07 Dec Makassar Biennale 2025: ReVIval! Awakening Art as Disensus – by: Irfan Palippui, the New Director for Makassar Biennale

Like the Leang-leang cave paintings that were hidden for thousands of years before being rediscovered, the Makassar Biennale (MB) is now challenging itself to rediscover its artistic vision. Through the theme “ReVIval!”, MB seeks to awaken from the ruins of past expectations, where art is no longer simply exhibited, but felt as a living experience. At least, that is the idea.

August 28, 2025 marks the return of the Makassar Biennale under the management of the Makassar Biennale Foundation. This momentum also ends the polemic that has highlighted two fundamental issues in the implementation of this biennial art event: ethical and artistic aspects.

From an ethical standpoint, sharp criticism has been directed at management practices since 2017, which are considered to have failed to adequately accommodate the participation of visual artists, particularly in the city of Makassar. Issues of openness in the implementation, coordination of communication, and transparency in the use of the budget have been the main points of criticism from the artists’ forum towards the organizers entrusted with managing this event.

Meanwhile, from an artistic perspective, fundamental questions have been raised about the curatorial vision, which is considered to deviate from the standards of art biennales in general. The public has expressed doubts about the curator’s competence in setting the main theme and developing sub-themes in a consistent manner. Even more worrying is the lack of integration between research and artistic practice, where the main focus is no longer on the artists as the main participants of the Makassar Biennale.

This situation certainly poses a major challenge for the organizers of the 2025 Biennale, which will take on the theme of “Revival.” A fundamental question arises: what is to be awakened or revived? This is a challenge that must be answered by the new Makassar Biennale Team, especially given the very limited transition period for the takeover of MB by the Makassar Biennale Foundation (YMB).

Faced with these limitations, the Makassar Biennale (MB) Team agreed to take a firm stance: “Let’s do it with all its consequences.” This choice reflects the same spirit as when MB was first held in 2015. However, while maintaining openness, the artistic offerings that focus on art as knowledge that can be felt need to be explored more deeply before the story of MB 2025 begins.

Based on the agreement after the takeover of activities, Revival was established as the main theme. Revival is interpreted as a rebirth or awakening of all aspects that have been invisible, unheard, marginalized, and excluded.

In this context, I agreed with the idea of mural art as the chosen form of artistic production. However, as I have often emphasized, the mode of artistic production can become trapped in a pattern of mere celebration of art if it is not based on strong principles of practice. Therefore, the Makassar Biennale must establish a clear mode of artistic practice so that the mural production we envision can truly occupy the public space of the city of Makassar, rather than merely being an ornament in the name of aesthetics.

Furthermore, the efforts of the MB (Revival) Team to make the discovery of ancient paintings in the Maros-Pangkep karst a starting point are certainly relevant to the themes of the Makassar Biennale from the outset, both Trajectory and Maritime. These two themes have strong intersections: Trajectory (2015) invites us to construct a trajectory or timeline of fine arts, while Maritim (since 2017) serves as a metaphor to connect various trajectories of events from the past to the present.

Choosing the archive of paintings in the Maros-Pangkep karst caves as the starting point for artistic practice is a strategic approach for several fundamental reasons.

First, Revival as a theme needs to be positioned not merely as a discourse on regional identity, but as a topic of affinity that builds networks of connectedness. These paintings can be interpreted as metaphors for reconstructing Makassar’s global networks. Thus, maritime affinity is no longer just about the sea and navigation, but about life itself.

Through the Leang-leang painting archive, the artistic practice of the Makassar Biennale can reinterpret this theme as a symbol or strategy for fighting exploitation and inequality in the global maritime economy. This revival can also invite artists, fishermen, researchers, and environmental activists from around the world who have an affinity for maritime issues.

Second, Revival encourages the Makassar Biennale (MB) to become a political event that interrupts the distribution of sensibilities. In other words, MB no longer views art as merely artistic production, but as a tool to make issues of inequality and injustice—which are often invisible or ignored—real and urgent.

For example, murals that replicate cave paintings, such as handprints symbolizing ownership, can be used to protest the control of public space by economic or political forces. This opens the way for public participation and gives a voice to those who are marginalized, making them an integral part of the artistic practice. Thus, the Makassar Biennale through Revival can become a platform for challenging unequal power structures, both nationally and globally.

Third, through Revival, the artists involved in the Makassar Biennale (MB) understood the vision and methods of artistic practice offered. The emphasis was on the artists’ ability to create emotional “data”—a record of the impact of social, economic, and environmental injustices experienced by citizens. In addition, they also activate a space for discourse, turning it into an “open laboratory” where artists, curators, and the public can experiment with new methods to understand and respond to injustice.

Participatory artistic practice is strongly emphasized because the knowledge produced is not merely statistical data, but rather a deep and emotional experience. The goal is for art as knowledge to be directly felt by those who have a voice or who have been neglected and excluded from the world they inhabit.

The 2025 Makassar Biennale, with the theme “Revival,” is expected to offer a new paradigm in Indonesian contemporary art practice. Through an approach that combines the Leang-leang ancient painting archives with contemporary issues, MB 2025 is not merely an art exhibition, but is transformed into a living social laboratory.

The courage of the Makassar Biennale Foundation to take over management in a limited time reflects its commitment to restoring artistic integrity and ethical practices that had been problematic. Revival in this context is not only about reviving artistic traditions, but also about raising collective awareness of often hidden injustices.

By making murals the main medium and public spaces the stage, MB 2025 has the potential to create a lasting impact—where art is no longer trapped in an elitist circle, but becomes a catalyst for social change that can be felt directly by the people of Makassar and the world. This is revival: the rebirth of art as a transformative force that connects the past, present, and future in a single narrative of resistance against inequality.

Berru, 07/09/2025