Artists say they were left high and dry for Venice event

Artists say they were left high and dry for Venice event

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Stories of local artists who go it alone to become a success are
growing in number.

Unfortunately, much more common are the nightmare tales about
the government, the party that is supposed to accommodate and
support the aspirations of artists, leaving them in the lurch by
not following through with their promises.

Artists Tisna Sanjaya, A. Rahmayani and Made Wianta have
already made a name for themselves, their works selected for
exhibition and included in the collections of galleries around
the world.

But they claim they were let down by the government, which
initially committed to send them as a team to the 50th Venice
Biennial from June 15 to Nov. 15. A fourth member, Dadang
Kristanto, has since resigned from the team.

The artists, who would prefer to be focusing on the creative
process, say they have been forced to scramble for new sources of
funding even though they are committed to show their works at the
event.

"It's not only my personal credibility that is at stake but
the country's honor and dignity, too. Or, perhaps, because we
already have such a bad reputation abroad, the government doesn't
care to look into the matter," A. Rahmayani said.

Rahmayani and the two other artists believe that they could
find ways to go to Venice on their own, but the problem is more
complex.

"We've received a promise and a party made a commitment," she
added.

The biennial is an annual government-to-government event. The
Italian committee, according to consulting curator Amir Sidharta,
made it clear that there should only be one delegation from each
country to avoid any dualism in their works and missions.

"I contacted Minister of Tourism and Culture I Gde Ardhika and
proposed about this event. The meeting was sometime in November
last year," Amir told a media gathering on Wednesday.

Amir selected a theme for the Indonesian delegation, "Paradise
Lost, Mourning of the World".

"I was inspired by the Bali bombings and the spate of violence
throughout the country. Paradise lost refers to Bali, dubbed as
paradise island, and the phrase 'mourning of the world' is from a
remark made by Jawaharlal Nehru when he visited Bali in the
1940s, although the original is Bali, the morning of the world."

According to Amir, the ministry enthusiastically welcomed the
idea and planned for an official committee to tackle the funding
and miscellaneous needs for the artists to take their works to
the Italian city.

The committee was set up, under the name Indonesia Exposition,
and included such figures as Sumarti and Ana Grace. They could
not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

"But we don't know exactly the relationship between the
committee and the ministry because there is barely any
explanation about it. The people from the committee directly
contacted us after the meeting with Pak Ardhika," Amir said.

After she was contacted by the committee, Yogyakarta-based
Rahmayani set about creating 11 Juni 2002 (June 11, 2002),
telling of her unpleasant encounter with the war on terrorism.

It was based on her experience during a stopover in Los
Angeles, when she was detained for several hours by the
authorities and watched security personnel "invade" her hotel
room, she said, "because I'm from Indonesia, an Asian and a
Muslim".

Her angst is expressed in a room full of personal things,
including a Koran, with an imposing U.S. flag and two Coca Cola
vending machines nearby.

Despite the uncertainty, Rahmayani has been luckier than the
other artists. She received funding from a Berlin gallery to
cover her production costs and accommodation in Venice.

Made Wianta, also contacted by the committee last year, was
asked to send one of his works to be auctioned to raise funds for
the delegation.

"Although one of us (Rahmayani) has got sponsorship for this
event, we will be in the same delegation and the government or
committee or whatever that promised to fund the delegation must
be responsible to take care of us all," Made Wianta said.

After continuing efforts to contact the Ministry of Tourism
and Culture about the status of the funding, the artists said
they received a pledge of Rp 300 million, which was lower than
they expected.

"We persuaded them to make it in cash and not tickets because
initially they said they could only provide plane tickets. We
still need more money. We haven't even paid for the stand, even
though it was supposed to be paid in February or March," Made
Wianta said.

Of the total funding, Rp 100 million is from the ministry's
art and culture directorate general -- which was officially
liquidated and merged with another directorate general on
Wednesday.

"I don't know how we will handle this because nobody informed
us about this liquidation," Made Wianta added.

However, Made Wianta and Rahmayani said they would not stop in
their efforts to reach Venice.

"We must move ahead. We still need around 42,000 euros and we
are working at different ways to earn that," Made Wianta said

"But it's for the sake of our country's honor and dignity on
the international art stage."