Intensified institutional cooperation with the Institut Seni Indonesia
In May, the Academy of Fine Arts welcomed colleagues from the Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) in Yogyakarta for a return visit!
In January 2025, Michael Höpfner (Department of Photography) and Angelina Kratschanova (Head of the International Office), together with students from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, visited the Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) in Yogyakarta as part of the Erasmus+ project "International Credit Mobility." The students participated in a workshop titled "The Weight of Water, Time, Matter, Space in Indonesia and Europe" and presented their artistic works. Particularly impressive were studio visits with former ISI graduates, including Heri Dono and Septian Puji Andriyanto.
This encounter marked the starting point for a deeper institutional collaboration, which was formally agreed upon in May 2025 in Vienna by Rector Johan Hartle. The aim is to enable future generations of students and faculty from both universities to develop new perspectives on contemporary art and to learn from each other.
A central figure in this exchange is Dwi Marianto—artist, mentor, and professor at ISI—who founded the Department of Eco-Art over a decade ago. His artistic and theoretical approaches address many of the questions that are gaining increasing relevance in Western discourse on art and sustainability.
The working methods of students in the Eco-Art Department are often rooted in their immediate social surroundings—villages or urban fringe areas around Yogyakarta. Here, art is not primarily understood through conceptual frameworks, but through action, observation, and social engagement. Themes such as cosmology, religion, and nature naturally flow into their artistic practice—not in an esoteric way, but as an expression of a holistic worldview.
During the return visit in May, the studio building of the Department of Photography in Vienna provided an ideal setting for discussions, workshops, and collaborative work. Valuable insights emerged into different artistic strategies—not only in comparison between Indonesia and Europe but also through interdisciplinary exchange among students and faculty from various departments.
A highlight was the public lecture by Dwi Marianto in the Academy's assembly hall, held as part of a Blended Intensive Program with students and faculty from the art academies of Athens and Lisbon. In a workshop with Dwi and Rena Marianto, collective artistic practices were explored—for example, through the collaborative preparation of turmeric juice using a family recipe, where each ingredient was related to healing, community, and personal experience.
As a symbolic conclusion and performative act, Dwi Marianto planted a small oak tree in front of the Academy as part of a project by the Department of Art and Time | Photography in cooperation with KÖR-Vienna—an act of connection, remembrance, and forward-looking action.
Institut Seni Indonesia – Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien
Yogyakarta, 20.–27. Januar 2025 | Wien, 5.–9. Mai 2025