Ruangrupa is a Jakarta-based art collective consisting of ten core representatives and an unfixed number of members. Loosely translated from Bahasa Indonesia as “a space for art,” ruangrupa (abbreviated as ruru) emerged in the late 1990s amidst a grassroots Indonesian cultural renaissance that followed the end of a 31-year military dictatorship. Over the next two decades, the collective built itself an extensive and diverse membership of artists, architects, writers, activists, and researchers, spearheading events and socially-minded projects like a research archive, radio station, publishing wing, and public learning space, and running local and international workshops, exhibitions, and festivals, including several international biennales.
