Cartoonist Pramono sketches country's journey
Cartoonist Pramono sketches country's journey
Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post
The only sign that he still has high hopes for a better future here is that he remains faithful to what he has been doing since his early days -- drawing political cartoons that reflect the ailments suffered by this "sick country."
According to award-winning cartoonist Pramono R. Pramoedjo ,"Yes, this country is sick and sometimes its annoying to see our leaders and people let this sickness hamper their true purpose of becoming a nation."
"We have been sick for so long. I may be sick too (looking at the perpetual sickness)," he quipped.
A total of 250 of Pramono's cartoons are currently on display at the Graha Cipta II of the Taman Ismail Marzuki cultural center in Cikini, Central Jakarta. The exhibition, Bias Cermin Retak Negeriku (Reflections of my country's broken mirror), showcases his works from the 1990s until 2005 and runs until June 4.
His works from 1971 until 1981 have been introduced to a wider public in a book published by Pustaka Sinar Harapan.
"My cartoons can serve as a reminders to us as they are not timeless. People have to understand the context and what was happening around the time I drew them."
Born in Magelang, Central Java, 63-year-old Pramono has sharper eyes than the political critics and an even healthier heart than the politicians. He describes his standard of objectivity in the following terms: "A cartoonist should be like a bird flying over an issue. He must see everything through his bird eyes, distant but clear."
His works cover political, economic and social themes. For a newspaper, a cartoon is as important as the editorial. It gives the readers a clue as to the stance of the paper.
"It's our second editorial. The hardest job faced by a cartoonist is to decide what issue to tackle," said Agung Kartika, a cartoonist with Forum magazine. Agung said that he had been one of Pramono's students and a great admirer as he knew how sharply Pramono sensed issues and how he could position them in the wider context or perceive them from different angles.
Pramono enjoyed a stint studying at Gadjah Mada University's School of Law while at the same time studying at the Indonesian Institute of Fine Arts in Yogyakarta. He dropped out of law school as he could not afford to pay double tuition fees and decided that he preferred to continue his art studies.
His horizons were considerably broadened when he was invited to take part in a committee by first president Sukarno to design the National Monument (Monas) between 1965 and 1966. The project was stopped due to the political turmoil that also led to the fall of Sukarno.
Later in 1966 until 1968, Pramono also took part in designing the Kesaktian Pancasila National Monument at Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta, built to mark the failed 1965 September coup attempt by Indonesian Communist Party.
It was around this time that Pramono officially became a cartoonist for Sinar Harapan daily. He continued there until the daily was banned in 1986. After it started publishing again under a new title, Suara Pembaruan, Pramono found himself drawing cartoons once again.
With other members of his generation, Pramono helped revive Sinar Harapan in 2000 and he works for the paper until today.
With the press enjoying new freedom in the post-Soeharto era, Pramono has also been basking in the winds of change.
Intimidation and threatening phone calls were commonplace in the past whenever cartoons on certain institutions or officials were published.
Military officers paid an uninvited visit to his editors to "give a lesson" to the cartoonist who drew a Scorpion tank with ABRI (Indonesian Armed Forces) emblazoned on its running over civilians.
"The former chief of the security and order command (the late) Benny Moerdani once called me and asked why I drew him so ugly," Pramono reminisced.
"So far, it's safe and sound now and no senior officials ever object to my cartoons. But I wonder is it because they never see my work," he said when asked to describe the situation nowadays.
A prolific cartoonist, if not one of the best in the world today, his technique and approach in tackling an issue of the day is unparalleled in Indonesia. Some even equate him with Ranan R. Lurie from The Times in London and Tim Mitelberg from L'Express in Paris.
Pramono, however, remains a down-to-earth Javanese.
"I am still nothing. What I do is just corat-coret (scribbling). I admire the works of G.M. Sudarta (cartoonist with Kompas) and the late Thomas Lionar, a young cartoonist from Bangka island. Lionar was named best cartoonist from the perspective of art and ideas in 1992 but he died young because of lung disease," said Pramono, who admits that he has enjoyed comics and watching Walt Disney films since he was a child.
"Now I must read newspapers, check out the news on the Internet, watch television and listen to radio talk shows. Sometimes, some many ideas are flying here and there that I have to work fast to decide what to draw."
Born in a middle class Javanese family, Pramono was fortunate to be able to get the best schooling available at that time -- the Dutch colonial era and the Japanese occupation.
He thanks his father, R. Pramoedjo, for his impressive drawing technique. His father, a drawing teacher, introduced and encouraged him to draw and to nurture his talent.
The death of his father brought about a drastic change in his life as he and his brothers and sisters were forced to help their mother in order to survive.
His biography, Malu Sendiri (Shame on me), paints a portrait of how hard life was for Pramono (and most other people) in the 1940s and 1950s.
The fact that he managed to emerge from hardship and become a celebrated success is probably due to his humility, willingness to learn and devotion to what he does best.