Renowned Indonesian filmmaker and artist Garin Nugroho has devoted nearly 45 years of his career to the creative industry. As a filmmaker who has brought Indonesian cinema to the global stage, Garin has also established himself as an interdisciplinary artist, spanning from performing arts, theater, dance, music, visual arts, new media, education, cultural ecosystem development, and cross-generational artistic regeneration.
His works have been featured at international film festivals, museums, and performance venues, and have also given rise to numerous creative spaces, festivals, and communities that have become integral to Indonesia’s artistic and cultural development.
This year, Garin reflects on his creative journey through the exhibition “ARCHIVEPELAGO: Jalan Persemaian Garin Nugroho – 45 Tahun Merekam Indonesia” (ARCHIVEPELAGO: Jalan Persemaian Garin Nugroho – 45 Years of Documenting Indonesia), held from June 25 to July 14, 2026, at Bulaksumur Gallery, the Innovation and Creativity Hub of Universitas Gadjah Mada (GIK UGM) Yogyakarta.
As one of Indonesia’s major archival exhibitions dedicated to a cultural maestro, it presents archives, photographs, posters, artifacts, installations, audiovisual works, and various records of ideas and cultural practices documenting Garin Nugroho’s creative journey over more than four decades.
The exhibition is not merely a celebration of an artist’s creative journey but also an effort to understand Indonesia through the legacy of works, ideas, and cultural ecosystems that have evolved over 45 years. For Garin, his artistic journey resembles that of a “shifting cultivator,” a way of working shaped by encounters with diverse cultural regions across the Indonesian archipelago.
“A shifting cultivator continually discovers and nurtures new plants. Likewise, my encounters with masters from various artistic disciplines have continuously expanded my work beyond film into theater, dance, visual arts, and mixed media. It is a process of cultivating and caring for creative works while constantly sowing the seeds for new ones,” Garin Nugroho said on Thursday (Jun. 25) at GIK UGM.
Exhibition curator Suwarno Wisetrotomo views archives as an essential foundation for building knowledge and cultural awareness. The exhibition seeks to encapsulate Garin Nugroho’s intellectual and creative journey while demonstrating how his works position themselves within Indonesia’s and the world’s aesthetic, artistic, intellectual, and cultural landscapes.
“This exhibition is an effort to capture and summarize his intellectual and creative journey. It explores how Garin Nugroho sees the world and how he is perceived by others, while positioning his work within the intellectual, aesthetic, artistic, and cultural landscapes of Indonesia and beyond,” he said.
President Director of GIK UGM, Alfatika Aunuriella Dini, said GIK UGM remains committed to providing a platform for creativity and innovation, one example being this exhibition by Garin Nugroho. The exhibition would mark the beginning of future exhibitions featuring other distinguished figures at UGM, both in the arts and in science.
“We hope Mas Garin’s exhibition will become the starting point for future maestro exhibitions across the Universitas Gadjah Mada campus,” Alfatika said during the exhibition’s soft opening at GIK UGM.
Regional Secretary of Yogyakarta, Dedi Budiono, emphasized that arts and culture, including filmmaking, are among the key driving forces behind Yogyakarta’s economy. Garin Nugroho’s body of work demonstrates how art and culture have elevated Yogyakarta onto the international stage, becoming the lifeblood of the city.
“We must recognize that our economy is also driven by culture, the arts, and filmmaking. On behalf of the city government, we invite everyone to collaborate in advancing Yogyakarta through arts and culture,” he said.
One of the exhibition’s visitors, Agung, an admirer of Garin Nugroho’s work, said that the experience felt like stepping into a time tunnel tracing the filmmaker’s career, spirituality, and devotion to cinema.
“As a film enthusiast who is familiar with Garin Nugroho’s work, I find this exhibition deeply engaging. It allows me to step into Garin’s creative mind as expressed through film and theater over the years, while witnessing his immense contribution to and passion for Indonesian cinema,” Agung said.
According to Agung, Garin is one of Indonesia’s finest film directors, not only because his films have received numerous national and international awards, but also because he has transformed the face of Indonesian cinema through his works and remarkable contributions.
In addition to the archival exhibition, ARCHIVEPELAGO will feature a series of public programs involving artists, filmmakers, academics, curators, communities, and young people. Discussions, workshops, masterclasses, and film screenings will take place throughout the exhibition as part of the spirit of cultivation and regeneration that has become the foundation of Garin Nugroho’s artistic journey. The exhibition opening was attended by filmmaker Riri Riza, senior actress Christine Hakim, and Dean of SV UGM Agus Maryono.
Author/Photo: Fatihah Salwa Rasyid
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Post-editor: Jasmine Ferdian