Edinburgh Napier University

  Sculpture and Activism of Dolorosa Sinaga & Budi Santoso is an exhibition of two sculptors, Dolorosa Sinaga and Budi Santoso who come from two different generations and cultural traditions. They met for the first time in 2000 when Dolorosa opened her Somalaing sculpture studio in Jakarta for Budi, who was studying at the Sculptures Department of the Indonesia Institute of the Arts in Yogyakarta, to learn through working together with her. Crucially, Dolo also opened the doors of her house, her home, and her habitus, inviting Budi to join her and other comrades in sowing and nurturing progressive and democratic ideas through their artistic works and activism. And the rest is history. Twenty-four years later, the National Gallery of Indonesia in Jakarta hosts their duo-exhibition to acknowledge their artistic achievement in the national level, particularly for Budi as this is his first National Gallery show. More importantly, this exhibition demonstrates what can be achieved through a long-term artistic collaboration that began as an apprenticeship, with activism always serving as its foundation.