Yayak caught between two worlds<\/p>\n
Zora Rahman, Contributor, Cologne, Germany<\/p>\n
"Salam Merdeka" (greetings to freedom), Yayak Yatmaka will call
\nout at every visitor climbing up the stairs to his apartment. His
\nstrong voice, sharp glare and long gray hair and beard emphasize
\nthe strong personality of the Javanese.<\/p>\n
Freedom is definitely one of the most important values to the
\nartist from Yogyakarta, who had to leave his home country 11
\nyears ago to find a place where he could retain his freedom of
\nexpression. In his homeland, then under the rule of authoritarian
\npresident Soeharto, art was often considered politically
\ndangerous.<\/p>\n
That was what he experienced. He fled Indonesia because a
\ncaricature of Soeharto put his life at stake. His second son had
\njust been born.<\/p>\n
Although Yayak could escape the persecution and start a new
\nlife in Cologne with his German wife and sons, he now has three,
\nhalf of him still belongs in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"Now I have one foot here and one foot there", he says.<\/p>\n
Besides the emotional ties to his Indonesian family and
\nfriends, Yayak still has a lot of contact and cooperation with
\nsocial and political groups in Indonesia. All his work -- be it
\nan illustration for the Indonesia House in Amsterdam or the cover
\nfor the new CD of Taring Padi (an artists group in Yogyakarta) --
\nconcerns Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Only in the caricatures and illustrations he makes for local
\nmedia, does he sometimes discuss German topics.<\/p>\n
The restless 47-year-old is an all-round talent. He is not
\nonly a designer and painter, he is also a musician and a writer.
\nThe fifth of 10 children, he learned from his childhood to
\nappreciate the arts. He played music in kindergarten and acted at
\nhigh school.<\/p>\n
From 1977 until 1986 Yayak studied at the Institute for
\nGraphic Design at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and
\nworked as a freelancer for several magazines, including Pustaka
\nand Tempo. He was also an illustrator for the Legal Aid
\nFoundation (LBH) and won several prizes at a poster competition
\non children rights.<\/p>\n
"I studied architecture, but I hate drawing straight lines",
\nhe joked.<\/p>\n
But art for art's sake was not enough for him. Yayak was
\nactive at the student's committee until the ITB -- famous for its
\nanti-Soeharto political activism -- was occupied by the army.
\nThis was when Yayak and some of his friends looked for activities
\noutside the campus and became interested in alternative education
\nfor children.<\/p>\n
"We wanted to use art as an instrument for alternative
\nlessons, to make the children interested in their own culture",
\nhe says. "Also because of political reasons: Lower class children
\nwith their early experiences of hard working life were easier to
\nbe made politically conscious. The more mature, the more
\npoliticized."<\/p>\n
So, from 1987 until 1991, Yayak became the coordinator for
\nSecretariat for Free Children in Indonesia (SAMIN) in Yogyakarta
\n-- an NGO that organizes alternative education for street
\nchildren.<\/p>\n
Of course, art is not enough for complete education because it
\nis only part of the basic subjects. But for those children who do
\nnot have the chance to go to school, art can be really good
\neducation, for example practicing languages by playing theater or
\nlearning to interact with others by playing music together.<\/p>\n
After his "accident" with the Soeharto regime and his
\ndeparture from Indonesia, Yayak had to start over in Germany in
\n1992. In the beginning, still paralyzed by the forced exile, he
\nhelped build up an international network and was working for
\norganizations like Orcades, Terres des Hommes and Unicef. He held
\nexhibitions in Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin and a lot of other
\nEuropean cities.<\/p>\n
"It was very difficult", Yayak says. "I had to learn again the
\nbasics, about the different cultures, including different
\nperceptions, visions and ideals -- and, of course, about the
\ndifferent forms of art."<\/p>\n
He likes to work with subjects from the social realities. Over
\nthe last five years he has been mainly focussing on child labor
\nin Asia.<\/p>\n
"I want to show these pictures until the reality turns good",
\nhe said. In his current exhibition in Cologne though, he shows
\nmainly women, maidens with very tender appearances and few
\ncloths, but always in a political context.<\/p>\n
In his trilogy Who's the terrorist? for example, the artist
\npainted a Venus-like woman in front of masked, armed figures.<\/p>\n
"I think, women are another way to show basic human problems
\n-- everybody was birthed by a woman", he said. "Actually, I am
\njust hiding myself behind the label artist: My work can never be
\nindependent from political problems", he added.<\/p>\n
The focus of his private life is, of course, at his Cologne
\napartment close to the River Rhine. Because his studio is at home
\nand his wife works outside, he is the one who looks after the
\nchildren and their daily needs.<\/p>\n
On his youngest child, 5, Yayak tries to provide what he could
\nnot give to his elder children during his troubled years.<\/p>\n
"I feel so sorry, that they could not experience more, how
\nbeautiful their father's home country is. That you just have to
\npick up the bananas there from the tree instead of buying them
\nfor a lot of money in the supermarket."<\/p>\n
But although he regrets losing some important things in life,
\nYayak would act in the same way again. When he started his
\npolitical activities at the university in 1978, most of the
\nstudents could not imagine that it would be another 20 years
\nbefore the New Order regime finally fell.<\/p>\n
"I was convinced to do the right thing, because the system
\nwas wrong", he said. "I never thought about being afraid, there
\nwas just no alternative for me."<\/p>\n
It was not until after 1998 that Yayak could finally return to
\nIndonesia. One year later his children set foot on Indonesian
\nsoil. But since they grew up in Germany, have a German way of
\nlife, German education and German mother tongue, there are no
\nplans to return permanently.<\/p>\n
"If we plant a tree, we always want to watch it -- how it
\ngrows", he says. Nevertheless the idealist is still dreaming of
\nother seeds he wants to sow in Indonesia. "As long as there is a
\nchance, that the seed of a free education will grow, we have to
\ngo on", Yayak says.<\/p>\n
"I hope that we find new media to correct all the mistakes
\nthat the New Order made. We should become more open and build
\nfree education for a free people."<\/p>",
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