Artists swept of the street
Artists swept of the street
In a showdown late on Saturday, two trucks loaded with public
order officers cleared Jl. Sumenep in Menteng, Central Jakarta,
the venue of a two-day Street Art Festival.
Led by the municipality's Public Order Office (POO) Harianto
Baijuri and backed by the police, the officers forced the artists
to move out of Sumenep Park, pulled down their banners and
whitened out their wall murals, including a painting of murdered
human rights activist Munir on Jl. Sudirman.
Accusing the artists -- some of whom have artistic tattoos and
body piercings -- as "thugs", the officers assaulted two of them
and, in a move clearly seen by eyewitnesses, gave money to a
group of unidentified men who forced the artists to move on at
about 10 p.m.
"There is no place for arts in Jakarta. This is the
metropolis," Harianto scolded the artists.
There are no existing regulations requiring the public to
obtain permits from the city administration or police to hold
arts exhibitions or demonstrations on the street.
According to Amalia Pulungan of the Institute for Global
Justice (IGJ), the disturbance is a demonstration of how coercive
measures are used to protect businesses, an issue being fought
against by artists who have joined in the anti-globalization
campaign.
The event organized jointly by IGJ, the Urban Poor Consortium,
Yogyakarta arts and culture organization Taring Padi and Nurani
Senja, moved the venue to the Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center on
Jl. Cikini Raya. The event will close at midnight on Sunday. --
JP
In a showdown late on Saturday, two trucks loaded with public
order officers cleared Jl. Sumenep in Menteng, Central Jakarta,
the venue of a two-day Street Art Festival.
Led by the municipality's Public Order Office (POO) Harianto
Baijuri and backed by the police, the officers forced the artists
to move out of Sumenep Park, pulled down their banners and
whitened out their wall murals, including a painting of murdered
human rights activist Munir on Jl. Sudirman.
Accusing the artists -- some of whom have artistic tattoos and
body piercings -- as "thugs", the officers assaulted two of them
and, in a move clearly seen by eyewitnesses, gave money to a
group of unidentified men who forced the artists to move on at
about 10 p.m.
"There is no place for arts in Jakarta. This is the
metropolis," Harianto scolded the artists.
There are no existing regulations requiring the public to
obtain permits from the city administration or police to hold
arts exhibitions or demonstrations on the street.
According to Amalia Pulungan of the Institute for Global
Justice (IGJ), the disturbance is a demonstration of how coercive
measures are used to protect businesses, an issue being fought
against by artists who have joined in the anti-globalization
campaign.
The event organized jointly by IGJ, the Urban Poor Consortium,
Yogyakarta arts and culture organization Taring Padi and Nurani
Senja, moved the venue to the Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center on
Jl. Cikini Raya. The event will close at midnight on Sunday. --
JP