You Look The Same As Us But You Don’t Speak The Same Language

Indonesian Painting IV: You Look The Same As Us But You Don’t Speak The Same Language – Indonesian & Filipino Painters

Curated by Tony Godfrey

Equator Art Projects is pleased to present Indonesian Painting IV, a group show featuring works by eight artists from Indonesian and the Philippines. The artists are: Alfredo Esquillo, Mark Justiniani, Joy Mallari, Arturo Sanchez Jr. (Philippines), Indieguerillas, Uji ‘Hahan’ Handoko Eko Saputro, Srihadi Soedarsono and Entang Wiharso (Indonesia). This is the fourth exhibition of a series that examines the current state of contemporary Indonesian painting.

Indonesia and the Philippines form two of the largest artistic communities in Southeast Asia. Separated geographically and also by the lack of a common language and hugely diverging cultural practices, they are seemingly different on the surface. However, there is a strong tradition of painting in both countries, who were exposed to European schools and methods of painting through colonisation. We ask: is it possible for these painters from such diverse backgrounds to communicate across these boundaries? Is a national identity reflected? How do they react to innovation or tradition? Can there be similarities in their work?


Deputy Editor

Gary is one of those proverbial jack of all trades… you know the rest. When not writing about lifestyle and culture, he dabbles in photography, graphic design, plays four instruments and is a professional wearer of bowties. His greatest weakness: spending more money on clothes than he probably should. Find him across the social world as @grimlay