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.