Klaten Biennale Promotes Art and Women’s Role in Environmental Protection

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture is supporting the development of environmental-based art through the Klaten Biennale Environmental Art “Tak Gendong The Power of Women.” The event serves as a meeting point for art, the environment, communities, and cultural values that are part of everyday life.

Based on the release received by RRI VOI l in Jakarta, Monday, August 31, 2026, the fourth Klaten Biennale, held from April 20 to 22, 2026, at the Lima Benua Public Space in Klaten, Central Java, received support from the Dana Indonesia Raya Program through the 2025 Dana Indonesiana under the Public Space Utilization category. Organized by the Angin Segar Foundation, the event brought together artists, local communities, and environmental groups.

Adopting the concept of Environmental Art, this year’s Klaten Biennale carries the theme “Tak Gendong The Power of Women.” The theme highlights ecological issues, waste management, and the role of women in protecting the environment through everyday practices.

The phrase “Tak Gendong” represents the ideas of responsibility, burden, and strength. In the context of “The Power of Women,” the concept reflects women’s role in “carrying the ecological burden,” including through household waste sorting and management.

The Klaten Biennale showcases not only visual artworks, but also involves local communities in the creation and development of artistic works. Around 50 artists and cultural practitioners participated alongside women’s waste bank groups, waste pickers, and environmental activists.

The event also promotes a translocal approach through upcycling, a creative process that transforms used materials or waste into new products with greater functional or aesthetic value. The collaboration between artists and communities makes public spaces both a medium for artistic expression and a platform for raising environmental awareness.

Artworks are displayed not only in conventional galleries and exhibition spaces, but also along streets, riverbanks, rice fields, alleys, buildings, and blumbang, or ponds. This approach makes community living spaces an integral part of the artistic process while demonstrating the development of contemporary art in rural areas.

The Klaten Biennale was officially opened by M. Asrian Mirza, Special Staff to the Minister of Culture for Media and Public Communications, and brought together five masters of classical Indonesian arts and five contemporary art masters. Through the event, art is expected to become a medium for responding to climate change, strengthening social solidarity, and connecting local cultural values with global developments.