Text by Salvador Bali - Images courtesy of Biasa Art Space

The new art movement, the perception of objectification has arrived in Bali. This relatively new Indonesian art movement has had a rapid development in the form of breaking standards, new forms and definitions working with materials of every sort in a style which has been labeled Fetishism. Spearheaded by the gallery Biasa Art Space who are introducing an expansive range of artistic personalities in the theme of Fetish.

Sigmund Freud coined ‘fetishism' as the door to someone's mental world, human experience, regarded capable of opening the door into the most inner parts of someone's mind - the world of objects and parts of the body shows hidden motives or desires that define the tendency of the person's behavior.

The seeds of installation art are most thought provoking, offering compositions out of various elements of form, material and objects. The visual sensations create an intimacy of everyday existence providing absorption to the human awareness.

Susana Perini the courageous and spiritually minded curator of Biasa Art Space granted me a few precious moments of her time to talk about the art scene in Bali and Indonesia.

H.B. My first thought is, do you think other galleries will pick up on this new artistic direction?

S.P. Yes, I think everybody is doing his or her bit; it's definitely a transition. It's like fashion to me, it's a similar thing, maybe a bit more complex, and there are many levels. I think to appreciate art you have to have a certain amount of experience of exposure that you build up with time, you might have a good eye but the eye has to be trained. You have to acquire an education. I think it's an important factor, the human factor, because in the end you work with people and those people are not always productive. I think people that are instrumental to an artist, curators, supporters, they are the ones that challenge and it's very easy to fall into the patterns of oneself. An artist has to be ready to reinvent himself all the time and that's not an easy process.

H.B. It seems you take it personally.

S.P. Me? Oh yeah.

H.B. Do you care about what others think?

S.P. No, I make my own choices; I don't put art in the gallery because it sells.

H.B. What was your inspiration or desire to get involved with a gallery?

S.P. One, I was always attracted to contemporary art and I never understood it because I really didn't work with it, the second was wanting to contribute an exchange, I found a great pool of wealth, characters, very talented and humble and thru them, this is a very important point, I started to know aspects of Indonesian culture, including religion, particularly Islam that I was never exposed to before.

H.B. How do you compare the art scene in Java to Bali? Do you differentiate?

S.P. We differentiate a little bit because Bali does not have the strong community of art influence. Jogjakarta has the best art school, people from all over Indonesia go to that school, Bandung has very good technology. Bali will merge, there is no way that it will not, already I am working with some young artists in that field.

H.B. Where do you think the Asian art movement is going?

S.P. Six weeks ago I was with the top curators from Italy representing museums, all they talked about was Chinese art, the lasting impression, what I got was that contemporary art is starting, little galleries all over the world are representing Chinese art, you can check it out on Google under Scope Art, creating a lot of business, giving a pulse. Asia is echoing, taking more and more of a stake in the art market. It's established now and is not just a trend.

H.B. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from Susanna Perini an inspiration to galleries in Bali and across Indonesia. Thanks

Chow mein, Salvador Bali

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