Cak Kandar, the father of feather art

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.