Worldwide art roundup: October 2021
The world’s first postage stamp, Penny Black, will be auctioned at Sotheby’s, London with a price estimate of up to US$8.25 million on 7 December. The adhesive stamp which features a profile of Queen Victoria is attached to a document dated April 10, 1840. Penny Black is the stamp that started the postage system that every country now uses.
Six prominent Indonesian poets auctioned their works to celebrate Youth Pledge Day and Language Month. The auction was held by Media Indonesia and BenihBaik.com on 29 October. The poets are Remy Sylado, Joko Pinurbo, Acep Zamzam Noor, Inggit Putria Marga, Iwan Jaconiah and Sihar Ramses Simatupang. The poems were read by state figures and officials, such as Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga S. Uno, Education, Culture, Research and Technology Minister Nadiem Makarim and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir. All proceeds from the auction will be donated to orphans who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Environmentalists in Indonesia created a museum made entirely of plastic waste. It consists of more than 10,000 plastics collected from polluted rivers and beaches. The museum is located in Gresik, East Java and took three months to build. The purpose of the museum is to encourage people to rethink their habits and say no to single-use plastic bags and bottles.
The works of Indonesian painter Ronnie Jiang were exhibited in the Déstructuralisme Figuratif (DF) Art Project 2021 which took place at the Parc Floral de Paris on 13-21 October. Ronnie’s works show the destructuring of several faces with a subtle blend of colours by combining stories to expose the contradictions of today’s world. Ronnie is an artist with international achievements, especially in France.
An Indonesian artist participated in the making of Coldplay feat BTS “My Universe” music video that was released on 24 September. He is Leo Aveiro who works at One Pixel Brush. Along with Shaddy, One Pixel Brush took part in the MV production that mostly used green screen and CGI. On his Twitter account @artofaveiro, Leo shared his design, a place in the MV called Calypso or “Hot Planet”.
Indonesian painters Tondi Hasibuan and Cira Bhang took part in the XII Florence Biennale Contemporary Art and Design exhibition which was held at Fortezza da Basso, Firenze, Italy on 23-31 October. They displayed a total of six paintings, namely “Rainbow on My Mind”, “Dream”, “The Queen” and “The King” by Tondi, as well as “Blue Venus” and “Above the Treetops” by Cira. Deputy Head of the Indonesian Representative Office in Rome Lefianna Hartati Ferdinandus was present at the opening of the art exhibition. More than 400 artists from 60 countries participated in the exhibition.