IKJ students depict paradoxes of urban life
A. Junaidi The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Five pretty models wearing glamorous gowns pranced along the verandah in front of Galeri Cipta II as a prelude to the opening of the "Seni Rupa dalam Masyarakat Urban" (Fine Arts in Urban Community) exhibition at the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center.
All of the models and the 10 designers of the dozens of glitzy creations on display were students of the Fine Arts Department of the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ).
The elegant outfits were inspired by Indonesian ethnic traditions as well as Japanese, Spanish and Middle Eastern designs, with most of them following the current trend of exposing the belly button.
As the fashion parade proceeded, visitors might have wondered what it had to do with the "urban community".
After all, urban life has a lot more to do with the trials and tribulations of the man in the street than it does with high fashion.
The nuances of urban life did not seem to be immediately reflected in the titles of the designs either: "the Japanese Beauty", "Middle East Beauty", "Ethnic Beauty" and "Hedonism".
Although former IKJ rector Toeti Heraty Nurhadi was delighted with the efforts of the bright young designers, she questioned their relevance to urban realities.
"I could be wrong, I wonder what all this glamor has to do with urban realities. But let's wait and see inside," said Toeti, who is a professor of philosophy.
However, even before the ribbon was cut to open the show and let people enter the exhibition space, the dresses presented by the last of the 10 designers provided the answer to Toeti's question.
Student fashion designer Ira Agustin evoked public concern through her line of five dresses titled "AIDS Campaign", which employed specific style lines, asymmetry, and startling blends of colors.
Her lovely dresses were dyed in such a way as to remind the spectators of the physical deterioration experienced by people living with AIDS. Pretty pink dresses had large dye splotches of sickly blue or purple, reminiscent of the lesions and bruises produced by the deadly syndrome, which haunts so many in Indonesian urban environments.
"I'm speechless. I'm proud of the students," Toeti said after observing Ira's "AIDS" fashions and art pieces commenting on AIDS and other issues.
She was surprised and delighted upon seeing dozens of artworks, including paintings, graphics, fashion and textile designs, ceramics and posters that described the various facets of urban life.
Some student-designed posters campaigned for the use of condoms, which is believed to be one of the effective ways of preventing the spread of HIV.
Urban life, including life in Jakarta, has always been paradoxical: glamour and poverty; love and cruelty; angels and demons.
There is a popular phrase among Jakartans that describes the urban reality: Kejamnya Ibu Tiri Tak Sekejam Ibukota (The cruelest stepmother is not as crueler as the capital city).
Luxury, scarcity, sincerity and hypocrisy characterize the sketch of the Jakarta urban community presented by the students in their exhibition.
Art critic Mamannoor said in his commentary on the exhibition that Jakarta was a place of angels and demons, a unity of irony, paradox, ambivalence and hypocrisy.
Mamannoor said that the IKJ students had an opportunity to learn from the paradox of Jakarta and express this in their art.
The paradox can been seen in the students' work, including a painting by Guntur titled "Mungkinkah" (Is it possible?) which portrays a poor couple standing beneath a skyscraper that looms over them.
Another "benchmark" of the city is depicted by Ade Rusman through a graphic design titled 7 a.m. at Taman Lawang, which portrays a transvestite waiting in a corner of the park, a popular place for hanging out or picking up prostitutes.
The students' art portrays desperate pedicab drivers, people evicted from Jakarta's riverbank slums and the victims of violence by the city administration's public order officers.
in box Seni Rupa dalam Masyarakat Urban exhibition Oct. 6 to Oct. 9. Galeri Cipta II Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center Jl. Cikini 73 Central Jakarta.