2008-2009 we showed mostly solo exhibitions because we wanted to focus again on the vision and content of individual developments, as a reaction to the art market boom and the domination of curated group shows where artists only follow the theme or demand of the curator.

Artist’s talks, project presentations and group exhibitions are presented locally, as well as internationally, as well as our monthly indoor curatorial exhibitions at Cemeti Art House gallery. They include ‘ART OF BAMBOO’ in 2002 (Indonesia and Danish artists), ‘CHOOSE YOUR OWN PUBLIC’ in 2005 (Indonesian artists), ‘THE PAST FORGOTTEN TIME’ (Indonesian artist), a travelling project at The Hague, Amsterdam, Jakarta, Semarang, and Shanghai in 2007.

Community Developments
In its bid to seek and develop discourse in the field of visual arts, Cemeti Art House not only operates as a platform for the latest developments by organizing exhibitions, discussions and workshops, but also stimulates and facilitates specific projects to connect artists with other professionals and works relative to specific communities (in Yogyakarta and its surroundings). Some programs are developed by Cemeti Art House, for specific local communities, in collaboration with contemporary artists. Visual artists from throughout Indonesia who care about community development take part in these programs. A sample is the post earthquake relief program that we organized from May 2007-May 2008, supported by the Ford Foundation.

Residency Program for Artists, Curators/Writers/Art Critics
Since November 2006 we started in collaboration with the Heden-The Hague, supported by the Netherlands Embassy, a residency project called ‘Landing Soon’. ‘Landing Soon’ was a three year exchange project (2006 – 2009), for artists from Indonesia and The Netherlands to have a three-month stay in each period.

Following the success of ‘Landing Soon’ that brought together Dutch and Indonesian artists in a residency program, in 2010, Cemeti Art House launched a new residency program entitled 'HotWave'. This residency program involves three artists from three different countries during the period of three months. At the end of each residency period, there is an exhibition and presentation of the artists during the residency program. Aside from ‘Landing Soon’ and 'HotWave' we also host artist residencies supported by the Asia Cultural Council (New York), API (Tokyo), Asialink (Melbourne), FONDS BKVB, and we also offer spaces for self supported independent residencies for artists or researchers at Cemeti Art House.

From 2011 until 2013, Cemeti Art House offers two residencies each year for curators, writers, or art critics. Curators, writers, or art critics from Indonesia as well as from abroad, are given the opportunity to widen their scope on art discourse in Yogyakarta. Having an extensive network, Cemeti Art House is an important hub and data base for research process. Curators, writers, or art critics are required to hold a workshop, lecture, or discussion as part of their research to contribute space for dialogue and participation in the development of art discourse.
Through these residency programs, Cemeti Art House intends to focus on the importance of art practice with an emphasis on art processes and social, innovative experiences. The artists are given the opportunity to concentrate on work, experiment and interact with other artists, professionals and the community. Different models are explored in order to work on critical discourse and diverse forms of visual art.

Art Management Education Program
The most immediate problem facing the cultural environment of our region is the shortage in human recourses in management, art history, art criticism and journalism. Cemeti Art House organizes art management projects to stimulate consciousness and knowledge of developments in art through internship programs and capacity building for art managers and curators. From May 2004 until May 2007 Cemeti Art House operated an art management project in which we mentored and guided young people to become operational - artistic managers and curators. Because of the poor art infrastructure in Indonesia we fulfill the role of training art managers and curators, in order to develop the knowledge of art professionals. This project was supported for a period of three years by the Prince Claus Fund, Netherlands.

Since 2000 we also work together with KELOLA hosting one art management trainee for three months each year. We see it as an urgent matter to continue our art management programs, with the importance of the re-generation of art professionals. Cemeti Art House, so far, is one of the very few visual art spaces in Indonesia that is professional and sustainable and that can offer an all round learning process for trainees.

Art and Society Programs
The visiting public is about 400 people for each exhibition. Via networking contacts outside Yogyakarta, more than 4000 organizations and people are following our developments and events each month. Local societies in Indonesia as well as international communities are under the dominant spell of the global market system of production and consumption. The contribution of art is very important as an alternative system. Although Indonesia still has poor art infrastructure (a lack of established modern or contemporary art museums), artists and art professionals contribute to the remarkable vigor of art developments. Creative professionals explore alternative and veritable ways to envision the role of art in the society and communicate that to society. For us, art is not only about producing objects to exhibit but to create and organize activities in which the public is an active part.

Awards
2014 Adhikarya Rupa Award, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy of Indonesia
2010 Yogyakarta Biennale Art Award
2008 Academic Art Award #2, Jogja Gallery/Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta
2006 John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award, New York, USA