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)