Students see EU differently<\/p>\n
Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
This year's event of the European Union (the EU) took the
\norganizers, and the public, a step further. Entertaining the
\nIndonesian public with various kinds of traditional and
\ncontemporary features of their culture is all nice and well. But
\nhas it helped in shaping an idea of what the EU actually is? What
\ndo Indonesian students of art imagine when they think of the EU?<\/p>\n
Twenty students of the arts and crafts departments of the
\nJakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) ventured into \"imagining the EU\", an
\nassociation of countries of which most seem to have had only some
\ndistant notion. Quite surprisingly, since the world of art has
\nknown the term \"Europe\" for ages and art from the West is usually
\nintroduced by art from Europe.<\/p>\n
Even more surprising is the curator's request to spectators,
\nnot to view the works from an artistic perspective. And that,
\nwhile it is about the works of students now in their second,
\nthird and fourth year at IKJ! Moreover, the exhibition is
\nannounced as an Arts Exhibition.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the works do reveal the extent to which the EU
\nis known among arts students in the 23-25 years age group.
\nMuhammad Taufiq for one, retorts through the medium of comics
\n(five plates) that not much is known about the EU.<\/p>\n
Free to express whatever came to mind in relation to the EU,
\nit was, however, special icons representing a certain country
\nthat most participants referred to in their works.<\/p>\n
For Ahmad Fauzi, it's the Euro Cup that first comes to mind.
\nAnggun Priambodo remembers British Damien Hirst's I'm going to
\ndie and I want to lie forever. Bertie Alia Bahaduri thinks of a
\nclean environment, such as hailed by the Cranberries rock group.
\nHer installation titled Foria Europa Batik is a kind of standing
\nlamp made of textile, and decorated with packages of products,
\nlike tea of a British brand. Guntur Wibowo depicts a tiger head
\nsymbolizing power, linked to British guards marching on
\nhorseback. Still in Britain, it's John Lennon and the legendary
\nBeatles who give rise to Agus Nugraha's installation consisting
\nof Lennon's picture, some candles and incense. Astrid Rosdiana
\nIshak, a student of Fashion Design and Clothing, remembers How
\nMusic Influences Fashion back in the 1960s and 70s.<\/p>\n
Photographic pictures include Parodi Eropa by Eriek Nurhikmat,
\nTimur Angin and Asep Sugianto, whose Berbagi Mimpi pictures an
\nIndonesian school of simple means. The blackboard has the map of
\nEurope and the list of EU member countries. \"I just wish we had
\nschools like the Europeans,\" sighed Asep.<\/p>\n
Direct references to the European Union are found in Trika
\nJ.S.' work titled United. It links photo pieces of the various
\nbrands, shapes and colors of European cars into one unit applying
\nthe mode of puzzle making. The same can be said of Novan
\nDickman's Union People, a two-dimensional silhouettes presenting
\nthe EU member countries. Although each have different features,
\nthey will have one Euro currency. Muhammad Iqbal's sculpture of
\nballs stacked upon each other reflects his vision of the EU.
\nAprilia Apsari displays eight panels, each carrying one letter of
\nthe word European, with images she has seen in foreign magazines.
\nYohanes Caturwindu Yudha pictures a couple in front of a glass
\nwindow featuring the EU's logo. Irwan Lesmana (b. 1977) crafts
\nrailway coaches representing the EU member states on the speedway
\ntowards success.<\/p>\n
Nasya Patrini Rusdi 's Husein and Jacqueline deals with the
\nmore universal issue of mixed marriages. Other works are open to
\nany of the spectator's interpretation like Indra Arief Hidayat's
\nUntitled silkscreen on canvas and Galuh Yudistiranto's collage of
\ncolor print photography which looks like a traffic problem, but
\nmight as well denote something else.<\/p>\n
PAW Purwo Adi Widodo is the only one referring to historical
\nevidence of close Indonesian-European links in the arts. A
\ndigital image on canvas titled Mona Ida Ayu looks like a twin
\nsister of Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, but just a bit more
\ntimid and made to look Balinese by dressing and wearing jewelry
\nlike a Balinese woman and a white frangipani flower as the
\nfinishing touch.<\/p>\n
The exhibition is at the Erasmus Huis, and runs until Nov. 24.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-see-eu-differently-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }