Betawi artist has loyal Dutch following

Yusuf Susilo Hartono, Contributor, Jakarta

Painter Sarnadi Adam is always associated with Betawi, a name which refers to everything indigenous to Jakarta.

Born and bred in Jakarta, Sarnadi, a graduate of the Indonesian Fine Arts Institute (ISI) in Yogyakarta, has since 1988 regularly explored the lives of the Betawi in his paintings. His works have included such themes as the old days of Betawi, life in Betawi settlements and Betawi traditions, arts and religious activities.

His exhibitions abroad, particularly those in Holland, where he displayed works in 1992, 1994, 1997 and 1999, are the fruit of his friendship with one of his collectors, A. Q. Jansen.

A Dutchman, Jansen, who first struck up a friendship with Sarnadi in 1986, worked in Semarang, Central Java, but now has resided in Holland.

Sarnadi first exhibited his works in Holland in 1992. In that exhibition, all 20 pieces on display were sold, although at half the price he usually got in Jakarta. The paintings were bought by Jansen's friends, Dutchmen who used to study or work in Indonesia. They bought Sarnadi's works out of their deep longing for Betawi, or Batavia, as the city was called during the Dutch colonial period.

And next month, Sarnadi will again depart for Holland for a solo exhibition in Alkmar. The exhibition will run from July 25 through Aug. 25, after which it is scheduled to move on to Switzerland.

For this solo exhibition, Sarnadi has chosen about 25 of his works, all with the theme of Betawi. Some of them are new paintings, while others are those which are now being exhibited at the Galeri Milenium in Jakarta.

Before concentrating on producing paintings with a Betawi theme and in decorative patterns, Sarnadi, who began displaying his works in 1978 while still studying at the Indonesian Fine Arts Secondary School in Yogyakarta, used to dwell on free themes and patterns.

Once, he even devoted himself to abstract painting. But he realized the need to explore the lives of the Betawi when he returned to Jakarta after graduating from ISI Yogyakarta. This choice has clearly positioned him in the realm of Betawi or Indonesian fine arts.

In his latest exhibition at Galeri Milenium, there are two changes noticeable in his work, which his collectors and fans in Holland can look forward to.

The first change is concerned with color. His paintings, Penari Betawi Santai (Relaxing Betawi Dancer), Dua Penari Betawi (Two Betawi Dancers) and Dua Wanita Betawi (Two Betawi Women), all oils on canvas, give great prominence to the primary colors.

The colors green, red and yellow are present, unmixed, on the costumes of the dancers. And there is a strong bright red used for the background of two Betawi women wearing yellow bras and sitting on bamboo couch in a traditional Betawi house.

The second change is concerned with the format of the paintings. In his Panen Ikan (Fish Harvest), he uses a canvas format which tends to be vertical, at a size of 50 cm x 140 cm, in four frames. Each depicts women carrying baskets of fish on their heads and men carrying fish on their shoulders.

The object (the women) is placed on the canvas without compliance to the law of perspective. The composition looks so free that the women seem to be stepping on each other's feet.

"I care little about perspective and the contrast of dark and light. What's important to me is how to paint comfortably," he told The Jakarta Post.

As a matter of fact, the use of a vertical format or bright colors are not new in the fine arts realm. These two aspects play an important role in Sarnadi's works, though, because since he began to devote himself to Betawi themes, he has never made any radical esthetic changes.

This is a phenomenon contradictory to the great dynamism of Jakarta. The city keeps changing, sometimes drastically, from time to time so that Betawi, as a territory and a culture, has been greatly marginalized.

In such a situation, Sarnadi, through his paintings on Betawi themes, seems to record what remains in the memory of the Betawi community.

The exhibition will run through June 30 at Galeri Milenium, D'Best shopping center, Jl. RS Fatmawati #15, Jakarta. Tel. 7507828. The exhibition will continue in Alkamar, Holland, from July 25 through August 25.