Indonesian artist Maryanto doesn’t march in the streets or shout through a megaphone. Instead, he carves, etches and paints, using his work to both directly and indirectly expose environmental destruction, corruption and the erasure of landscapes with deep histories. Born in Jakarta in 1977, his artistic journey took shape when he enrolled at the Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta (ISI Yogyakarta), where he studied printmaking.
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After graduating, Maryanto worked in the nongovernmental sector, creating art focused on children’s rights and education. Through this experience, he learned from activists, deepened his civic engagement and strengthened his belief that art should do more than adorn a space — it should bear witness to contemporary issues and provoke reflection. For Maryanto, art became a tool for expressing his perspective on the world around him.
