Natasha Sidharta

Director and Founder, Dana SAM untuk Seni dan Lingkungan (SAM Funds for Arts and Ecology).

A number of labels are often attached to her—collector, enthusiast, connoisseur, patron. All may be accurate, yet they do not fully capture the scope of her practice. Working within an ecosystem, she takes on a role of care and cultivation, nurturing artistic processes and exchanges in multiple forms. 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 Art Collectors Association; board member of IndoArtNow; Co-Chair of the Southeast Asia Collectors Circle at Mori Art Museum, Japan; Selection Committee member for Art Taipei; and contributor or collaborator on an exhibition at SculptureCenter, New York, and another two exhibitions in Nottingham Contemporary, UK.

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 single role, Dana SAM’s grant models continue to evolve alongside the shifting needs of the art ecosystem.