Zico Albaiquni, Tales from The Bad New Days, 2021, oil and giclee on canvas, 120 x 80 cm

The exhibition Is this parochial or international? Does it really matter? by Zico Albaiquni is a two-part presentation; the first taking place in Singapore, and the latter in Albaiquni’s home country of Indonesia in March 2022.

Is this parochial or international? Does it really matter? features a new suite of paintings in the artist’s signature vibrant and multicoloured style that taps into art history and the congruence between translating local truths and Western-held ideals.

Albaiquni’s works serve as an index to investigate discourses on museological culture, exhibition-making, and decolonisation in the Indonesian art history canon. Highlighting its wide-ranging implications and deep entanglements on global narratives, the artist charts the development of Indonesia alongside its influence on expansionist policies and creations of stereotypes of the colonised.

True to his artistic engagement and practice, Albaiquni weaves specific iconographies and slivers of critical thinking from a wide array of seminal artists – contemporaries and luminaries alike including: the 1980s “Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru” (New Art Movement); performance artist Fajar Abadi, fervent humanitarian activist and artist Semsar Siahaan; archival photographs by Ohannes Kurkdjia; and museum dioramas and exhibition settings. Is this parochial or international? Does it really matter? casts an expansive query onto exoticism, global art ideals and cultural omission.

Venue: Yavuz Gallery, Gillman Barracks, 9 Lock Road, #02-23, Singapore 108937

Opening Hours:
Tuesday to Saturday: 11am-7pm
Sunday: 1pm-5pm

When: 18 Sep - 2 Oct 2021,

By: Ames Yavuz