Bayu Widodo

Bayu Widodo is an Indonesian printmaker who was born in 1979. After graduating from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta, he participated in various solo- and group exhibitions. In 2009, Widodo founded the alternative art community SURVIVE! Garage, which provides independent young artists a place to practice their art. He is an active member of the artist collective Taring Padi.

At Framer Framed his work has been on show as part of Pressing Matters (2018) a group exhibition featuring 24 artists from Indonesia, brought together by artist Kevin van Braak. The exhibition addresses pressing socio-political issues in Indonesia. Bayu Widodo contribution to the collective installation Pentagonal Icositetrahedron reflects on the rapid urbanisation and city growth in Indonesia. His work More Park, Less Hotel, depicts the city of Yogyakarta, where the artist has lived for more than 20 years, has become very crowded as a result of urbanisation. New apartments, hotels, and supermalls are constantly being built in every part of the city, a process which draws heavily on the same water resource on which local residents are dependent. Economical value forms the basis of the city’s development: the need for public space and city forests are considered to be of less importance. The hand of greediness comes, dredges, builds, until the water dries up.

Bayu Widodo participated in the Taring Padi exhibition Tanah Merdeka (2023) at Framer Framed in Amsterdam. Drawing from the Indonesian expression ‘tanah merdeka’ (liberated land/space), the exhibition sees land as a broad concept with many complexities. It considers forces of extraction, preservation, colonisation, occupation, identity, and emancipation, and thinks of land not only as a physical and territorial site to be protected, defended, and reclaimed, but also as a spiritual, cosmological, and vibrant space that enables different forms of interrelation, conversation, and genuine exchange beyond boundaries. Tanah Merdeka continues the collective approach as developed by Taring Padi over the years, with the realisation and presentation of new collaborative works. During a one-month residency in Brazil, four members of Taring Padi developed a new work Retomar Nossa Terra / Rebut Tanah Kita (2023) in collaboration with Jewish Brazilian cultural centre Casa do Povo and the Brazilian landless movement, Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra(MST), presented as part of Tanah Merdeka.