Abstract
Recent statements on globalization, the social life of objects, and the open‐endedness of self‐definition offer fresh angles of approach in the ethnographic apprehension of contemporary art worlds. They are brought together here in an exploration of art forgeries, connoisseurship, value, and exchange in Bandung, Indonesia. Modernist ideas about art, authenticity, and painterly subjectivity not only inform the expert systems that oversee the ‘artness of art’ but also give rise to troubling anxieties and desires associated with ‘originals’ and fakes.’ The efforts of Indonesian painter A. D. Pirous to prevent forgeries of his work from reaching the market throw special light on the difficulties experienced in containing the illusions and confusions of art value. The predicaments are both intimate and global in dimension.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 212-231 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Ethnos |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1999 |
| Externally published | Yes |