Jim Supangkat
CV
Jim Supangkat was born in Makassar, Indonesia in 1948. He entered the Faculty of Fine Art and Design, Bandung Institute of Technology, in 1970. Before he graduated in 1975, he studied aesthetics under noted philosopher Dick Hartoko in the city of Yogyakarta between 1974 and 1975.
In 1975, Supangkat founded Indonesia New Art Movement, which proclaimed the re-definition of art and the search of Indonesian subversive perception on art. Debate on the movement’s principles continued for nearly ten years after—now it is regarded as the beginning of contemporary art discourse in Indonesia.
In 1992, Supangkat decided to change course. Aware of the need for the profession of a curator in Indonesia, he gave up his work as lecturer and artist. He initiated international contemporary art exhibitions in Indonesia— Contemporary Art of the Non-Aligned Countries (1995), CP Biennale I (2003) and CP Biennale II (2005). As an independent curator, he was involved in many Asian contemporary art exhibits between 1992 and 2000. He has written several books and numerous essays introducing contemporary art in Asia and Indonesia to the international art world. In 1997, he received the Prince Claus Award for this attempt.
