Artworks aim at nation's leaders, Javanese way

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).