Art show to embrace non-alignment concept

Art show to embrace non-alignment concept

JAKARTA (JP): Can the concept of 'non-alignment', or
neutrality in superpower conflicts, be applied to contemporary
art?

Yes, it can, according to the organizers of an upcoming
exhibition of contemporary art of countries of the Southern
hemisphere.

About 200 works from 30 countries of the southern hemisphere
will be exhibited at the two-month long "Unity in Diversity"
exhibition which begins in April. The exhibition has been
scheduled to coincide with a ministerial meeting of the
Coordinating Board of the Non-Aligned Movement in Bandung.

The exhibition will be held at the Fine Arts Gallery of the
Ministry of Education and Culture in Jakarta and will be opened
by President Soeharto, the current chairman of the 111-nation
movement.

"Our leadership in the movement has not promoted a cultural
relationship yet," said Edi Sedyawati, the Ministry's director
general of culture on Tuesday.

"We need to understand the inner soul (of the other
countries)," she said. "The international event will be important
in that it will show the vision of the South in the midst of
major changes in the present world."

The idea of the exhibition came from Sedyawati, who is also
chairperson of the exhibition's national committee, after
consulting with local and foreign artists. The exhibition will
run from April 28 until June 30.

A seminar on contemporary international art will also be held
from April 29 to April 30 at Hotel Indonesia, featuring curators
and art critics from Britain, the United States, Nigeria, Jordan
and other countries.

A member of the organizing team, Jim Supangkat, said with the
end of the Cold War, a cultural dimension could better underline
the relationships between non-aligned countries.

He said that the seven curators, which include Jim himself,
have strived to apply different criteria from those used in
advanced countries which first defined so-called `modern' and
`contemporary' art.

The other curators come West Africa, Singapore, Thailand,
India, and Columbia. They will select from artworks already
chosen by national curators, and each country will send between
seven and 20 items.

The works will include paintings, sculptures, ceramics and a
few installations. Confirmed participants from 33 member-
countries include China, Egypt, Iran and Peru.

"Lately there has been a good deal of questioning of standards
in the art world, like through postmodernism. Frankly, artists
(in southern countries) have not been vocal in voicing their
opinions. But we must use this display as an opportunity to show
our works to the world," said Supangkat.

For instance, he said, one of the selected items from Pakistan
had been rejected by a previous contemporary art exhibition in
New York. "The curators said this piece still contained
traditional ornaments, while the artist felt differently,"
Supangkat said.

A.D. Pirous, the committee's vice chairman, said the
exhibition would reveal an alternative to what is understood as
contemporary art.

The works to be displayed in Jakarta will not be grouped by
countries. "There would be a tendency to judge items by more
advanced and less advanced countries," the noted painter said.

The organizers admitted they would be unable to exhibit items
from all 111 NAM members.

"We invited all of them, but only 33 countries have confirmed
their participation and the deadline is the end of this month,"
Sedyawati said.

Nigeria's curator, Emmanuel Arinze, told The Jakarta Post
earlier that the exhibition may also promote self-reflection
among member countries.

Arinze said that as world issues now include the promotion of
indigenous cultures, "...the display will also make us reflect on
whether our respective standards pay attention to our indigenous
cultures." (anr)