Time to keep wary eye on art treasures<\/p>\n
By Astri Wright<\/p>\n
VICTORIA, Canada (JP): The emphasis in Indonesian media and
\nart exhibitions in the last few years was on emerging painters.
\nYoung men and women who 10 years ago would have had a terribly
\nhard time gaining access to mounting solo exhibitions in smaller
\ngalleries were invited to hold large shows in the nation's most
\nestablished galleries.<\/p>\n
In the wake of the art boom that began around 1990, the
\nnumbers of would-be artists, ranging from more to less talented,
\nsoared.<\/p>\n
Competition was ignited by stories of sudden successes, like
\nunknown young artists winning major international art awards. In
\nsuch a busy and congested scene, perspectives of art history and
\nesthetics were often forgotten or ignored.<\/p>\n
Pricing of artworks became arbitrary, based on greed and
\nignorance. Amid all the new debuts, senior artists, the
\npathbreakers of past historical eras, at times were lost from the
\nlarger picture.<\/p>\n
Prices soared out of sight both for the lucky few among the
\nnew artists, whose art or personality hit a media nerve, and for
\nthose fortunate senior or historical painters who still captured
\nthe collecting public's interest.<\/p>\n
With the economic downturn in Indonesia over the last six
\nmonths, the art boom -- already slowing down over the past two
\nyears -- is over. At least for the time being.<\/p>\n
This seems to be the case from the perspective of most
\nIndonesian collectors. But the situation also invites important
\nquestions.<\/p>\n
As a culture critic and art observer, I recommend keeping a
\nvery close eye on what is painted, sculpted, performed and
\nwritten in the country now and in the months to come.<\/p>\n
It has been documented in many times and places that modern
\nartists often produce their best work during personally and
\nsocially challenging times.<\/p>\n
During wartime, with its military and civilian struggle, in
\nperiods of political oppression, hunger and economic crisis, the
\ninsincere artists fall away. Good-luck hunters seek opportunities
\nin other, more immediately lucrative areas.<\/p>\n
The making of high-quality art demands a nonmaterialistic
\nattitude as the basic starting point. During difficult times,
\nonly those artists who are obsessed with their need for artistic
\nexpression continue to work.<\/p>\n
Commodity<\/p>\n
Since such artists are filters through which the deepest
\nspirit of their historical moment manifests itself, their art
\nincreases in intensity.<\/p>\n
If local collectors are not buying art at present, will modern
\nIndonesian art now revert to being a commodity collected mostly
\nby outsiders, as it was during the colonial period and the first
\nthree decades after independence?<\/p>\n
Will the significant works produced by artists in this time
\nof general suffering and increased national tension be brought
\nout of the country, perhaps even before they are documented
\nphotographically? Will they be lost before they can become part
\nof the record of modern Indonesian art history and of individual
\nartist's careers?<\/p>\n
Or will foreign speculators be able to buy up the art cheaply,
\nhoard it and wait for the moment when the market has stabilized
\nagain, to sell the works to the highest bidder?<\/p>\n
Furthermore, with public and private budgets disintegrating
\nthroughout the country and massive unemployment, what will happen
\nto the security around already established art collections?<\/p>\n
If art theft was already a problem in the last two years, what
\nwill happen to the national, municipal and provincial government
\ncollections of art, not to speak of significant large private art
\ncollections in Java and Bali?<\/p>\n
The questions about the fate of modern Indonesian art, in
\nregard to its aesthetic development and its marketability, at
\nhome and abroad, are linked to the questions of the national
\neconomy as a whole, particularly the urban economy.<\/p>\n
I urge art collectors and art lovers with resources left after
\nthe family's provisions have been secured to think seriously
\nabout how it may be paramount to take special steps to protect
\nthe national artistic heritage at this time.<\/p>\n
Examine for yourself the role art has played in the
\narchipelago's culture since ancient times, the role modern art
\nand literature played in the nationalist struggle for
\nindependence, and the role art has played since independence in
\nforming the nation.<\/p>\n
Art has been paramount in reflecting and shaping its complex
\nand fascinating identity, and forever representing the country
\nand its people on domestic and international fronts.<\/p>\n
This should not be the moment when, carefully and anxiously
\nguarding the granary, you forget to safeguard the ancestral
\nshrine where all your pusaka, those inherited cultural treasures
\nboth old and new, are stored.<\/p>\n
Astri Wright is an associate professor of art history, B.C.
\nCanada, and author of Soul, Spirit and Mountain: Preoccupations
\nof Contemporary Indonesian Painters (Oxford University Press,
\n1994).<\/p>",
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