In the exhibition, New Art from Southeast Asia (1992) in Japan, Dadang Christanto's works Bureaucracy started attracting the attention of many international fine art observers. These two works deal with sensitive issues within Indonesian during the administration of the New Order government. The piece, Bureaucracy, points out the culture of corruption that had become acute within various layers of Indonesian society under the national leadership dominated by the military. Christanto criticizes not only the development of a capitalistic society in Indonesia, but also points out the capitulation and surrender of the lower classes to the powers that be; the authorities and the wealthy. Dadang Christanto is one of the artists grouped in the Indonesian New Art Movement and is well known for his socially critical artworks that take a strong, pithy stance against the ills of society.

Christanto's installation piece, "For those who..." (1996), which was shown in the First Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane, Australia, invited a personal response from the thousands of visitors to the Queensland Art Gallery in the form of asking each of the viewers of the work to place a single blossom there as a sign of sympathy toward the victims of violence and injustice. Christanto's works certainly speak not only of social criticism, but are also a form of statement of deep concern for the helpless victims of an unjust situation. Christanto's participation in all kinds of exhibitions in Asia, America and Europe, only serves to underline his universal concern with the issues of justice and humanitarianism. Christanto's creations show his bias toward 'the defeated', and also reveal his strong desire to defend and protect them and to fight for the very basic human rights being denied them.

The work being shown in this biennial continues to display his humanitarian stance and concerns. He speaks of this work as an anti-violence statement. To Christanto the deaths of victims of violence run counter to each and every humanitarian principle there is. In relation to this, it is not enough to limit humanitarian efforts to the formats of specific civilizations or cultures, because violent death is a manifestation of the failure of the various forms of civilization and culture that are and have been, anywhere and of any period of time.

The continuous development of a global civilization at this current time - with the various technological discoveries and advances in almost all sectors - has certainly led to an increased threat of a continuing chain of 'defeats' such as discussed above. Dadang Christanto is here to remind of what this could mean.

In 1999, Dadang Christanto left Yogyakarta and he now lives in Australia, where he teaches at the School of Art and Design, Northern Territory University, Darwin. Dadang Christanto's experiences and concerns about the situations and changes taking place in Indonesia continue to influence the ideas and concepts he employs as a basis for creating art, and his most recent works maintain this tendency although the emphasis is becoming more intensely universal.

Rizki A. Zaelani

Born on 1957 in Tegal, Central Java.
Studied at Indonesia Institute of The Arts (ISI), Yogyakarta (BFA; 1986).

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1998 "Cannibalism or Memoir Jakarta-Solo May 13,14,15, 1998", Guarrant Gallery, Canberra School of Art and Switchback Gallery, Faculty of Art and Design, Gippsland, Australia.
2000 "Beginning of the Dark Age", Centre de Reflexion sur I'Image et ses, Sierre, Switzerland; "Reconciliation", 24 Hour Art Gallery, Darwin and Watch This Space, Alice Springs, Australia.
2001 "The Dark Century", Raft Art Space, Darwin, Australia.
2002 "Unspeakable Horror", Bentara Budaya Art Centre, Jakarta.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1998 "XXIV Bienal de Sao Paulo", Brazil; "Begegnung 3:3 in Yogya", Yogyakarta Cultural Centre, Yogyakarta; "Plastic (or Other Waste)", Center of Resources, Chulalongkorn - University, Bangkok, Thailand; "Bangkok Art Project", Bangkok, Thailand.
1999 "From Asian Forests", Kanazu Forest of Creation, Fukui, Japan; "The Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art 1999", Brisbane, Australia.
2000 "Kwangju Biennale 2000", Kwangju, South Korea; "From Asian Forest", Yokohama Open Air Art exhibition, Japan.
2003 "Austral-asia zero three", Sherman Galleries, Sydney, Australia.

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