Cak Kandar, the father of feather art
By Ingrid Maack
JAKARTA (JP): Seni lukis bulu (feather art) is being touted as an emerging Indonesian art form, as the celebrated father of feathers, Cak Kandar, passes onto his students his passion for natural materials.
The small feathered broaches, earrings and other creations now being sold on Indonesian streets, alongside already established art forms such as batik, can be traced back to the man who made feather art famous.
Originally from Surabaya, Jakarta-based Cak Kandar creates his trademark feather paintings using the simplest of tools; a pair of scissors, canvas, glue and feathers collected from chicken satay sellers and bird markets from across the archipelago.
His works are an aesthetic and intricate combination of shape, balance and texture depicting romantic images and traditional scenes from Indonesian village life.
Nature is the palette of this self-taught man, who combines natural and dyed materials using feathers from colorful cockatoos, parrots and the dyed plumage of the humble chicken. Production is a tedious task, with most works taking up to one month to complete, but there is harmony and mood within this diligently applied detail.
A harmony and mood which Indonesian art critic Sudarmadji has described as being consistent with the theory of Panta rei -- the principle of movement and harmony.
"The aesthetic concept is solved through the medium of technical expression," he said in a written commentary on Cak Kandar's work.
One of Kandar's works featured in his latest exhibition, titled Nenek Menjahit (Grandmother Sewing), is exemplary of his feather art style. From a distance this eye-catching piece, depicting a Javanese woman sitting and sewing, looks like any other oil painting. On closer examination, however, one notices it is completely made from feathers. It is only then that you can appreciate the skill and beauty of Kandar's work.
His works do not come cheap, however, and are priced between Rp 600,000 (about US$93) and Rp 800,000 ($123).
Kandar has exhibited throughout Southeast Asia and Europe, including the Netherlands, Germany and Japan. However, his work has not escaped criticism or controversy.
Objections were raised to his use of feathers by the international environmental organization Greenpeace when he exhibited in the Netherlands in 1987. In response, Kandar is quick to explain that birds are not killed for the sake of his art. His other source of feathers are Indonesian bird exporters and only from those birds that die while in captivity before exportation.
Ironically, Kandar claims his original inspiration for his feather work came from the work of the World Wide Fund for Nature, and that feather art is in fact a form of recycling.
Kandar's feather work is often categorized by art critics as folk art or craft."It is craft and not art," explained art critic and art writer for Kompas Ipong Purnomo Sidi. "Because the medium and technique are the focus of the work, I wouldn't describe it as expressionistic."
Purnomo Sidi also points out that the comparatively short life of feather art and the problems associated with its preservation exclude it from the category of art. History has proved that the maintenance of oil paintings is comparatively easier; unframed works have the protection of only a thinly applied lacquer and will begin to deteriorate if left unframed.
Cak Kandar also is known for his use of other media, and his oil and acrylic paintings are well respected in the Indonesian art community.
Cak Kandar now runs private art schools and workshops titled Sanggar Margasatwa (the animal world) in Jakarta, Surabaya and Bandung, passing feather art onto a new generation of Indonesian artists.
Born on Indonesian Independence Day of Aug. 17, 1948, Cak Kandar's latest exhibition featuring examples of both his feather and more recent acrylic works coincides with the 54th anniversary celebrations of Indonesian independence. His exhibition, held throughout July at Hotel Ciputra, will be officially opened today (July 22) by former education minister Fuad Hassan.