Art & Design Forum | Andres Anangard

Art from the Kampung: Building With Community, Not For It

This presentation explores Anagard's community-based art practice in the kampung, the village and neighbourhood settings of the Yogyakarta region of Java, and the methods he has developed for making art with, for, and alongside the communities it depicts. It examines an alternative model of contemporary art practice, one that moves away from the studio-to-gallery pipeline that dominates Yogyakarta's established art scene, and toward sustained collaboration with the kampung. The talk traces the origins of this practice in the aftermath of the 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake and its expansion following the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi, when art-therapy-based projects were used to support communities through recovery, before examining how this work has since grown into an ongoing model of community contribution and connection — as Anagard puts it, offering not food or medical care, but art, and with it, joy, identity, and connectedness. Using a series of community-based art festivals as case studies — including the Geneng Street Art Festival (2013–2015), Sejeblog Mural Festival (2017), Jogja–Purworejo Mural Festival (2018), Tamansari Kampung Mural Festival (2021), and Mural to Kampung (2023) — the presentation will discuss how concept and design are developed collaboratively with residents, from initial idea through to painting, and how these festivals combine art, performance, and markets where the kampung is a shared space of dialogue and collective ownership. The talk will conclude with a live stencil street art demonstration.

Andres Anangard is a stencil street artist based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, whose work blends traditional Southeast Asian motifs with contemporary urban visual language. Trained at the Indonesia Institute of the Arts, he uses intricate, multi-layered stencil techniques to explore cultural identity, resilience, and post-colonial dialogue.

Anagard’s works have been exhibited across Asia, Europe, and Australia. His solo exhibitions include Spray, Peace, Diversity (Singapore, 2022), Artventure (Jakarta, 2024), and From Nasi Padang to the World (NAFA, Singapore, 2024). He has participated in numerous international residencies, including NAFA, Tutti Arts at OzAsia Festival (Australia, 2016), and programs in Lithuania, Belgium, and Indonesia. 

Beyond his own practice, Anagard is committed to fostering inclusive, community-driven art ecosystems. As founder of Cosmos Street Art community, Anagard is a mentor and advocate for emerging artists. He has received major awards including the UOB Southeast Asian Painting of the Year (Singapore, 2019) and Stencil Art Prize (Sydney, 2019).