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traced from the growth of awareness to gather and works they created together. SIM became the model
unite among artists.
For at least two reasons, the establishment of
the SIM (Young Indonesian Artists) association in
1946 in Madiun by Sudjojono, must be considered
an important moment that marks how artistic
collaboration began to be practiced in a new way in
the history of Indonesian art. First, in contrast to the
‘traditional’ system of making sacred art works—such
as a kind of totemic worship by tribal people
or as temple sculpture (which also involves collective
work)—with collaboration between SIM members, the
concept was that the artists are known as individual
authors. In the SIM studio, in addition to learning to
paint, artists also worked on posters, murals, large
billboards and propaganda pamphlets—most of which
were government commissions—which generally
do require teamwork. Second, the establishment
6
of SIM was also motivated by nationalism, a new
spirit binding the community into a new collective
entity called the nation. Although each painter was a
professional artist, the SIM painters did not sign the
6 Mia Bustam, Soedjojono dan Aku, Jakarta, Pustaka Utan Kayu,
2006., hal. 110. Lihat juga Jim Supangkat, Srihadi dan Seni Rupa
Indonesia, Jakarta, Art:1, 2012.
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for artist groups born later, including Pelukis Rakyat
(People’s Painters), Sanggar Bambu (Bamboo Studio)
and other studios under LEKRA (People’s Cultural
Institute).
It is a social fact that the establishment of an
organization or association is always based on
the existence of interests among individuals to
achieve a common goal. In the context of art, the
need to organize joint exhibitions is one of the main
motivations for artists to gather, form groups, and
collaborate. Furthermore, an exhibition is the most
tangible evidence showing how the field of art works
as a mechanism for greater collective activity. Even
in a solo exhibition that is self-curated, for example,
we can see that an artist ultimately can never be free
of his dependence on other actors (critics, gallerists,
collectors, viewers, the public and so forth).
Although many artist groups were disbanded
following the suppression of communism in the
mid-1960s by the New Order regime, manifestations
of collectivism were still found in the formation of
artist groups—for example, in Decenta (founded
1973) and the New Art Movement (GSRB, 1975).
The first is a group of artists from Bandung who, in