TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian contemporary painter FX Harsono won the Josep Balestier Award for the Freedom of Art 2015. The award was jointly presented by Mr. Kirk Wagar,U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and Mr. Lorenzo Rudolf, Founder and Fair Director, Art Stage Singapore.
According to an email received by Tempo, FX Harsono won US$5,000 or aroundRp62 million money prize and pushed aside six other nominees. FX Harsono’s selection is based on his unstinting activism in the contemporary art scene, through which he has continually examined the social realities of his home country.
In 2013, FX Harsono was crowned as Tempo Magazine’s Figure of Art for Visual Art category.
The Joseph Balestier Award for the Freedom of Art honors an artist or curator from the Southeast Asian region who is actively committed to the ideals of freedom and liberty, and through his or her work, continually seeks to express these ideals.
“I salute Mr Harsono’s courage and conviction and hope that other artists across ASEAN continue to follow his example, no matter where they are or what medium they work in,” Wagar said.
DIAN YULIASTUTI