Indonesian artists reflect on past horrors<\/p>\n
By Astri Wright<\/p>\n
VICTORIA, Canada (JP): The staged and spontaneous riots with
\nviolent repercussions in Jakarta in early 1998, leading to
\nSoeharto's stepping down, continue to reverberate through
\ncontemporary Indonesian art. While this was evident at home,
\nthroughout 1998 and 1999, it has become increasingly evident
\nabroad as well. The May violence against the Chinese has by now
\nbecome an established theme in Indonesian literature and art,
\nboth in its own right and as a symbol of human rights abuses and
\nkillings in other provinces, East Timor and Aceh being among the
\nmost notable recent examples.<\/p>\n
Contemporary Indonesian art is no longer dominated by
\ndecorative canvases infused with the spiritual cliches which so
\neasily grace the settings of elite life styles. It has now
\nbranched out into multimedia, installations and performance art,
\nno longer as avant garde art forms, but as regular, established
\ngenres. And while contemporary Indonesian art a decade ago was
\nhardly known beyond a narrow orbit which included Singapore and
\nMalaysia, it is now known internationally as one of the most
\ndynamic parts of the new hot art commodity, contemporary Asian
\nart.<\/p>\n
This shift in international art consciousness has come about
\ndue to the efforts of individual artists and writers and the
\nenormous public relations and funding machines of the huge
\ninternational exhibitions which developed in the course of the
\n1990s. Indonesian art is now featured, several times a year, in
\nthe Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane, in Biennales in Kwangju,
\nKorea, Havana and in numerous exhibitions in Japan. Even Europe,
\nthe stronghold of western art, has opened its doors through the
\nVenice Biennale and other smaller galleries and academic venues.<\/p>\n
During the 1998 riots, many artists watched in shock and
\nhorror. Many of them, resisting their sense of powerlessness,
\nresponded to these events later in their work. Several Indonesian
\nartists left the country for shorter or longer stays abroad; the
\nmental toll of going against the dominant grain at home, year
\nafter year, is heavy.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Non Hendratmo, a young female artist, staged an
\ninstallation at Jakarta's Taman Ismail Marzuki a few weeks after
\nthe tragedy. By 1999, she was living in New York. Seno Gumira
\nAdjidarma, a well-known writer, journalist and editor of Jakarta-
\nJakarta, wrote a chilling short story entitled Clara, or the
\nWoman Who was Raped which was translated into English and
\nperformed informally abroad during a speaker's tour he made to
\nthe U.S.A., Canada and Japan.<\/p>\n
In August 1998, Dadang Christanto created an installation in
\nAustralia entitled Cannibalism, or Jakarta-Solo Memoirs May 13,
\n14, 15, 1998.<\/p>\n
In the same year, Dadang accepted a three-year teaching
\nposition at the University of Northern Territories in Darwin,
\nAustralia. While living there with his wife Nana, son Gunung and
\nnew baby daughter, he continues to travel widely, representing
\nIndonesia in the Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane in September
\n1999, along with Tisna Sanjaya, Moelyono, Agus Ismoyo, Nia Fliam
\nand Mella Jaarsma, and in the Kwangju Biennale in South Korea
\nearly in 2000.<\/p>\n
Arahmaiani<\/p>\n
In May 1998, Arahmaiani, Indonesia's most experimental female
\nartist, stood among the bystanders in the night by looted stores
\nand burning homes where the charred and wounded bodies of
\nChinese-Indonesian women of all ages, many of them raped and
\ntortured, lay. All she could do was sketch, watch and weep.<\/p>\n
In March 1999, at a conference exhibition of art by Southeast
\nAsian female artists in Manila, Arahmaiani created a huge on-site
\nmural, before which she gave a performance, quite different from
\nthat of her usual provocative style.<\/p>\n
Three large white walls were painted in mostly black, with
\ngray and white accents painted with huge brushes. The space was a
\ndark semi-void embraced by ghostly shadows which resembled
\nlarger-than-life figures. Female figures? Yes, they seemed to be.<\/p>\n
In June 1999, Arahmaiani staged a performance art piece at the
\nCentre Culturel Francaise, Bandung: Dayang Sumbi: Menolak Status
\nQuo (Dayang Sumbi: Rejecting the Status Quo) and Tunjukan Hatimu
\nPadaku (Show Your Heart To Me).<\/p>\n
"This is a show with a special theme: Voice of a Woman. My
\nidea this time is to rework or subvert a story from local
\nmythology. While before, woman in the story were given a passive
\nrole, I give her an active role, " Arahmaiani said.<\/p>\n
Semsar<\/p>\n
In February 1999, Semsar Siahaan arrived in Canada as a
\nvisiting artist and speaker at the History of Art department at
\nthe University of Victoria. In June his status changed to that of
\na one-year political refugee, with the possibility of receiving
\npermanent refugee status after the year was up.<\/p>\n
Semsar's three months hosted by the University of Victoria
\nbrought many people into contact with this artist, who to many
\nwas completely unknown in the context beyond the issue of East
\nTimor. To those who had experienced Indonesia through travel,
\nwork or activist lobbying, Semsar's presence provided a shot of
\nvital new energy, including perspectives and opportunities for
\nmeeting other like-minded people. Professors of art and history,
\nwriters living in exile in Canada from South Africa and
\nelsewhere, students of bahasa Indonesia and the Asia-Pacific
\nregion, activists and local artists staging a solidarity
\nexhibition for the struggle in Chiapas, most of those who
\nattended were moved by Semsar's public appearances.<\/p>\n
In mid-March, Semsar finished his first painting in Canada, a
\nlarge canvas (200 cm x 140 cm) which he had started only six
\nweeks earlier. Entitled Black Orchid, this painting was presented
\nat a university colloquium. The composition centers around the
\nartist's self-portrait. As the focal point in the canvas, it
\nbinds together the other turbulent scenes represented.<\/p>\n
Black Orchid shows how the internal and external mix and merge
\nin Semsar's work. While this was often a feature of his earlier
\nworks, it appears now with the addition of metaphors of distance
\nand reflection and the incorporation of memory and commemoration
\ninto his statement. It shows how Semsar's art ties together the
\npolitical and the personal, the distant and the immediate.<\/p>\n
What, one wonders, does an activist artist in exile, enforced
\nor self-imposed, dream at night? How does exile change his work?<\/p>\n
Basuki Resobowo's art has never changed its focus, even during
\n34 years in exile in the Netherlands, where he died on Jan.5,
\n1999 at the age of 83. Revolution era artist Sudjana Kerton's
\nmature work, throughout 27 years in the U.S.A., even as he
\ncontinuously probed new media and stylistic approaches, for the
\nmost part persisted in depicting Indonesian themes and subjects.
\nHendra Gunawan, while in prison and after his release, continued
\nto paint historical paintings of local battles against the Dutch
\ncolonizers, revolutionary guerrillas at rest and women going
\nabout the business of selling and buying and nursing the children
\nof the nation.<\/p>\n
At least in terms of ideas for future art works, Semsar has
\nsome very clear ideas rooted in his Indonesian experiences over
\nthe last 20 years. At the same time, the artist is dealing with
\nthe shift in identity in which seeking domicile in a new nation
\ninvolves: Between June and July 1999 he painted a huge canvas
\nentitled Confusion, which depicts human figures, including his
\nown and ghosts of people from his past, reclining, struggling and
\nreaching across a space defined, from left to right, by a banana
\nand an oak tree.<\/p>\n
On the question of exile and artistic focus, Dadang quotes
\nfrom Darwin: "I believe that, as of yet, there are no changes,
\nbecause until now, my spirit is still the same as when living in
\nIndonesia ... If, nevertheless, there has been a change, it is
\nthat I feel I can be more courageous when it comes to expressing
\nmy thoughts in Australia ... I feel less hampered and more bold
\nand able to sharpen and intensify the themes in my work. For
\nexample, I am beginning to dare to think about themes surrounding
\nIndonesia between 1965 to 1966, which, until now, these events of
\nbloody butchering have not been touched on by the reformists."<\/p>\n
What will become ever more clear, as historical understanding
\nmatures, is that this past year has most likely awoken the
\nconsciences of and mobilized larger numbers of artists and other
\npeople than at any one time in the last 32 years of Indonesian
\nhistory.<\/p>\n
The writer is Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Art at
\nthe University of Victoria in western Canada.<\/p>",
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