FX Harsono - one of Indonesia's foremost contemporary artists - is the latest to be featured at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM).
Spanning four decades, Harsono's works speak of the changes and upheavals in Indonesian politics, society and culture.
A walk through Harsono's first exhibition in Singapore is like looking at a slice of Indonesian history and politics.
The 61-year-old fought as hard as his passion would take him, assembling the works in the face of fierce opposition from Indonesian authorities and scepticism from art critics.
"They said, 'this is not art, this is rubbish'. These young artists don't know about art and about our Indonesian tradition. But the young art critics said, 'yes, this is a new art'," said Harsono.
Every piece carries a powerful message.
"One thing we hope to achieve in exhibitions like this one is there is always a story behind contemporary art as well. So for Harsono's exhibition, it’s not just about his artistic practice but it's also the narrative of a nation that's behind it, and one man's journey behind it and how he has responded," explained Tan Siu Li, assistant curator at the Singapore Art Museum.
Harsono - who honed his skills in Yogyakarta and later at the Jakarta Institute - crafted politically-charged installations to express his unhappiness with the rule of former president Suharto in the 1990s.
As one wanders from one room to the next, you can see how shifts in political eras influenced the works of Harsono, especially following the resignation of former president Suharto in 1998.
This is when Harsono found the freedom he craved for - to take on a new artistic direction.
Installations of a more domestic setting and self-portraits reflect his shift away from the political to a more personal artistic expression.
Harsono also explores new audio and video mediums in his later works, adding to his vast repertoire of symbolic creations that span more than four decades of Indonesia's past.
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