From stock market whiplash to gold’s glittering comeback, Art Jakarta 2025 somehow captured it all.
We came for the art and we left questioning our asset allocation.
A packed-filled exhibition hall with art lovers
We didn’t expect to find investing lessons hanging next to oil paintings. But here we are, because Art Jakarta 2025 offered something different this year. It was less “gallery wall” and more “mirror to the markets”, which was a surprisingly vivid meditation on investing, wealth, and what it really means to preserve value in a world full of volatility.
Across bright halls and even brighter installations, three moments stood out: a portrait series that captured the rollercoaster of stock trading, a pop-up gold rest area that felt more like a warm macro hedge than a lounge, and the story of an autistic artist whose sold-out show quietly reminded us of the biggest asset class of all: human potential.
Let’s unpack.
1. The Many Faces of the Market (Literally)
Agus Suwage’s latest series, “Portrait of Possibilities,” was the kind of artwork that stops you in your tracks. Sixty self-portraits, each with a surreal, often absurd twist: a papaya for a head, smoke billowing out of where a head should be, a parrot where a face should be.
We’ve all felt like this– ranging from manic euphoria to existential dread
Credit: Agus Suwage
This art series by Suwage felt like an eerily accurate representation of investing psychology. Want to know how it feels like to trade equities in 2025? You’d probably find one of Suwage’s faces showcase at least one emotion felt by the financial masses.
Some portraits showed anguish. Others, joy. Some looked like they’d just YOLO’d into an AI stock right before a 40% drawdown. And that’s the point: as Suwage puts it, “From each role we play, there are many possibilities. Good or bad.” There’s something oddly comforting about seeing the emotional chaos of investing laid bare on canvas.
It reminds us that volatility isn’t just about price. It’s about people.
2. Treasury’s Rest Area: Where Capital Meets Care
While the rest of the exhibition offered espresso and aircon, Treasury, a digital gold platform, built an entire multisensory rest area. The centerpiece? An interactive table installation titled “Reserve of Care” by artists Azizi Al Majid and Nuri Fatimah.
Treasury’s multi-media installation and the gold products they were showcasing for every life milestone
Credit: Treasury, Aziz Al Mahjid, and Nuri Fatimah
Each of the table’s four legs represented a foundational value: Shelter, Wealth, Care, and Love. Together, they grounded the experience in something we often forget in markets: that money, too, is emotional.
Gold, in this context, wasn’t just a shiny commodity — it was symbolic of all the things we seek to protect.
Source: Bloomberg, normalized with factor 100
And protect, it does.
• Gold is up 53% YTD, outperforming most asset classes.
• Central banks are still buying, adding 166 tonnes in Q2 alone.
• Indonesia launched bullion banks this year to keep more gold in-country.
• Supply? It’s still tight. Mine output is barely growing (only around 1%), and recycling’s flat.
In short: gold isn’t just having a moment. It’s having a regime shift.
This isn’t the first time Treasury has collaborated with artists to showcase Gold’s strength. Here is one by artist Naufal Abshar in his “Gold is King” artpiece for Treasury x Art Jakarta Gardens in 2024.
Which is why at Heyokha, we’ve long held conviction in gold. It’s not just a hedge against inflation. It’s a hedge against institutional fragility, geopolitical shocks, and even shrinkflation in chocolate bars (Read more about what we mean in our shrinkflation blog).
Want the receipts? We’ve got two special reports where we deep dived on these topics:
• Gold: The Return of Real Money
• De-dollarization: The Fall of the American Empire?
Gold may not change, but the world around it does. And in uncertain times, that constancy becomes priceless.
3. Oliver Wihardja and the Limitless Value of Potential
In a hall bursting with visuals, it was the story behind Oliver Wihardja’s work that left the deepest mark.
A 23-year-old artist with autism, Oliver (or Ollie, as he’s fondly known) began painting at six as part of his therapy. Fast forward to 2025, and his latest solo exhibition, “From Chinatown with Love,” was a complete sell-out.
Wiharja artistically captures the colorful atmosphere and warmth of Jakarta’s Chinatown
Credit: Oliver Wihardja
His works, rich in cultural memory and everyday scenes, carry a clarity of detail and color that speaks volumes. But it’s his journey that does the heavy lifting.
From art as healing to art as legacy. And isn’t that the essence of investing?
Not in the stock sense. In the human one.
Oliver’s story is a case study in what happens when belief meets time. When care is compounded. When possibility is nurtured.
We often talk about investing in companies, in commodities, in capital cycles, but this was a visceral reminder that some of the best returns come from investing in people.
And just like gold, that kind of potential never truly loses value.
Final Thought: Let the Market Be Your Museum
Art Jakarta 2025 didn’t offer financial advice. But it offered something better: perspective.
A series of surreal portraits showed us what it feels like to hold conviction in volatile times.
A gold platform showed us that care is as important as capital.
And a young artist reminded us that value isn’t always on a balance sheet.
Investing, like art, is about imagination. About what could be, not just what is.
So whether you’re holding cash, gold, or just trying to hold it together — know this:
The market, like a great painting, is open to interpretation.
And sometimes, that’s where the real return lies.
Tara Mulia
For more blogs like these, subscribe to our newsletter here!
Admin heyokha
Share
From stock market whiplash to gold’s glittering comeback, Art Jakarta 2025 somehow captured it all.
We came for the art and we left questioning our asset allocation.
A packed-filled exhibition hall with art lovers
We didn’t expect to find investing lessons hanging next to oil paintings. But here we are, because Art Jakarta 2025 offered something different this year. It was less “gallery wall” and more “mirror to the markets”, which was a surprisingly vivid meditation on investing, wealth, and what it really means to preserve value in a world full of volatility.
Across bright halls and even brighter installations, three moments stood out: a portrait series that captured the rollercoaster of stock trading, a pop-up gold rest area that felt more like a warm macro hedge than a lounge, and the story of an autistic artist whose sold-out show quietly reminded us of the biggest asset class of all: human potential.
Let’s unpack.
1. The Many Faces of the Market (Literally)
Agus Suwage’s latest series, “Portrait of Possibilities,” was the kind of artwork that stops you in your tracks. Sixty self-portraits, each with a surreal, often absurd twist: a papaya for a head, smoke billowing out of where a head should be, a parrot where a face should be.
We’ve all felt like this– ranging from manic euphoria to existential dread
Credit: Agus Suwage
This art series by Suwage felt like an eerily accurate representation of investing psychology. Want to know how it feels like to trade equities in 2025? You’d probably find one of Suwage’s faces showcase at least one emotion felt by the financial masses.
Some portraits showed anguish. Others, joy. Some looked like they’d just YOLO’d into an AI stock right before a 40% drawdown. And that’s the point: as Suwage puts it, “From each role we play, there are many possibilities. Good or bad.” There’s something oddly comforting about seeing the emotional chaos of investing laid bare on canvas.
It reminds us that volatility isn’t just about price. It’s about people.
2. Treasury’s Rest Area: Where Capital Meets Care
While the rest of the exhibition offered espresso and aircon, Treasury, a digital gold platform, built an entire multisensory rest area. The centerpiece? An interactive table installation titled “Reserve of Care” by artists Azizi Al Majid and Nuri Fatimah.
Treasury’s multi-media installation and the gold products they were showcasing for every life milestone
Credit: Treasury, Aziz Al Mahjid, and Nuri Fatimah
Each of the table’s four legs represented a foundational value: Shelter, Wealth, Care, and Love. Together, they grounded the experience in something we often forget in markets: that money, too, is emotional.
Gold, in this context, wasn’t just a shiny commodity — it was symbolic of all the things we seek to protect.
Source: Bloomberg, normalized with factor 100
And protect, it does.
• Gold is up 53% YTD, outperforming most asset classes.
• Central banks are still buying, adding 166 tonnes in Q2 alone.
• Indonesia launched bullion banks this year to keep more gold in-country.
• Supply? It’s still tight. Mine output is barely growing (only around 1%), and recycling’s flat.
In short: gold isn’t just having a moment. It’s having a regime shift.
This isn’t the first time Treasury has collaborated with artists to showcase Gold’s strength. Here is one by artist Naufal Abshar in his “Gold is King” artpiece for Treasury x Art Jakarta Gardens in 2024.
Which is why at Heyokha, we’ve long held conviction in gold. It’s not just a hedge against inflation. It’s a hedge against institutional fragility, geopolitical shocks, and even shrinkflation in chocolate bars (Read more about what we mean in our shrinkflation blog).
Want the receipts? We’ve got two special reports where we deep dived on these topics:
• Gold: The Return of Real Money
• De-dollarization: The Fall of the American Empire?
Gold may not change, but the world around it does. And in uncertain times, that constancy becomes priceless.
3. Oliver Wihardja and the Limitless Value of Potential
In a hall bursting with visuals, it was the story behind Oliver Wihardja’s work that left the deepest mark.
A 23-year-old artist with autism, Oliver (or Ollie, as he’s fondly known) began painting at six as part of his therapy. Fast forward to 2025, and his latest solo exhibition, “From Chinatown with Love,” was a complete sell-out.
Wiharja artistically captures the colorful atmosphere and warmth of Jakarta’s Chinatown
Credit: Oliver Wihardja
His works, rich in cultural memory and everyday scenes, carry a clarity of detail and color that speaks volumes. But it’s his journey that does the heavy lifting.
From art as healing to art as legacy. And isn’t that the essence of investing?
Not in the stock sense. In the human one.
Oliver’s story is a case study in what happens when belief meets time. When care is compounded. When possibility is nurtured.
We often talk about investing in companies, in commodities, in capital cycles, but this was a visceral reminder that some of the best returns come from investing in people.
And just like gold, that kind of potential never truly loses value.
Final Thought: Let the Market Be Your Museum
Art Jakarta 2025 didn’t offer financial advice. But it offered something better: perspective.
A series of surreal portraits showed us what it feels like to hold conviction in volatile times.
A gold platform showed us that care is as important as capital.
And a young artist reminded us that value isn’t always on a balance sheet.
Investing, like art, is about imagination. About what could be, not just what is.
So whether you’re holding cash, gold, or just trying to hold it together — know this:
The market, like a great painting, is open to interpretation.
And sometimes, that’s where the real return lies.
Tara Mulia
For more blogs like these, subscribe to our newsletter here!
Admin heyokha
Share
