Many historical research and facet about modern art in Indonesia which formulating background of contemporary Indonesian Art. Indonesian art critic Sanento Yuliman states that Modern art has been rapidly developing in Indonesia since the Indonesian Independence in 1945. Modern Art is a part of the super culture of the Indonesian metropolitan and is closely related to the contact between the Indonesian and Western Cultures. Its birth was part of the nationalism project, when the Indonesian people consists of various ethnics were determined to become a new nation, the Indonesian nation, and they wished for a new culture, and therefore, a new art. The period 1960s, which was the beginning of the creation and development of the painters and the painters associations, was the first stage of the development of modern art in Indonesia. The second stage showed the important role of the higher education institutes for art. These institutes have developed since the 1950s and in the 1970s they were the main education institutes for painters and other artists. The artists awareness of the medium, forms or the organization of shapes were encouraged more intensely and these encouraged the exploring and experimental attitudes. Meanwhile, the information about the world's modern art, particularly Western Art; was widely and rapidly spread. The 1960s and 1970s were marked by the development of various abstractions and abstract art and the great number of explorations in various new media, like the experiment with collage, assemblage, mixed media. The works of the Neo Art Movement-group in the second half of the 1970s and in the 1980s shows environmental art and installations, influenced by the elements of popular art, from the commercial world and mass media, as well as the involvement of art in the social and environmental affairs. The issues about the environment, frequently launched by the intellectuals in the period of economic development starting in the 1970s, echoed among the artists, and they were widened in the social, art and cultural circles. The Indonesian economic development following the important change in the 1970s has caused a change in the life of the middle and upper class society, as has the change in various aspects of a big city, particularly Jakarta. The new genre emerged in 1975 which indicates contemporary art in Indonesia, when a group of young artists organized a movement, which was widely known as the Indonesian New Art Movement. This movement criticized international style, universalism and the long standing debate on an east-west-dichotomy. As far as the actual practice of the arts was concerned the movement criticized the domination of the art of painting and saw this as a sign of stagnation in Indonesian art development. Based on this criticism 'the movement' introduced ready-mades and installations (Jim Supangkat). Takes almost two decades that the New Art Movement activists were establishing Indonesian Installation art genre as contemporary paradigm and influenced the 1980's gene ration like, FX Harsono, Dadang Christanto, Arahmaiani, Tisna Sanjaya, Diyanto, Andarmanik, entering the 1990's decade as "rebellion period" ; reject towards established aesthetic mainstream i.e. painting, sculpture, graphic art which are insufficient to express "new language" and artistic needs especially to mediate social politic and cultural situation. Installation Art which contains open possibilities of creation become a vehicle for aesthetic establishment rejection and social politics stagnant expression in 1990s. Installation art accommodates two major field; first, the rejection of aesthetic establishment has a consequences an artists quest for medium; deconstruction models and cross disciplines into multi and intermedia i.e. performance, music, video etc. Second aspect is artists' social politic intention for changes, both conclude as characteristics of Indonesian Installation Art and establishing the freedom of expression in contemporary Indonesian Art until today.