Art lovers mourn the death of art critic Kusnadi

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian art lovers are mourning the death of Kusnadi, a senior art critic, teacher, painter and photographer, who died at the age of 76 Monday.

Kusnadi died at his home in South Jakarta from several illnesses, including typhoid. He had been admitted to the Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta for more than two weeks. A week before he died, he asked to return home.

Kusnadi was Indonesia's foremost art critic. In 1977 he received the prestigious Anugerah Seni Republik Indonesia, the highest national art award. Ten years later he received the Asean Award for his dedication to art.

Kusnadi regularly visited exhibitions to keep up-to-date with the current art trends. He was still seen attending exhibition openings this year.

Critic Sunarto Pr. called Kusnadi "the old horse that has forgotten how to stop running", as quoted by Agus Dermawan T. in a book titled Kusnadi; Seniman, Kritikus, Pendidik (Kusnadi, Artist, Critic, Educator). Kusnadi said he did not intend to stop running.

Kusnadi was born on April 1, 1921 in Kaliangkrik, Magelang, Central Java. He started his career in fine art by apprenticing under Basoeki Abdullah during the Japanese occupation. At the same time, he entered the Keimin Bunka Shidoso (a cultural center during the Japanese occupation), and participated in an exhibition held by Poetera and the Keimin Bunka Shidoso.

In 1950 he worked in the Art Division, Office of Culture, as the chairman of the fine art department. His main task was to collect works of fine art for a future Fine Art Museum, provide subsidies and aid for art organizations in major towns in Indonesia, and organize local and international art exhibitions.

He started writing about fine art in 1950, with an article on the first exhibition of the Indonesian Fine Art Academy (ASRI).

Kusnadi introduced Indonesian art to the Second Sao Paolo Biennial in 1953. From 1954 to 1963, he was head of the Budaya (Culture) magazine. He also prepared an exhibition of Indonesian art for the Asian-African Conference in Bandung in 1955.

From 1960-1966 he taught at the Indonesian Fine Art Academy in Yogyakarta, and a year later he was assigned to head the Sub- directorate of Fine Art, under the Department of Education and Culture in Jakarta. In 1971, he taught at the Jakarta Institute for the Arts (IKJ).

He organized numerous exhibitions and wrote many other articles and books. He also had an instrumental role in the preparations for the Festival of Indonesia art exhibition in the United States from 1990-1991.

Leading art experts have commended Kusnadi's dedication to fine art and art criticism. Critic Sudarmadji proudly said Kusnadi was his master. H. Widayat, a painter six years older than Kusnadi, honors the latter as "The Teacher".

During a discussion at the ARTeMEDIA Gallery Monday, critic Jim Supangkat said Kusnadi played an important role in the development of fine art.

"Forty years ago, he conceived the National Gallery which plans to be inaugurated this year. The collection he amassed is now kept at the Directorate of Art," he said. (Amir Sidharta)