Artworks aim at nation's leaders, Javanese way

Ivy Susanti, Jakarta

Look at the sky, God creates perfection Look at the mountains, God creates beauty Look at the seas, God creates miracles Look at the president and vice presidential aspirants, Oh my God!

The four-line satirical verse from Muhammad Rustam of Jakarta was not telling of his befuddlement at the choices galore in the election, but rather his doubt about the merits of the candidates.

In this era where freedom of speech could be roughly translated as freedom to rebuke, Rustam's work was featured in the 2004 Kompas Karikatur and Karikata Awards, where he finished third.

The caricature and karikata contest -- a term covering literary works displaying elements of parody, satire and spoofs -- was jointly held by Kompas daily and PT Fortune Indonesia Tbk. It was the first karikata contest to be held in Indonesia.

The contest saw a surprising 30,000 karikata and 4,700 caricatures submitted by students and the general public across the country in respective categories. The contest, held from May 23 to June 23, picked the Indonesian election as the theme.

The language in use was Indonesian, but one still needs to understand Indonesian culture to be able to appreciate the works, particularly for karikata. It is not a taxing job, though, since watching Indonesian TV programs or reading Indonesian newspapers give an understanding of how the contestants' styles evolved.

The jury consisted of Kompas illustrator GM Sudarta, comic illustrator Dwi Koendoro, cultural observer Mudji Sutrisno, monolog artist Butet Kartaredjasa and Alex Sunarno. There was no linguist specially assigned to judge the karikata, which might indicate that the works were evaluated based on their concept rather than forms.

Participants were mostly critical -- or trying hard to show that they were critical -- of the leaders as human beings, for their personal flaws and foibles, rather than of the election process, the actual subject of the contest. The criticism, however, was not made directly at any specific leaders, but represented through other personalities or ideas.

The delicate personification has been widely utilized in Indonesia by the majority Javanese population to express their disagreement or disapproval with other's behavior or ideas -- either a superior or a peer -- in an indirect manner, in order to maintain outwardly harmonious relationship.

In this way, people expect the targeted person would be wise enough to comprehend what the others are tacitly trying to convey.

The karikata's first winner in the general public category, Tugi Ismanto from Jakarta, showed an example of an indirect way to express uncertainty while telling people at the same time to be prudent in casting their votes.

"The first week, Bapak (father) thinks about the first presidential candidate/ the second week, Bapak thinks about the second presidential candidate/ the third week, Bapak thinks about the third presidential candidate/ the fourth week, Bapak thinks about the fourth presidential candidate/ the fifth week, Bapak thinks about the fifth presidential candidate/ the sixth week, Ibu (mother) and my six siblings are thinking about Bapak, who is now staying in a mental hospital."

Indonesia had five candidates contesting for 2004 election. They had been reduced to two after the first round of voting early this month.

However, there is also an exception to this rule.

Rakhmad Hadi Nursanto of Pasuruan, East Java, composed "Ya, Allah (O, God), give us a just leader, Amien/ Ya, Allah, give us a strong leader, Amien/ Ya, Allah, give us a corrupt-free leader, Amien/ Oh, no, I won't vote for Pak Amien, but SBY", in which he twisted the closing prayer word, "Amen", to refer to Amien Rais, one of the losing candidates, while SBY refers to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who moved on to compete in the last election round in September.

Rakhmad won a consolation prize, but his actual choice in the polls remained unknown.

One of the judges, Mudji Sutrisno, said that the contest managed to reveal the humorous side of Indonesians.

"Humor is part of our national potential which hasn't been manifested in our society, especially because of the political atmosphere currently surrounding the election," he said.

He also noted that many contestants came from the Central Java towns of Semarang, Kendal or Yogyakarta.

"(The works are) Javanese-style parody, the Javanese way of avoiding straightforward remarks. Their works are the follow-up to the indirect way of criticizing," Mudji, who is widely recognized as a philosopher, said.

The announcement of the winner at Bentara Budaya Jakarta in Central Jakarta last Friday was followed by a two-day exhibition on Saturday and Sunday. The exhibition will travel to other cities and the works will be published in a book. The contest is expected to be held every two years.

The winners received trophies and prize money, ranging from Rp 3 million to Rp 10 million. The second karikata winner in general public category went to Mujahidin Agus from Makassar.

For the caricature award in the student category, Titik Dwi Hermawati of Ambarawa won first prize, followed by Herpri Yanto of Yogyakarta and Muhammad Fahrian of Salatiga respectively.

In the caricature general public category, the winners were Muchid Rahmat (Kendal), Ibnuthalhah (Semarang) and Jitet Koestana (Semarang).