Restu Kusumaningrum discusses the influence of Indonesian traditions and heritage on her work, at the 2015 Arts & Museum Summit.
Restu Imansari Kusumaningrum is the founder and artistic director of Bumi Purnati Indonesia. She produced the Indonesia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2013 and 2015. For her contribution to the 2015 Indonesia Pavilion, she worked with the curatorial team as artistic director, as well as with the Indonesian government and private, national, and international institutions. As the founder and creative director of the Bali Purnati Center for the Arts, Kusumaningrum has used her background as an artist and architect to help promote Indonesian arts and culture, and has worked with performing and visual arts organizations on cultural preservation. She is also an independent consultant for Heritage Preservation and Living Culture, and a founder and chairwoman of Yayasan Losari Foundation, which supports traditional and modern batik with natural coloring. In 2012, she inaugurated the batik workshop “Omah Batik Losari” to preserve the tradition of batik and to empower village women from Jlamprang in Central Java to improve their quality of life. Kusumaningrum has a degree from the Landscape and Environmental Technology School of Trisakti University, Jakarta. She was a special student in the dance department of the Jakarta Art Institute and began her career as a professional dancer, performing in Indonesia and internationally.
