M.S. Alwi Indonesian, b. 1994

M.S. Alwi is a self-taught Indonesian artist based in Banda Neira and Jakarta. Working across sculpture, video, sound, drawing, and painting, his practice explores Indonesian occult traditions, folklore, and vernacular narratives, bringing inherited stories into dialogue with contemporary questions of belief, memory, and collective life.

His recent practice centres on paperclay and recycled paper, transforming discarded materials into sculptural forms that connect material experimentation with storytelling. Through this process, Alwi considers how narratives, rituals, and cultural memory can be carried, transformed, and embodied through material.

Alwi is the co-founder of Banda Artepelago, an art space and residency in Banda Neira, and the founder of Spicy Island Studio. His work has been presented at institutions and platforms including the National Gallery of Indonesia and Indonesia Contemporary Art and Design (ICAD 22).

Rather than working within a fixed stylistic language, Alwi approaches art as a way of observing and questioning the stories, rituals, and everyday realities that shape collective experience.

2025
Unknown Asia 2025 (Art Fair), Umeda South Hall, Osaka, Japan
Art Jakarta by the Garden (Art Fair), Hutan Kota by Plataran, Jakarta, Indonesia
Subliminal Maya: In Flux and Forms of Being (Group Exhibition), RUCI Art Space, Jakarta, Indonesia
Flotsam & Jetsam (Group Exhibition), Geneva Graduate Institute, Geneva, Switzerland
Kids Biennale: Tumbuh Tanpa Takut (Group Exhibition), Galeri Nasional, Jakarta, Indonesia

2024
Beta Alam (Group Exhibition), Ex Deputy Residence, Banda Neira, Indonesia
Blurred Vision (Group Exhibition), Hasaka Bar, Jakarta, Indonesia

2022
ICAD: Fragmenting Yesterday, Reshaping Tomorrow (Group Exhibition), Hotel Grand Kemang, Jakarta, Indonesia

2020
Makassar Biennale: Sekapur Sirih (Group Exhibition, Online)

2019
Democr(Art)sy (Group Exhibition), Rossi Fatmawati, Jakarta, Indonesia

2018
IDEAFEST (Group Exhibition), Jakarta Convention Center, Jakarta, Indonesia
Proyek SKS: Tilik Temu (Group Exhibition), Galeri Nasional, Jakarta, Indonesia
Art Week 2018 (Group Exhibition), Breeze Art Space, BSD, Indonesia

2017
Dar Banda (Solo Exhibition), Rumah Scheiling, Banda Neira, Indonesia