As with many other practitioners in the Indonesian art scene, in the early stages of her career Farah Wardani took on the role of a multi-tasker working as writer, curator, teacher, art organiser, and translator. The lack of institutional infrastructure forces one to become a jack-of-all-trades, creating an “ecosystem” of collaborations and synergies where everyone can become an active contributor. In this unique environment, Wardani focused her interest on a key problem: the scarcity of documents and archives of Indonesian art and of art in general. This major gap became the driving force behind the establishment of Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA) in 2007, an institution she continues to be involved with after joining the Resource Centre at the National Gallery Singapore in 2015. Wardani will expand on her engagement with the archive and its crucial role for art institutions today.

This talk is part of the public programme of The Making of an Institution.

BIOGRAPHY