Born in Tegal in Central Java, Indonesia in 1957, Dadang Christanto has produced work rooted deeply in the human experience such as the countless victims of political violence and crimes against humanity for the past 30 years. Now lives on the central coast of New South Wales, Australia, Christanto continues to produce art with an unrelenting message of human suffering and the need for compassion, regardless of differing faiths and political systems.
Christanto was the first Indonesian artist to represent his native country at the Venice Biennale in 2003. He has been curated into many other major art events worldwide including the Sydney Biennale (2010), Setouchi Triennale (Kagawa, 2010), Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale (Niigata, 2006), the Yogyakarta Biennial, Indonesia (2003), Kwangju Biennale, South Korea (2000), the Bienal de Sao Paulo, Brazil (1998).