Nandur Srawung #13, After the Map Was Drawn
For eight days in late October 2026, Taman Budaya Yogyakarta (TBY) hosted the work of 100 artists. They were selected from 264 artists who entered the selection process, and came from Yogyakarta, East Java, Lampung, Bali, Jambi, and Riau. Their mediums and backgrounds varied. Among the names involved were Siti Adiyati, Titarubi, Nadiah Bamadhaj, and Maryanto, who shared one exhibition with younger artists such as Ipeh Nur, Marten Bayuaji, and Mira Rizki. Nandur Srawung Taman Budaya Yogyakarta #13 2026, Akademi: Lanskap ran from 21 to 28 October, and was open to the public free of charge from 22 to 28 October 2026.
Looking back on this year's edition, the first thing worth noting is the change behind the scenes. The annual contemporary art exhibition came with a new curatorial team: Gintani Swastika, Febrian A. Hasibuan, and Tomi Firdaus. They will accompany Nandur Srawung for the next three years. The overarching theme is Akademi (Academy), which they designed as a three-year curatorial platform referring to all spaces where knowledge is produced. The focus is on developing practice, knowledge, and networks for young Indonesian artists. The theme is divided into three sub-themes: Lanskap (Landscape) in 2026, Lab (Laboratorium) in 2027, and Lintasan (Crossings) in 2028. This year's edition is the first of the three.
The word Akademi here does not refer to a formal educational institution. The curators use it for all the spaces of knowledge production that shape an artist's path. Over the past two decades, art learning has emerged from art schools, initiative spaces, sanggar (community art studios), collectives, residencies, laboratories, studios, communities, and digital platforms.
Lanskap, as the opening chapter, takes on a fairly broad task: reading and mapping contemporary Indonesian art from many points of view. Through the exhibition and public programs, Nandur Srawung 2026 traced artistic ideas, working methods, art practices, and public engagement with art. The results were used to "draw" a map of Indonesian contemporary art today. A map always depends on who draws it and which territories fall inside the frame. For that reason, the figure of 100 artists out of 264, and the range of regions they come from, deserves to be seen as part of how the map was put together.
The public programs widened the reading of this landscape. The Art Writing Class involved 10 young art writers from Yogyakarta and its surroundings, with a focus on art criticism, observation, analysis of works and exhibitions, and contextual writing. The participants then acted as respondents in the Artist Talks, which featured five speakers: Bonggal Hutagalung, Maryanto, Nina Widjaja, Pangestumu, and Yudha Kusuma Putera. The link between these two programs is an interesting one. Young writers got a place to practice responding to work directly in front of the artist, and artists got readers who are still learning how to read.
The discussions and public lecture covered three topics. The Public Discussion "Polemik Seni Pasca Reformasi" (Art Polemics in the Post-Reformasi Era) looked at the tendencies, motives, and implications of art polemics that have shaped how we judge and define art. The Public Discussion "Ide-ide di (Balik) Pendidikan Seni" (Ideas in (and Behind) Art Education) read art education practice from the inside and the outside, including the challenges of sustaining it within the art ecosystem. The Public Lecture "Festival dan Seni" (Festivals and Art) addressed unequal power relations, differing interests, the accumulation of value, and the governance of art festivals. The last topic has a particular angle, since Nandur Srawung is itself an art festival, now in its 13th edition.
Kios Seni (Art Kiosk) was run together with Yogyakarta Art Book Club (YKABC), home of the Yogyakarta Art Book Fair, where art publishing practitioners meet and build infrastructure for art publishing in Yogyakarta. The kiosk was open throughout the exhibition and followed by a workshop on Tuesday, 27 October 2026. The Audience Recognition Award went to an artist from the open call as a form of public appreciation for their work during the exhibition.
This year's Lifetime Achievement Award went to Melati Suryodarmo for her sustained dedication, commitment, and contribution to the development of Indonesian contemporary art. The award was followed by a Cultural Address (Pidato Kebudayaan) that took the ideas of "self" and "soul" as its central axis. The address formulated a cultural outlook drawn from the long course of her practice, one that goes beyond the dichotomy between Western and Eastern thought in the context of postcolonial society.
