Amateur painter gets return ticket to Peru

Amateur painter gets return ticket to Peru

JAKARTA (JP): At last the bidding was fast and furious.
Professor W. P. Napitupulu from UNESCO Indonesia and
Moyetaryanto, an advisor for Coca Cola, politely fought over the
painting Life in the Village by amateur artist Ayu Arista Murti.

The starting bid was Rp 1.5 million (US$666.66). Not bad for a
sixteen-year-old high school student from Surabaya who has not
formally studied art but would like to be a graphic designer when
she grows up.

The auctioneer's hammer went down on Moyetaryanto's final bid
of Rp 5 million for the simplistic village scene in Gauguinesque
color.

Tuesday night's auction was part of the fund-raising painting
competition "Peru/Indonesia: Encounter of Two Millennial
Cultures" organized by the Peruvian Embassy, The Women's
International Club and UNESCO Indonesia.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman applauded
the competition, which focused on similarities between Peruvian
and Indonesian culture.

"Hopefully, through small but strategic events such as this
world culture will emerge and we will become one," he said.

A few dozen of Jakarta's social set were at The World Trade
Center to support fund-raising efforts for the needy children of
Indonesia. The artists, in their plain cotton outfits and
sandals, were easy to spot.

Ayu's painting won first prize in the competition, which
includes a round-trip ticket to Peru and Rp 2 million. Second
place, Rp 500,000, went to Catur Bina Praseyto. Yudhis Citra
Hendrianto took third place.

Ayu said she knew a little about Peruvian culture from high
school classes and that was what inspired her painting. She was
excited about her trip to Peru next, year which she will take
with her father.

Who is her favorite artist? "Sting," she answers, still
breathless with excitement over taking first place over 266 other
entrants. No, which painter? "Oh, Van Gogh."

The entries cover a broad spectrum of style, medium and
quality ranging from surrealist to cubist, crayons to oils with
papier-mache and from downright awful to if-I-only-had-the-money
brilliant.

All the paintings entered in the competition were by amateurs
and will be on display in the lobby of the World Trade Center
until Friday and are all for sale, which can be arranged on the
spot. (mlt)