Indonesia's Arts and Culture Scene: Fairs, Exhibitions and Fresh Voices

Arts and culture across Jakarta and beyond has been busy lately, with a major art fair, a run of thought-provoking exhibitions, music festivals and revived classics. Many of the projects revisit history, memory and identity from new angles.

Art fairs and exhibitions

• A three-day art fair brought together 75 galleries, 33 of them from overseas, along with emerging art markets, large-scale installations and cross-border projects.
• Museum MACAN opened its first exhibition season of 2026 with contemporary and historical works on how history, memory and power shape the landscapes we inherit.
• Twenty-five artists and 25 curators turned the former Menteng Stadium into a site-specific show about the social, political, environmental and cultural realities of the capital.
• At Museum MACAN, artists from Singapore and Malaysia use melting ice and digitally woven textiles to reflect on impermanence, memory and cultural identity.
• An interactive show at Erasmus Huis Jakarta lets visitors try 12 playable games that showcase how video game design has become part of the Netherlands' cultural identity.
• Another Erasmus Huis photo exhibition follows Dutch Muslims from diverse backgrounds through their umrah and haj pilgrimages and their sense of faith and belonging.
• Works by FX Harsono and Vincent Ruijters trace erased names, mass violence and ancestral memory in the Chinese-Indonesian diaspora.
• Octora's exhibition combines archival photographs, handwoven textiles and an aluminum Rafflesia to question who has the authority to name, classify and define.
• Abell Octovan returns with a solo show after a period of withdrawal following a personal loss. Known for vinyl art toys and satirical resin sculptures, he uses humor and pop culture to explore clashing values.
• A National Gallery exhibition marks 60 years of diplomatic relations with Uruguay by pairing documentary photographs of gauchos with abstract watercolors inspired by cities around the world.

History, heritage and performance

• An exhibition retracing Arthur Rimbaud's 1876 journey through Central Java marks 150 years since his passage and launches a literary residency exchange between Indonesia and France.
• A documentary adapted from Toeti Heraty's writing revisits the life of a 16th-century Ternate queen whose resistance to colonial rule has long been overlooked.
• The National Museum of Indonesia, home to Java Man, historic banknotes and Majapahit-era artifacts, remains one of the country's most compelling cultural destinations.
• A revival of an acclaimed play adds modern touches to its costumes and score, while the actors reflect on their roles and the timeless tension between power and compassion.
• At the 26th edition of an annual festival in East Java, elaborate costumes inspired by Indonesian and global cultures went on parade through a heavy downpour.
• Dutch writer Arjan Onderdenwijngaard returned to Lebak three decades after his first visit to ask whether the power structures Multatuli criticized have truly disappeared.
• Revisiting an old photograph of boxer Elly's bout against Polanco shows more than a champion at his peak.

Music, craft and reflection

• At Sarawak's Rainforest World Music Festival, indigenous melodies blended with jazz, rock, funk and electronic music, showing how tradition can evolve through collaboration.
• Ceramic artist Fransiskus Widayanto draws on decades of formal production techniques to create Indonesian interpretations of the Virgin Mary that blend faith, culture and craftsmanship.
• A 53-work exhibition balances handcrafted traditions with contemporary abstraction to explore memory, identity and emotional texture.
• Looking back at BJ Habibie's 1998 vision of a military with a smaller political role, his words now carry renewed weight as Indonesia reflects on its reform era.