Artists' grouping takes aim at pervasive social injustice

Artists' grouping takes aim at pervasive social injustice

Anett Keller, Contributor, Dresden, Germany

When Kunsthaus, an urban museum for modern art in Dresden, was
looking for contemporary artists all over the world whose works
deal with visuals and traditions of a socialist past in their
countries, Yogyakarta's Taring Padi fit the bill.

The independent organization of young artists from the
Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) in Yogyakarta sent member Dodi
Irwandi as its representative. Dodi will tour with the Taring
Padi works and music from Dresden and Berlin to Amsterdam, and
then to Essen, Cologne and finally Paris. He will spend a total
of two months in Europe, sponsored by Kunsthaus Dresden and
Asienhaus Essen.

Below is an excerpt of an interview with him at the opening of
the exhibition in Dresden.

Question: What about your experiences in Dresden up to now?

Dodi: I am very glad that Taring Padi got this invitation. It
is a new experience for me. It's not only my first time in
Germany, but also my first time abroad. Everything is very
exciting. Not only that -- I need a translator to communicate
with others.

What is especially remarkable for you here in Europe?

Everything is very different from Indonesia. What impresses me
quite a lot is the value attached to culture. Dresden is a city
full of historical art and architecture. It pleases me how this
inheritance is retained. It is still possible to see these
buildings and paintings that were created centuries ago, because
people feel responsible for keeping them in good shape.

What is the difference between modern art from Germany and
that from Indonesia?

What I experienced so far is that modern art here no longer
strongly depends on manual work. Modern German artists work much
more with computers or video cameras; that fits the technological
development here. I like that because it shows that art can be
made with all kinds of media. Working with these kind of
equipment is still very much in its infancy in Indonesia.

You have been in contact here both with other artists and with
visitors to the exhibition. What image of Indonesia do they have?

People I met here were very open minded. Some already have an
idea about current problems in Indonesia. Most of them, however,
ask questions about the art of Taring Padi -- who we are, what we
are doing. If I tell them about Taring Padi, we almost
automatically shift to politics. For example, if we discuss the
upcoming elections, and I tell them there is no candidate whom we
would vote for.

The subject of this exhibition is socialistic symbolism. Does
Taring Padi use these symbols deliberately?

We do not see our symbolism as socialistic, even if others
want to classify it in that way. Our purpose is to find a way to
make people aware of present problems. Art is a medium that can
be used for many purposes. We want to create consciousness with
art. Art is born out of the center of society. We just give
something back to the society that created us.

How was Taring Padi created?

We started six years ago at the ISI campus in Yogyakarta.
There were many students who were active in political groups. It
was just before the fall of Soeharto. We gathered together,
discussed a lot and organized demonstrations. Finally we founded
a group of artists to communicate our political concerns via art.
Before that, there was hardly any connection between politics and
art.

Taring Padi was created on Dec. 21, 1998. At the beginning
just students of fine arts were members; later other artists like
writers, musicians and actors joined us.

Why Taring Padi?

Taring means canine tooth, padi is something that is very
essential to our society. Taring Padi is the term used for the
sharp tip of the rice plant. A small thing which, however, can
itch away at the one who touches it.

Which kind of art is typical of Taring Padi?

Actually all kinds of arts. At the moment, we work not only
with visual art, where our focus was at the beginning. We also
perform music and poems. This mixture aims to signalize our team
character. Every conceivable project is possible through
cooperation. For example, we already manufactured scarecrows
together with groups of farmers.

Many artists have idols. Did Taring Padi follow someone's
example?

(Laughing) We're not really inclined to "idolization". We want
to develop something together. Taring Padi believes everybody has
art inside himself. Thus we want to learn from each other what
everyone carries in himself.

How does the Indonesian public react to the art of Taring
Padi?

Some like it, some don't, that is normal. Our art is closely
connected with politics. Galleries, which concentrate only on
selling mainstream art, are not very open to exhibiting our art.

The fight against corruption is a recurring subject in the
pictures of Taring Padi. In one of them, one sees a boy, who asks
his mother for Rp 2,000 to buy a book, although he knows that the
book only costs Rp 1,000.

Where does corruption begin?

Mmmhhh, where does it begin? For ages, our state has filled
its coffers through corruption. Thus corruption became something
normal for us. We live in a dangerous situation in which
corruption is considered a fixed component of Indonesian culture.
We made this poster in the context of an anticorruption campaign,
as an appeal for everybody. We wanted to tell the people: "Start
with yourself!"

Does this mean that nothing has changed since the fall of
Soeharto?

Not really. Indonesia has new ruling parties and presidents
but at the levels below the top politicians, you still have to
deal with the same people. Many people in our society are still
forced to live a deplorable life. No wonder that they have almost
no hope; present changes in Indonesia only benefit the ruling
class.

The voice of the student movement has become quiet compared to
six years ago. Does Taring Padi still consider itself part of
this movement?

Yes, we are still part of it. We cooperate and try to create
political consciousness. But it became more difficult, because,
unfortunately, for a lot of groups, personal interests are more
important than the welfare of the whole society. Farmers are
worried about farmer affairs, workers care about labor interests;
students are only interested in the benefit of the education
system. Mutual understanding decreases because too many groups
are just trying to promote themselves and their personal
interests.

Taring Padi held demonstrations with huge wayang (shadow play)
puppets, and the puppets are also shown here in Germany. What is
the story behind the demonstrations?

Well, that was in 1999. We chose wayang puppets, because most
Indonesians are familiar with them. The wayang reflects
traditional Javanese culture. However, we painted the puppets
with realistic motifs, thus people could read our current
problems: corruption, war, suppression. It is fascinating that
even here in Germany where no wayang tradition exists, the
puppets cause a lot of interest. Together with German artists, we
had a workshop where we built similar puppets which reflect
German problems.

This year Indonesians will elect a new legislature, and for
the first time in the country's history they will directly elect
the new president. What activities did Taring Padi plan to
accompany these events?

We do not have fixed plans yet. But for sure we are going to
prepare political posters. Currently we are running an
antiviolence campaign, which refers to conflicts like in Ambon or
the way homeless are treated in Jakarta.

Our work is also a protest against the violence used by
radical Muslim groups. Taring Padi has already been a victim of
the radical group. Sure, they usually don't wear name tags, but
even without them we know who they are. They beat one of our
colleagues until he suffered serious abdominal injuries.

Whether from supporters of political parties or certain other
groups, it is common in Indonesia to solve conflicts through
violence. We reject this practice and we are protesting against
it with our campaigns.