Roedjito, drawings from God<\/p>\n
Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
At home and internationally, Roedjito is famous as an art
\ndirector for both the stage and film. His direction has set the
\nscene for dramatic performances by Rendra, the late Teguh Karya,
\nN. Riantiarno, the late Arifin C. Noer and Putu Wijaya and dance
\nperformances by Sardono W Kusumo, Retno Maruti and Farida Oetoyo.
\nHe has designed the artistic element of the films of Garin
\nNugroho, Marseli and Asrul Sani.<\/p>\n
Roedjito has also worked with fledging dramatists. To those
\nstruggling to shape a career, the experience of collaborating
\nwith such a skilled and seasoned art director is a privilege.
\nHe has been working as art director since the establishment of
\nthe Ismail Marzuki Park (TIM) in 1968 but few at TIM know that he
\nbegan as a fine artist because Roedjito has rarely displayed his
\nworks.<\/p>\n
\"Early in the 1970s I took part in a joint exhibition at TIM
\nand displayed drawings I had made between 1957 and 1967. After
\nthat I was absent from the gallery scene for a long time because
\nI was too busy with the performing arts,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Roedjito teaches scenography at the school of performing arts
\nat the Jakarta Institute of the Arts (IKJ). He founded the fine
\nart department of the Jakarta Arts Educational Institution (LPKJ)
\n(now IKJ) together with the late Oesman Effendi (OE) and the late
\nNashar. At one time he was also a member of the fine art
\ncommittee of the Jakarta Arts Council.<\/p>\n
Born in Purworedjo in Central Java 71 years ago, Roedjito
\ncompleted his elementary schooling in the neighboring town of
\nGombong.<\/p>\n
He went to high school in Bandung between 1949 and 1951 and
\nstudied at the school of law and social sciences at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia between 1954 and 1957. In 1970 he studied
\nat the East West Center in Hawaii, USA.<\/p>\n
His educational background indicates that art was a subject
\nthat he became interested in on a personal level and that he was
\nself taught rather than nurtured by an institution. He also has
\na deep passion for the philosophy of Java (his birthplace) and
\nthe Sufism of Islam, his religion.<\/p>\n
Artists of Rendra's age call him Mas (Elder Brother)and
\nyounger artists Mbah (Grandfather). Few people address him with
\nthe more formal Bapak (Mister). Choreographer Boy G Sakti of West
\nSumatra, who runs a dance workshop in Depok, usually calls him
\nPak De (Elder Uncle).<\/p>\n
\"I don't care what they call me -- that is unimportant,\"
\nRoedjito said.<\/p>\n
Although Roedjito is famous he retains a lifestyle with modest
\ntrappings. He likes to travel by bajaj (a motorized three-
\nwheeler) from his house in Jl. Cilosari No. 14, Central Jakarta,
\nto IKJ at the TIM complex. Last year, when the TIM management
\nprohibited the bajaj he was riding in from entering the park,
\nwith its disruptive noise and trail of thick black smoke,
\nRoedjito was furious.<\/p>\n
\"That is a bad policy,\" he said angrily.<\/p>\n
But fortunately for Roedjito, maintaining this mode of
\ntransport is not a problem as the policy was later scrapped.<\/p>\n
In 1995 Roedjito received an art prize from the ministry of
\neducation and culture and in 1996 he received the Bushiri Gatra
\nAward.<\/p>\n
Rudjito said his haj pilgrimage to Mecca in 2000 had not only
\nimproved his devotion to religious duties but made his creativity
\nmore powerful.<\/p>\n
\" I've come to the belief that creating something of real
\nvalue is to celebrate beauty, love and passion, with a view to
\nglorifying God. We should not create something merely because of
\nits intrinsic value.\"<\/p>\n
He said that after his return from Mecca he had a spiritual
\nexperience that prompted him to take up painting again, an
\nactivity that he had abandoned for many years.<\/p>\n
\"About two months after returning from the haj pilgrimage I
\nsuddenly had an urge to draw. I found a pen and a small piece of
\npaper and after a short time I had finished a drawing,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Roedjito calls this phenomenon tan kinira, a Javanese phrase
\nmeaning the sudden outburst of ideas. He relied on his instinct
\nto guide the drawing and after the first was completed he had the
\ndesire to make another and another. In the period of 2000 to 2003
\nhe had made 3,000 drawings. All the drawings were black and
\nwhite, ink, and ranged from a tiny matchbox sized work to the
\nsize of a note pad.<\/p>\n
Roedjito never recorded the date, the year or the title of his
\ndrawings. Most unusually he didn't sign them either. The
\ndrawings are his spiritual language just as they were the result
\nof his spiritual exploration.<\/p>\n
About 600 of the drawings from this period were displayed at
\nGaleri Cipta last month. They were exhibited for the
\ncontemplation and enjoyment of visitors to the gallery and not
\nfor sale.<\/p>\n
\"I don't even want to use the word 'exhibition' as it makes me
\nfeel like I am showing off or arrogant,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The exhibition was organized by his close friends, some of
\nwhom contributed to the exhibition's catalog. Those involved
\nincluded artists and writers, such as Emha Ainun Nadjib, Rendra,
\nDanarto, Putu Wijaya, Goenawan Mohamad, Sapardi Djoko Damono,
\nSardono W. Kusumo, Sutardji Calzoum Bachri, Garin Nugroho, Merwan
\nYusuf, Ratna Sarumpaet, Yani Sastranegara, Marselli Sumarno and
\nButet Kertaredjasa.
\n \"Mbah Roedjito is free from space and time,\" wrote Emha Ainun
\nNadjib in a book of prints of Roedjito's drawings.<\/p>\n
Film maker Marselli Sumarno described Roedjito as a \"diligent
\nscavenger of beauty.\" \"His spirit is connected with discovering
\nsomething but not searching for it.\"<\/p>\n
Rendra said, \"Mas Roedjito kneels to God and becomes like a
\ndrawn line. A line that dances and turns in space. The space is
\nbright and colorful. He kneels and he becomes free in space and
\ntime.\"<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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