East Kalimantan Artist Cadio Tarompo Marks 55 Years With Solo Retrospective
- 28 Jul 2026 17:14 WIB
- Voice of Indonesia
Key Points
- Self-taught East Kalimantan painter Cadio Tarompo is showcasing his career in the solo retrospective exhibition "Traces of Time: 55 Years of Artistic Journey" in Samarinda.
- Cadio is internationally recognized for exhibiting his works in Germany, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
RRI.CO.ID, Samarinda - From his modest studio in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, self-taught painter Cadio Tarompo has rendered the richness of Nusantara culture and brought his work to prestigious galleries in Germany, Singapore, and China. Now, the long journey of the maestro who has raised his region’s profile on the global stage is presented in a solo exhibition titled Traces of Time: 55 Years of Artistic Journey.
Cadio Tarompo (born Ariyadi) is a distinguished senior visual artist from East Kalimantan, born in Sengkang on 27 July 1971. Based in Balikpapan, the self-taught maestro is known for his skill across styles, from three-dimensional and realist painting to hyperrealism.
One of his iconic techniques is the use of cliché/negative color painting. Through this method, Cadio’s works appear remarkably more vivid, detailed, and lifelike when viewed with a negative filter on a smartphone camera.
He began his professional career in 1990, and his works have featured in international exhibitions across Asia and Europe, including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Germany.
Over his career, Cadio has earned numerous prestigious accolades, among them are First Prize in the East Kalimantan Model Painting Competition (1995), nominee for the Jakarta Art Award (2008), nominee for the Indonesia Art Award (2010), nominee for UOB Indonesia (2011), and Mandiri Art Award Favorite Work (2015).
Across more than 30 years of practice, he has produced hundreds of paintings using a variety of media—canvas, murals, fabric, and ulin wood.
Notable works include the realist painting Potensi (2014), Farewell Corona, which is themed around pandemic-era optimism, and several other notable pieces. He also created a series of cultural documentary paintings that capture portraits of people, natural beauty, and intricate traditional motifs from Kalimantan and across the Nusantara.
Head of the Cultural Preservation Center (BPK) of East Kalimantan, Lestari, said the retrospective exhibition Traces of Time: 55 Years of Artistic Journey was held at the BPK East Kalimantan office complex on Jalan Rifadin, Samarinda, on 27 July 2026.
According to Lestari, the exhibition is part of the 2026 Cultural Advancement Facilitation priority program initiated by the Ministry of Culture. She emphasized that the program demonstrates the administration’s concrete commitment to supporting cultural practitioners at the regional level through Technical Implementation Units (UPT).
"The Ministry of Culture provides many facilities for cultural practitioners, and this is indeed one of our priority programs. Not only at the center, but UPTs in the regions are also actively engaged. Mr. Cadio Tarompo’s exhibition is fully facilitated by East Kalimantan BPK," said Lestari in Samarinda on Tuesday, 28 July 2026, as quoted by Antara.
She added that the choice to facilitate the visual arts stems from a desire to give the visual cultural sector broad space to present their works optimally. More than a visual showcase, the retrospective is viewed as an important moment to gather historical data on the nation’s cultural development.
"These visual works are an opportunity for us to collect data on the trajectory of our civilization. After all, Mr. Cadio Tarompo’s 55-year artistic journey records a long creative process, from his earliest paintings to the present. There will surely be many cultural displays documented and expressed within it," said Lestari.
Through over half a century of visual and artistic archives, Cadio’s works are expected to serve as valuable material for tracing cultural history. In addition, the collection is projected to be a source of inspiration for younger generations.
The Head of BPK East Kalimantan also hopes the program will act as an initial catalyst to broaden facilitation access for other local artists in the future.***
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