Conversation with Tom Tandio

Director of Art Jakarta on the fair so far
By Nadya Wang

Art Jakarta 2024 takes place at JIEXPO Kemoyaran from 4 to 6 October. This year, the fair has four lead partners: Julius Baer, UOB Indonesia, Bibit and Stockbit and Treasury. Art Jakarta Gallery remains the centrepiece of the fair. To learn more about what galleries are going to bring to Art Jakarta 2024, click here to read our preview of the fair. 

There will be complementary special presentations, made in collaboration with the fair’s 14 main partners, including hospitality group Artotel, in collaboration with artist Uji “Hahan” Handoko. In addition, AJ SPOT will see special presentations of art installations in public areas within the fairground, such as a work by Tisna Sanjaya, presented by ArSociates Bandung. AJX presents the collections of institutions and private companies,such as the Indonesian Institute of the Arts Denpasar from Bali. And AJ scene is a section for artist collectives, studios and projects to showcase their merchandise and publication. There is also AJ Talk, for speakers to share their expertise with the audience. 

In 2018, we interviewed Tom Tandio when he took on the role of Director at Art Jakarta. Here, we catch up with Tom to find out about the developments with the art fair in his tenure, including collaborations within Indonesia and abroad. These include sponsoring Mini Art Malang and Bandung Art Month, and collaborating with Art Busan and Art Taipei. 

Tom Tandio. Image courtesy of Art Jakarta.

In your tenure so far as Director of Art Jakarta, could you talk about the key personal highlights?

The first edition of my directorship, of course. Art Jakarta had to reposition itself in terms of identity and branding. It was a revamp of the whole event and it remains memorable. For the team, I brought together people whose goal was to advance the art scene, not necessarily for profit. This included the shareholders. We assembled a group of people with a common belief that, first of all, we should create a great fair no matter the profit. 

The second highlight was when the 2020 edition had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We had to cancel everything and by no means was it easy to do so while maintaining the whole team throughout the pandemic. But from this, we came up with the Art Jakarta Virtual and Art Jakarta Gardens, the open-air art fair which has become our annual event.

Media Gathering for Art Jakarta 2024 at Artotel Mangkuluhur, Jakarta, 11 September 2024, with Artistic Director Enin Supriyanto, Maya Rizano (UOB Indonesia), William (Bibit and Stockbit), and Anang Samsudin (Treasury). Image courtesy of Art Jakarta.

Tell us about working together with the Art Jakarta team to put out each edition of Art Jakarta, and Art Jakarta Gardens. What makes the team work so well together? 

Since the beginning, Art Jakarta has not been like an international art fair run by a company. We look like a community fair. It started with the team selection, in which everyone, coming from different backgrounds, had their own expertise, experience, and network. It is a dream team coming together to build the fair. Because the team members were respected in the art scene, we gained the support of the Board of Patrons and the Board of Young Collectors. They loved the team. The boards then would introduce companies and their relations’ companies to become sponsors. Today, we are still the same team; the key people have been here since the start. As a fair director, I think this is important. For a team to run the fair well, it needs to grow together and run the fair well together.  

You are known to be a great advocate—and connector—between the Indonesian art scenes and others, such as Singapore, Taiwan and Korea, through collaborations and exchanges. What do you find most fulfilling in this role?

As the fair director, I represent Art Jakarta not only at the local level but also internationally, and I travel a lot. Art Jakarta is the longest-running art fair in Indonesia and sometimes people in other countries see me representing Indonesia too, resulting in many collaborations. We have collaborated with other art fairs, such as Art Busan and Art Taipei, and we have also had programme exchanges. At the gallery level, I introduce Indonesian galleries abroad and vice versa, so that galleries in Indonesia can exhibit abroad while foreign galleries can exhibit here. This has been fulfilling because the Art Jakarta team and I believe that collaboration is important. We believe in collaborations to promote art in Asia and we believe in a 100% Asian-focused art fair. If you see our master campaign video every year, our message is always about how art should be for everyone, not just the elite. Art is for everyone, and everyone can learn about art.

What are some of the significant shifts you have observed in the Indonesian art scene broadly, and the Indonesian art market more specifically, from your vantage point as an art fair director? And how do these align with or differ from what you observe in other art scenes you are familiar with? 

One significant thing is that in all Southeast Asian countries, the markets are growing. In Thailand today, there are more institutions, more galleries, and more proper auction houses. In Manila, where the infrastructure has been stable, the market is growing. Back in Indonesia, our market has become more advanced, with more art events happening and more galleries founded by young people. Indo Art Now, a platform I co-founded, created the Jakarta Art Hub in which 10 galleries have joined, followed by one art merchandise store and one artist studio. All of these are young gallerists. And Art Jakarta Hub will open a new venue this November. More galleries mean more collectors, and this further contributes to the growth of the markets. 

If you had to describe/explain Art Jakarta to someone who has not attended it before, how would you do so in a single sentence? 

Art Jakarta is an international Asian-focused art fair built together by a dream team, supported by the whole community. 

To expand on the previous question, could you tell us what have become the regular, signature elements of Art Jakarta, and also what are the new things that you will launch at the fair this year? 

Definitely the community element. Everyone is very involved, so that we are a little different from other fairs run by some companies. During the fair, the team, the board members, the collectors… everyone is busy hosting people to promote art. This year, we have more partners to come up with more presentations and installations. We have seen from the past years that when a company becomes a partner, usually it will eventually start collecting or start its corporate collection. This has been our mission too, to encourage corporate collecting. This year Art Jakarta has also expanded in size by twenty per cent for a better visitors’ experience in enjoying the fair, by having a larger VIP Lounge, as well as a larger F&B area with more vendors, more facilities, and more fun things to do. 

How do you see Art Jakarta interacting and supporting the Indonesian art ecosystem in Jakarta where it is staged, but also elsewhere such as in Yogyakarta, Bandung etc.?

Art Jakarta organises two events annually, the flagship fair and Art Jakarta Gardens. These have been well-received by the art scene. To encourage the public to learn more about art and more people to collect art, we also support art events outside of Jakarta. We have sponsored Mini Art Malang, an annual event to support East Java artists, and the Bandung Art Month, an annual event of artists and art communities in Bandung, West Java. We believe in supporting these activities outside of Jakarta to build a stronger Indonesian art ecosystem.

Art Jakarta 2024 takes place at JIEXPO Kemoyaran from 4 to 6 October. To learn more and to buy tickets to attend, please click here. 

Art & Market is proud to be an official media partner of Art Jakarta 2024.