CEMETI ART HOUSE WINS ACC AWARD, SPURS QUAKE RELIEF
NEWS/NEW YORK AND YOGYAKARTA
Yogyakarta-based artists Nindityo Adipurnomo and Mella
Jaarsma, founders of artist space Cemeti Art House, were
honored with the Asian Cultural Council’s (ACC) John
D. Rockefeller 3rd Award, 2005, in New York in May. The
annual award, established in 1986, includes a grant of
USD 30,000 and celebrates individuals contributing to the
international understanding and practice of visual and
performing arts in Asia. Adipurnomo and Jaarsma attended
the award ceremony, with other guests including Dikdid
Sayahdikumullah, an Indonesian artist in New York as a
resident in the international Studio and Curatorial Program
(ISCP), ISCP director Dennis Elliot and ACC president and
director of the Trust for Mutual Understanding Richard
S. Lanier.
The ACC singled out Cemeti Art House as Indonesia’s foremost artist0run
organization for contemporary visual art. Adipurnomo and Jaarsma founded Cemeti
Art House in a small rented space in 1988 with the goal of supporting local artists.
Since then, Cemeti Art House has expanded its organization, starting the Cemeti
Art Foundation in 1995 to oversee the gallery’s exhibitions, educational
and research programs. Cemeti Art House, which now occupies its own building
designed by architect Eko Agus Prawoto, is also considered Indonesia’s
premier resource for contemporary art, as it maintains an extensive archive.
On May 27, upon Adipurnomo and Jaarsma’s return to Yogyakarta, the region
was struck by a massive earthquake, leaving over 5,000 dead and inflicting substantial
damage to local infrastructure. Drawing upon their network of artist friends,
the Cemeti Art Foundation spearheaded recovery efforts, housing displaced neighbors
in the gallery in the quake’s immediate aftermath. The Foundation set up
distribution posts for essentials such as food and water and organized workshops
for traumatized children. Other colleagues built temporary bamboo shelters at
seriously afflicted sites.
By Andrew Maerkle
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