Iraq war sets Tintin's canvas ablaze<\/p>\n
Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The ongoing U.S.-led aggression against Iraq has sent jitters
\nacross the world. Through the footage of Al-Jazeera television
\nstation, we in Indonesia can directly witness the drama enacted
\nby those who claim to be champions of human rights.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, people have responded in different ways. Mass
\nrallies have been staged in front of the U.S. and British
\nEmbassies. Effigies of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair as
\nwell as the U.S. and British flags have been burnt while posters
\nand banners voicing protests against the war have been displayed.<\/p>\n
Street theater has expressed the protesters opposition to the
\nwar and prayers for the Iraqi people have been held in many
\nplaces.<\/p>\n
Taking part in this show of solidarity is a woman artist
\nTintin S. AR, a graduate of Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB)
\nschool of fine arts.<\/p>\n
Through her canvas, using acrylic as the medium, she expresses
\nher sorrow and anger over the war, with one painting titled Kota
\nMembara (City Ablaze). The painting, along with 40 other abstract
\npaintings based on nature and religiosity, are currently on
\nexhibit at Bank Bukopin in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Still, Blazing City is different from the other paintings on
\ndisplay, particularly in terms of color and emotion as shown in
\nthe lines.<\/p>\n
In this particular work, Tintin has made use of the interplay
\nof red and black. The red color looks just like the fire gulping
\nthe rubble that remains of the buildings in Baghdad. Traces of
\nthe pallet knife and the paint brush represent the screams of the
\nvictims of war. Amid these colors and lines, Tintin accentuates
\nthe painting with several golden dots, which, instead of
\nrepresenting the stars in the sky, symbolize the cruise missiles
\ndancing in the night sky in pursuit of their targets.<\/p>\n
Some of the visitors to the exhibit' opening night looked
\ncontemplative and took a deep breath upon seeing this picture.
\nPerhaps they were saying a prayer in their hearts, hoping the
\ninvasion into the Land of 1001 Nights would end soon.<\/p>\n
Tintin is not a new face in Indonesia's fine arts world. She
\nmay be less popular than Astari Rasyid, Arahmaiani, Bunga Jeruk
\nor Lucia Hartini, but, Tintin, who is from Bandung, has been
\npainting since she was a senior high school student some 33 years
\nago.<\/p>\n
Prior to favoring abstract expression, she tried many other
\nstyles, among others, realism and naturalism. She had picked up
\nthis abstract style due to the influence of her lecturers at ITB,
\nparticularly the late Achmad Sadali and Srihadi Soedarsono.<\/p>\n
Tintin's ongoing solo exhibition is her fifth. The first was
\nheld in 1995 although she has taken part in over 50 joint
\nexhibitions here and abroad since 1973. Some of the most
\nimportant exhibitions she has taken part in were the 6th Asian
\nInternational Art Exhibition at Tagawa Art Museum, Japan (1991),
\nConinek Gallery Amersfoot, Holland and Art Gallery in Belgium
\n(1992), and an exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1997).<\/p>\n
Her works were also included in a painting auction in Glarum,
\nSingapore in 2002. Tintin also won a prize in the 2002 Indofood
\nArt Awards.<\/p>\n
Aside from Blazing City, most of her other works in the
\npresent exhibition reflect her incessant exploration of her
\nrelationship with her environment. Look at Lembah Cisarua
\n(Cisarua Valley), Kampung Air (Water Village), Pura Bali
\n(Balinese Temple).
\nWith clear strokes and contrasting colors (blue, yellow, orange
\nand brown), she presents a panorama in the form of a line of
\nhouses, boats, temples, rice fields and clusters of flowers. She
\nhas greatly deformed the objects, that she places under the ever-
\npresent horizon on her canvas, in such a way that sometimes we
\ncan still identify them and at other times get only an impression
\nof these objects. Some of her other works, for example the
\npaintings about the holy Ka'bah, reflect her relationship with
\nreligion.<\/p>\n
Only Tintin knows why human beings are absent in the works
\nthat she has created in the past three years. In her two works on
\nthe Ka'bah, there are millions of people moving around the Ka'bah
\nbut we only get an impression of figures, which she has depicted
\nin a stretch of white color, drowned by the greatness of the
\nKa'bah with a mosque and a minaret in the background. In the
\ncontext of a religious service, a human being is very small
\nbefore God. However, it is worth querying why human beings must
\nbe absent from the houses, boats, the sea, rice fields and
\nvillages in her paintings. Nevertheless, in her daily life,
\nTintin loves people. She has a lot of friends and acquaintances.
\nJust like the rest of us, she loves peace, not war!<\/p>\n
i-BOX:<\/p>\n
The exhibition is held at the lobby of Bank Bukopin, Jl. Kebon
\nSirih No. 12, Central Jakarta. Tel: 021-380 1291. It runs from
\nMarch 28 to April 8 2003.<\/p>",
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