The printmaking exhibition "Pasar Malam" is now showing at Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre in Perth, featuring works by 15 artists from Indonesia and Australia.
The exhibition "Pasar Malam" is on show at Walyalup Fremantle Arts Centre, Perth. from 9 May to 8 August 2026.
Sukma Smita, co-founder and program director of Krack Printmaking Collective, a Jogja-based arts collective behind the exhibition, said the idea grew out of the night market as a shared experience familiar to people in both countries.
For us, the night market has always been a space full of encounters, entertainment, trade, food, games and above all, stories.Sukma Smita, co-founder and Program Director of Krack Printmaking Collective.
Behind the revelry, Sukma said, there is also nostalgia, dreams, and layers of society that rarely meet elsewhere.
It was from this idea that 15 artists were invited to respond to the concept of the night market through their own experiences, she said.
The exhibition features 15 large-scale screenprints on paper, Sukma said. The works were created by nine Indonesian and six Australian artists, she said. Three of them are Indonesian diaspora artists: Leyla Stevens, Ida Lawrence, and Jumadi, she added.
One work takes the form of a three-dimensional paper miniature of a tong setan, a daredevil motorcycle barrel-ride familiar to many Indonesians, Sukma said.
At the opening, she said three artists from Indonesia attended: Malcolm Smith, Tamarra, and Rudi Hermawan.
Tamarra led a karaoke session alongside a band from Indonesia, Sukma said. The following day, she added, Tamarra performed a walking piece from Fremantle Arts Centre into central Fremantle, followed by an artist talk with Rudi and Malcolm.
Sukma said she hopes the exhibition can reveal a different side of Indonesian contemporary art, which is often portrayed through stereotypes. She does not want to explain Indonesia to Australian audiences, but rather open a space for conversation through art, she said.
The exhibition is supported by Visions of Australia, an Australian Government arts funding programme, and 16albermarle, a Sydney-based art space.
That support brings an element of cultural diplomacy, though not in the form of a formal bilateral agreement, she said. Representatives from diplomatic missions were invited to attend, mingling with artists and the public, and even joining in the karaoke at the opening night, Sukma said. She described it as a form of "soft diplomacy" through artistic practice.
Listen to the full interview on the SBS Indonesian podcast.
