BiasArts – The British Indonesian Artists’ Society is an Arts organisation embracing cultural diversity together with a firm commitment to the conservation of the natural environment.

It is a non-profit making society, based both in the UK and Indonesia. It provides opportunities for exchange programmes, linking artists from the UK and Indonesia with art galleries and art institutions.

BiasArts has itself also successfully organised exhibitions. In the Summer of 2006 it staged a touring exhibition consisting of the work of 12 artists: six of whom live and work in Britain, and six who live and work in Indonesia. These six months touring exhibition commenced in Brighton at the Christopher Gull Gallery, then moving to the Kufa Gallery in London before arriving at the Jenggala and Pranoto Galleries in Bali. This exhibition attracted very diverse audiences ranging from British and Indonesians in the UK, to an International audience in Bali.

In addition, a group of disable children from a charity based in Bali was invited to the opening at the Pranoto Gallery in Ubud, Bali. Bias Arts truly believes that art must be accessible; hence our efforts to deliver this are constantly being evaluated.

Bias Arts also actively engages in projects, which develop and enhance educational thinking. Since 2006, BiasArts UK has been promoting cross-cultural creativity with an educational project aimed at young people aged between 11-14, focusing on literary creativity, specifically the short story.

Six British children and six Indonesian children were selected each to write a short narrative on a particular theme. All the stories have been published in one volume, containing both English and Bahasa Indonesia translations.

In conjunction with this literary project, a pilot project has been launched in schools in Probolinggo – East Java, concerned with green issues and climate change education. The children have been asked to write a paragraph stating what they like most about their city and how they would like seeing their city in the future.

A museum-based project is also underway, where children are given copies of old Indonesian notes. Using the images and the dates on these currency notes, they are being asked to explore the narrative on these notes and identify the significant events in world history surrounding them. In addition, Bias Arts Indonesia focuses on the creation of City Museum projects. The intention is that a group of local researchers will conduct research about the history of their city. The current project concerns the city of Probolinggo, which has existed since the Majapahit Kingdom of the 16th century.

BiasArts Indonesia and Lasting Earth UK are also embarking on a social project for the economically disadvantaged fishermen’s' community. The project aims to create long-term economic sustainability by improving the smoke and dry fish processing system. This is intended to overcome existing problems. Currently production has had to be reduced due to the weather and the unsatisfactory conditions of hygiene. To read more about our project, click on - Current Project -