Indonesia's rising creators have been working to change their creative sector as the country's emerging creatives claim their opportunities are restricted due to a lack of domestic patrons and inconsistent government assistance.
This has been especially true for artists living outside the three main art hotspots, including Jakarta, which has proven profitable for artists, the island paradise of Bali, and Yogyakarta, the creative center for avante-garde works.
Sidoarjo-based artist and activist Syska Liana, also known as Syska La Veggie by her art colleagues, said that the Indonesian art scene has gravitated towards parts of the country with conducive ecosystems like Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Bali in the past few decades.
However, she noted that this may be changing.
According to Statista, the value of Indonesia's retail art market was estimated to reach $280 million in 2019, an amount expected to expand as the number of domestic consumers increased.
Syska claimed that the city has plenty of crazy rich individuals who buy art, but most are in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Singapore, and even Hong Kong.
However, she said that with the "right conditions," Surabaya and East Java have what it takes to carve out an important art scene.
The artist listed other names as "living proof" that the city can produce modern artists of international renown, among them Madura-born Suvi Wahyudianto, who took home the prestigious UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year prize in 2018. But she said that funding would be needed to make that happen.
Elizabeth Yuliawati, owner and founder of Orasis Art Space, has long supported Surabaya's artistic community and is the gallery's longest-surviving private art operator.
"I've spent the last 20 years working within Surabaya's art scene through Orasis. It hasn't been easy, but I see it as my personal mission to see the city become a vibrant centre of the arts in Indonesia," she said.
Deby Prima Dewi, managing director at Orasis, noted that the gallery had spent the last three years focusing on its redesigned approach of "positioning" itself as a dependable curator for art investors within Surabaya's art scene.
Furthermore, she claimed, citing that international art galleries and auction houses were still seen as a "surer bet," that they have identified one of the main reasons the city's art collectors are reluctant to acquire new objects from local sources, which is the issue of trust.
