Edwin Jurriens

Dr Edwin Jurriëns is Senior Lecturer and Convenor of the Indonesian Studies program at the Asia Institute of the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne. Previously, he was Lecturer in Indonesian Studies at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at The University of New South Wales (UNSW), Canberra (2004-2012) and Postdoctoral Fellow at Leiden University, The Netherlands (2001-2003).

He holds a PhD and double Master's and undergraduate degrees in Literature and Indonesian Studies from Leiden University. He also studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta.

Edwin’s research, teaching and engagement interests are in contemporary art, media, culture, language and society in Asia, particularly Indonesia. His most recent books are the monograph Visual media in Indonesia: video vanguard (Routledge, 2017) and the edited volume Digital Indonesia: connectivity and divergence (ISEAS, 2017). His journal articles have been published in Third Text, Continuum, Art and the Public Sphere, Modern Art, Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, and Indonesia and the Malay World. He is also Asian Visual Cultures book series editor of Amsterdam University Press and IIAS regional editor of The Newsletter. He has had fellowships with Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) at Monash University, Melbourne; The Graduate Institute, Geneva; International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), Leiden; and UNSW, Canberra. He was co-convenor of the 2016 Indonesia Update of the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra.

Edwin’s research focuses on theories and manifestations of environmental art and digital art; cultural activism and participatory art and media; media ecology and the creative industry; urban space and the public sphere; and globalisation and local identity. His main interest has been the role of creativity in representing cultural values and social causes, providing an alternative to the mainstream media and consumer culture, and addressing the intersections between virtual, material and natural environments.
His undergraduate teaching includes all levels of Indonesian language, Asian Arts: Networks and Hubs, Media and Urban Culture in Asia, Creative Industries in Indonesia, Literature: Reading Indonesian Lives, Analysing Indonesia: Concepts and Issues, and Diversity: Identities in Indonesia. His current postgraduate supervision covers projects on contemporary art and media in various parts of Asia.