“The Voices Controlled By The Powers” by FX Harsono (1995)
With people in Indonesia still getting thrown in jail for things they post on social media, freedom of expression is still a very important issue in this country. So it’s nice to see one of our finest artists, FX Harsono, getting recognized for his courageous work on the subject.
Yesterday evening, Harsono was awarded the inaugural “Joseph Balestier Award for the Freedom of Art” in Singapore. The award was created to honor the work of Southeast Asian artists who have shown a commitment to the ideals freedom in their work.
The organisers said they chose Harsono for “his critical installation and performance work spans pro-democracy dissent to explorations of the experiences of ethnic minorities”.
Harsono, who is based in Jakarta, has long been known as one of Indonesia’s most daring artists. He is perhaps best known for his 1994 work “The Voices Controlled By The Powers” (pictured above), which was created in response to the Indonesian government shutting down Tempo magazine after it exposed corruption in the Suharto regime.
The award, which comes with a US$5,000 grant, was presented by Art Stage Singapore and the Embassy of the United States of America in Singapore. The award is named after Joseph Balestier, the first American diplomat to Singapore, who was appointed in 1836.
