NATASHA SIDHARTA
Director and Founder

A number of labels are often attached to her—collector, enthusiast, connoisseur, patron. While each may hold some truth, none fully captures the breadth of her practice. Working within an ecosystem rather than a single role, she engages in forms of care, cultivation, and long-term support, nurturing artistic processes and exchanges across multiple contexts. Her initiatives include the Indonesia Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale (2024); a retrospective of Handiwirman Saputra at TOLOT/Heuristic Shinonome, Tokyo (2015); and the co-initiation of Pollination (since 2017) with Zoe Butt.

Natasha is also an active supporter of art institutions both locally and internationally. Her roles have included Advisor to Cemeti Institute for Art and Society; Co-Chair of the Jakarta Young Collectors Association; Co-Chair of the Southeast Asia Collectors Circle at Mori Art Museum, Japan; member of the Selection Committee for Art Taipei; and juror for the Treasury Art Prize since 2023. She has also contributed to and collaborated on exhibitions including Julian Abraham “Togar”’s solo exhibition Too good to be OK at SculptureCenter, New York, as well as two exhibitions at Nottingham Contemporary, UK. In addition, she has commissioned Indonesian artists for site-specific installations at Art Jakarta.

In 2014, she founded Dana SAM, a grant-making foundation that supports artistic research, archival practices, experimentation, projects, publications, and diverse modes of learning. Grounded in her belief that participation in an ecosystem exceeds any singular designation, Dana SAM’s grant models continue to evolve alongside the changing needs of the art ecosystem.