Between Hajar Aswad and Marcel Duchamp
By exhibiting some 200 works of art, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) Alumni Association and the Inisaf Foundation attempt to depict the face of contemporary Indonesian Islamic art. Calligraphy is very much alive, taking its direction from the Middle East. Islamic fine arts, on the other hand, has expanded, exploring sculpture and video. Tempo reports on the exhibition and the development of calligraphic arts in Islamic boarding schools in Indonesia.
August 24, 2011
ONE afternoon at the end of July, a youth dressed in a casual shirt and denim pants and carrying a backpack, walked up to Building A of the National Gallery in Jakarta. He stopped at the glass-door entrance, where sandals were strewn about. He took off his shoes and entered the building.
The youth saw a number of paintings displayed at the building's lobby, which was part of the 'Bayang' Indonesian Islamic Contemporary Art Exhibition, running from Ju
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