Boar's trilogy reflects people's aspirations

Boar's trilogy reflects people's aspirations

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): The Trilogi Celeng (Trilogy of the Wild Boar)
exhibition, which features painter Djoko Pekik's works at the
Galeri Nasional, Nov. 5-12, is likely astonish most viewers, if
not due to the subject matter of the works, then certainly due to
the size and number that are displayed.

The exhibition boldly presents to the public three large
canvases: Susu Raja Celeng, 1996, measuring 150 x 180 cm,
Indonesia 1998 Berburu Celeng, 1998, measuring 300 x 500 cm, and
Tanpa Bunga dan Telegram Duka, 1999, measuring 250 x 450 cm. The
three canvases have a common subject matter, the wild boar.

"The boar symbolizes angkara murka, anger, hatred, evil, and
greed!" exclaimed Pekik. The exhibition presents a trilogy of the
wild boar.

The trilogy was initiated in 1996, when Yogyakarta celebrated
the eighth anniversary of Tahta untuk Rakyat (The Throne for the
People), when the current Sultan of Yogyakarta pledged to
continue to provide democratic rule over the people of Yogyakarta
when he took the throne replacing his father, Hamengkubuwono IX,
who passed away in 1988. In commemoration of this pledge, artists
in Yogyakarta held the Gelar Budaya Rakyat, (People's Cultural
Presentation).

"The Sultan envisioned an event that would assert the
democracy and humanity reflected upon the inner heart of the
people. Therefore, each and every participant had the liberty of
presenting whatever he wanted to show, including critiques
against the Sultan himself," explained painter Hendro Suseno, who
was one of the event's organizers.

The event inspired Djoko Pekik to paint Susu Raja Celeng (The
Milk of the Wild Boar King).

"If the Throne is indeed for the people, then the ruler
certainly should not act like the Wild Boar King. Indeed milk
symbolizes welfare, and here the boar provides milk, but will he
offer it to just anyone? Naturally, he would provide it for his
children," Pekik said.

The painting itself, depicts a angry large black boar, ready
to attack anyone who dares to come close. The painter equipped
the beast with pronounced teats.

In the background, hundreds or perhaps even thousands of
figures, gather under what evidently appears to be a Jakarta toll
road. Encircling the boar from a distance, they cautiously wait
for the beast's next move.

Pekik considered 1996 as the height of the government's
tyranny. On July 27 that year the headquarters of the Indonesian
Democratic Party was attacked by a mysterious group of men,
believed to be government-sponsored, in a move to finalize the
ousting of Megawati Soekarnoputri from the party's leadership.
Until now, the case remains unclear. Although he did not mention
this incident when explaining the work, Pekik later acknowledged
that it may well have influenced his painting.

Since then, the artist knew that the Wild Boar King would
experience a humiliating defeat. Boars are often hunted, and the
Wild Boar King would definitely be hunted down. Pekik saw the May
1998 riots and what happened thereafter as a kind of boar hunt.
After Soeharto stepped down, it was taken for granted that
exhibitions would no longer require permits. In June that year,
Yogyakarta artists celebrated their newly acquired freedom of
expression by staging a "public action" around the city. This
event was not limited to artists from Yogyakarta, but they also
invited artists from other cities and regions to participate in
the event.

Pekik initially wanted to paint a simple poster, to be placed
on the billboard site of the old Sonoharsono movie theater, near
the alun-alun square, which was no longer used. However, he heard
that an artist had already expressed interest in buying whatever
he produced, even if it were merely a poster. Pekik thought that
if the piece would end up as a capitalist commodity in the end,
it would be a pity to just make a simple poster. Perhaps he
thought that he might as well do it seriously, using good
materials on a proper canvas, and putting an appropriate price
tag on the piece. Hence, it took longer to paint, and the initial
idea of exhibiting it in the open was scrapped.

The painting came close to being completed in time for the
Independence Day celebrations that year. Pekik looked for a place
to exhibit the work, but it was such short notice that no venue
seemed to be available. Luckily, Yogyakarta's Bentara Budaya
traditionally did not plan any exhibitions from Aug. 16-17, in
honor of the celebrations, and welcomed Pekik to exhibit there on
those two days. On the night of Aug. 16, Pekik exhibited his
second work of the trilogy, Indonesia 1998 Berburu Celeng
(Indonesia 1998 Hunts Wild Boar). The one-day exhibition, showing
one single painting was well attended.

It shows the captured wild boar being hoisted upside down with
its four feet and his mouth tied onto a large bamboo stick.
Various characters perform traditional folk dances rejoicing the
capture in front of thousands of onlookers. In the background
once again the image of a Jakarta toll road appears, painted in
black, and beyond it, a skyline is filled with numerous tall
buildings. Pekik mentioned that Father Sindhunata asked him what
would happen next. The artist quoted the writer and journalist as
having said, "the boar has been captured, so what should be done
now. The story of the boar has to be ended."

Thinking that the People's Consultative Assembly would meet to
elect the country's new leaders beginning on Nov. 1, 1999, Pekik
planned to come to Jakarta a couple of days prior to this date,
as a bonek (avid fan) and join the other supporters of the events
and at the same time exhibit his third and final work of the
trilogy in support of the events. However, the sessions were
moved to earlier dates, and so it became clear that Pekik could
not finish the painting in time for the elections.

He completed the piece on the day Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly
known as Gus Dur, was elected President, and the exhibition,
organized by Tempo magazine, Galeri Lontar and the Utan Kayu
Community, was scheduled to be opened on Nov. 5. Pekik realized
that he would be a supporter kesiangan, or a supporter who
arrived too late. He emphasized that the competition was between
the reformists and the status quo and that his was clearly a non-
partisan support for the reformists
Tanpa Bunga dan Telegram Duka (Without Flowers or Condolence
Telegrams), shows the boar lying pathetically in an arid ground
in the middle of a burnt forest, its face black and blue. Green
flies and three black crows feed on his back, cutting its body
open and exposing its ribs. In this piece, distinct from the
other two, there is not a single person. As the meat of the boar
is considered haram (forbidden by Islam), the carcass is thrown
in the middle of the burnt forest. The cadaver is left alone,
alienated and humiliated. In the background, the image of Jakarta
appears once again, this time showing the Semanggi cloverleaf
interchange, the National Monument and Merdeka Palace in the far
distance. The placement of the palace on an axis but far removed
from the boar is the artist's clear statement of the boar's
significance in the nation's political history.

"The boar has sucked up all the resources of the land, and
destroyed the nature" he said. Therefore, for the opening
ceremony of the exhibition, Pekik has made a terracotta boar and
filled it with various small and miniature objects, including
oranges, cloves, rice, Timor cars and airplanes, to be smashed
open by the guest-of-honor, so that the public will know exactly
what evil the boar has done.

A similar boar was scheduled to be smashed by the Sultan of
Yogyakarta in the opening ceremony of the Pekik's Independence
Day exhibition, but the Sultan could not be present due to
another ceremony in the Kraton. Therefore, the contents of the
terracotta boar remain hidden since the receptacle is now hanging
in Pekik's studio. Coincidentally, the case of former President
Soeharto has also remained in the dark until now. Certainly,
people enthusiastically await the shattering of the terracotta
boar just as they await the reopening of the Soeharto case.

Pekik said that the death of the boar indicated the death of
angkara murka, but angkara murka will never completely disappear
from the face of the earth.

"We have to continue to fight against it," reminded the
artist. Perhaps the very reason that it will remain, is so that
we will always fight for the truth, and not take the truth for
granted.

The artist, born in 1938, was a member of the Bumi Tarung
studio, affiliated with the Lekra People's Cultural Institution
of the Indonesian Communist Party, and was interned as a
political prisoner. His socialist thoughts continue to guide him
to express the voice of the people, in search of the ultimate
truth. "In their acts, people should remain like a black stone in
the middle of a river, which remains constantly unmoved whether
the river dries up in the dry season or becomes filled up again
with water in the rainy season," he said.

Pekik has certainly remained consistent in his efforts, even
though capitalism has attempted to capture his art. It is no
longer a secret that he has offered Berburu Celeng for Rp 1
billion, but it seems that the price has been set so high in
order to drive speculators away. Indeed, the three paintings of
the Boar trilogy deserve to remain in the realm of the people,
from which the images have emerged.