Action on art forgeries

I would like to respond to the article on art forgery written by Putu Wirata in the June 29 issue of The Jakarta Post. I come from an artist's family -- my father was the late Sudjana Kerton who had a studio and gallery in Bandung. Practically ever since my father's death in 1994, we have been aware of forgeries and fakes of his work, many of which found their way to our doorstep, brought by "mysterious" people who, after being told that the works were not originals, swore that they themselves had then also been cheated and lied to.

Fortunately for us, my family, including my father during his lifetime, had attempted to document and record as many of the works as possible. We have photos of most of the paintings that my father completed here in Bandung, as well as most of the works he did abroad. However, I think that many if not most of the other artists whose works are being forged don't have proper documentation of their works; indeed, my impression is that some of them don't really seem to care that their works are being copied -- and these are artists who are still alive. After they're gone, I imagine that the forgeries will increase a hundredfold. As Putu pointed out, the artist community is not getting much help from the government as yet in this matter, so it is of utmost importance that the artists themselves properly document and record their artwork while they still can.

The casual way, also, in which these forgeries are being done also reflects the low moral standard now prevalent -- sacrificing morals for money. There seems to be no respect for an artist's creative achievements, something that he created from his own brain, psyche, consciousness and imagination ... and to have this creativity crassly copied by unscrupulous individuals or parties is a great injustice to the artist.

Tjandra Kerton

Bandung