Auction scandal shadows Indonesian Arts scene 2000

Auction scandal shadows Indonesian Arts scene 2000

By Agus Dermawan T.

JAKARTA (JP): When 1999 drew to a close and the year 2000
arrived, the Indonesian fine art community had high hopes that
the quality of fine art events in the country would show an
upward trend.

Understandably, to them the year 2000 ushered in a new era
which would symbolically mark the revival of a dream. Or,
perhaps, the year would be the time for the culmination of all
art goals fought for in the past century.

Just like in other countries, fine art events in Indonesia
were specially packaged. Some seemed to be intended only for
ceremonial purposes although they produced enough accentuation to
cover other areas. Others were deliberately made unique for the
year 2000 as it was considered a special event.

Unfortunately, after a host of fine art events held with great
zest from one month to another it came to an anticlimax in
November, when Amana Inc 2000 Indonesia and A.GA Fine Arts
organized an exhibition called The Old Painting Pre World War II.

This major exhibition displayed 110 paintings which it claimed
to be the works of the world's, and Indonesia's, past masters
with paintings from Picasso, Claude Monet, Van Gogh, Raden Saleh,
Affandi, Basoeki Abdullah and Sudjojono.

This exhibition could have been a very enjoyable event to
celebrate the end of the year but for the bitter reality that all
of the paintings were forgeries. As a result, the auction that PT
Balai Lelang Batavia had planned to hold on Nov. 24 was called
off. An anticlimax indeed!

According to a number of local and foreign media, this
shameful event has been dubbed the biggest and the most serious
painting forgery scandal in the world's history of fine arts.
Apart from the collection of 110 paintings in the special
package, the event was also "supported" by two government
institutions, i.e. the Directorate General of Culture and the
Jakarta Arts Council.

The succession of fine art events in Indonesia throughout the
year 2000 was damaged by this exhibition and failed auction which
as a result has tarnished the reputation of the nation.

Fine Arts Economy

It does not necessarily mean, however, that other art events
must be consigned to oblivion, especially as there are quite a
few things worth noting for the year 2000.

Rather than problems related to fine art creativity,
innovation, invention, exploration or exploitation, which have
found fertile soil in the artists' studios, the most striking
phenomenon throughout the year 2000 was the economic aspect,
which is inextricably linked to fine art transactions.

There are a number of examples to prove this statement.
Larasati Auction House, which held the auction at Aryaduta Hotel
Jakarta in late April, pocketed about Rp 3 billion. In the next
semester, some time in October, Larasati, in cooperation with
Glerum, an auction house from the Netherlands, again enjoyed
great success. Larasati was inspired to organize a painting
auction in Jakarta owing to the success that Christie's and
Sotheby's enjoyed in auctioning paintings by Indonesian painters
about Indonesia in Singapore in March and later in September. On
average each of them could collect about $S3 to $5 million.

It is worth noting that most of the buyers were Indonesians.
Then Balindo also enjoyed success when it auctioned a number of
paintings in September.

This is indeed unusual, as while Indonesia in general is still
suffering from the long-dragging economic crisis, there are
Indonesians who can afford to buy hundreds of valuable paintings.

This frenzied commotion of art changing hands at such a pace
can be attributed to a number of reasons. Firstly the fine arts
public has now acquired a more discerning appreciation of art.
One may enjoy viewing fine art works but they come with a price
tag. The second is public awareness that not only can fine art
works be collected but that they are also an investment of sorts.

That's why paintings have been bought not only for a
collection but also a an investment. The third is the intrinsic
factor in art works, the artistic and aesthetic quality of the
work.

The frenzied buying referred to earlier has led to the
emergence of a free market in Indonesian fine arts. Artists try
to find an opportunity to seize their own market. In this
context, contemporary Balinese artists seem to have played their
role by aggressively gaining access to the market. Of course the
caliber of their work on its own has the potential to attract
buyers.

Balinese artist

In the year 2000 dozens of contemporary Balinese artists have
successfully held exhibitions in Bali, Yogyakarta and Jakarta.
Made Djirna, for example, enjoyed a boom when he held an
exhibition at Santi Gallery, Jakarta, last July. Earlier in
March, Made Arya Palguna, 24, had most of his paintings bought
when he held his exhibition at the same gallery.

Meanwhile, in May there was the Tritaksu exhibition and later
in September the Spirit of Bali exhibition, which displayed the
works of Wirawan, Ngurah Udiantara, Wayan Sudarna Putra, Putu
Sutawijaya and Made Wiradana at Ina Gallery. The success of these
two exhibitions was a big surprise to the art community.

Then in October, Made Hantaguna exhibited his works at Koi
Gallery. A number of other Balinese artists have held their
exhibitions in various art galleries in Jakarta such as Kembang
Gallery, Mon Decor Gallery and Moom Gallery. In the meantime,
Nyoman Nuarta, a Balinese sculptor, exhibited his works in
October and enjoyed impressive commercial success from this
event.

The great enthusiasm for art exhibitions that Balinese artists
have shown in the year 2000 may be attributable to the spirit of
Sanggar Dewata. Set up by Nyoman Gunarsa and his colleagues,
Sanggar Dewata organized large-scale exhibitions at four
locations simultaneously in Bali, as if suggesting to the public
that Balinese artists are ready to take control of the art world.
In the flux of Indonesian art, old names have managed to survive:
Made Wianta, Nyoman Erawan, Manggu Putra and Wayan Sika, while
the newly-emerging painters: Made Sudibia, Made Sukadana, Nyoman
Sukari, Ketut Tenang and Made Duatmika have gained popularity.
Some of them have received sponsorship for overseas exhibitions.

Made Arya Palguna has exhibited his works in Denmark. In
January, 2000 Ketut Taman held an exhibition of his sculptures
and paintings at Komaneka Gallery, Ubud, Bali, and from this
gained the opportunity to display his works at Singapore's
Artfolio Gallery in November of this year. It's really quite
extraordinary how successful these contemporary Balinese
paintings have been when compared with other works.

Beyond Bali

Undeniably, and regardless of ethnic problems, Bali's power
can be a threat to fine arts from other regions. Balinese
painters have encouraged the setting up of art collectives in
other regions like the West Sumatera Group, which held an
exhibition at Embun Gallery at Ciputra Hotel in June.

Edi Sunaryo, head of fine art department at the Fine Arts
School, Yogyakarta's Indonesian Institute of the Arts, admitted
the presence of this "threat". He said, however, that it was in a
positive manner because it stimulates fine artists from other
regions to raise the level of awareness of their work.

Edi, originally from Java, diverted from this hegemony with
his solo exhibition, called Lintas Waktu (Crossing the Time)
which was held at Moom Gallery in August.

In October, dozens of painters originally hailing from
Banyuwangi exhibited their works in Surabaya. The exhibition was
coordinated by S. Yadi K. and held at the Youth Building at
Surabaya Arts Council.

Two realist painters from Semarang, Inanta and Kok Poo
exhibited their works at Dunia Mimesis (Mimetic World) at Maxima
Gallery in September. Tiga Jawa (Java Three): Januri, Nurkholis
and Suraji held their exhibition at Ina Gallery in November. A
month earlier, two Chinese artists, Benny Setiawan and Tio Tjay,
exhibited their works at Batavia Gallery in Singapore. In March,
a grand exhibition of H. Widayat's works was held at the
Indonesian National Gallery.

In June, Faizal had an exhibition at the Maxima Gallery along
with the Dunia Sukaria (the Merry World) offering. Afterwards,
Kriyono did the same thing at the Mulia Hotel, Jakarta and Amrus
Natalsya exhibited his works at 878 Gallery in September. The
next month, October, saw the exhibition of Nasirun's works at the
Indonesian National Gallery, Jakarta.

Heri Dono and Erica held their exhibition at the Nadi Gallery,
also in October. Then Teguh Ostenrik, an Indonesian fine-artist
who has spent a long time in Germany, came up with two
exhibitions, at Goethe Institute and Erasmus Huis, respectively,
in November and December.

Guest Fine Arts

The year 2000 could be said to have been the year of good
fortune. It has seen a fine art exhibition, Outward Bound from
the United States, held at Ismail Marzuki Arts Park, Jakarta last
February. The next month saw the holding of a Russian paintings
exhibition. Another held at the Duta Gallery in Jakarta in
October was called les Artiste Francophones Inspires par
L'Indonesia (French artists' Indonesia has inspired). Finally Ken
Pattern of Canada held a well received painting and graphic
exhibition called Indonesian Metaphors, in the Linggar Gallery.

In the year 2000, a number of major exhibitions have taken
place. In September, PT Semen Gresik organized a national
painting exhibition in Gresik called, Silahturahmi Budaya.
(Cultural Friendship). In the next month, an exhibition called
Balinese Arts, Growth and Development was held at Bentara Budaya
Jakarta. The month after there was also a grand exhibition called
Half a Century of Indonesia's Graphic Art. In late December, Made
Wianta exhibited hundreds of his works concurrently at three
locations: Rudana Museum in Peliatan, Genta Gallery in Ubud and
Singasana Gallery in Sanur. In one of the galleries he displayed
an installation-art piece which required 1 ton of rice and 2,000
eggs.

While The Year of the Dragon is drawing to a close a number of
wonderful publications have arrived on the scene: Kirjono, the
Flying Elephant by Agus Derwawan T, Popo by I Bambang Sugiharto,
Sriyanto, published by Sriyanto gallery, Teguh Ostentrik
Transcending Time by Barbara Asboth. In June 2000, ceramicist F.
Widayanto exhibited his ceramic sculptures and simultaneously
published a book called Mother & Chile, From the Kiln of F.
Widayanto. Last but not least the Association of Indonesian
Sculptors (API) was officially established in Yogyakarta in
November.

The writer is an art critic living in Jakarta.