Cartoons take in-depth look at democracy

Cartoons take in-depth look at democracy

JAKARTA (JP): A wife looks outside her window in disbelief:
her house's wall is now covered with political parties' leaflets.

"Pak... our house now looks like the KPU's office," she tells
her husband, who stands next to her. KPU stands for the General
Elections Commission.

The above story is depicted in a cartoon by Budi Setyo Widodo
of Jakarta. Although the work is simple in nature, it clearly
reflects a real situation among people.

As the number of parties contesting the general election
swells to 48, -- compared to only three parties for the last 32
years under former president Soeharto -- each party must fight
hard to win as many votes as they can, such as by placing banners
and pamphlets almost at every corner.

And ordinary people, like the couple featured in the cartoon,
greet such campaigns with mixed responses. Some understand,
others are confused but can do nothing about it, not even having
the guts to protest the use of their property for campaigning.

Budi Setyo Widodo's work is among 60 cartoons displayed in a
three-day exhibition, entitled Cartoons for Democracy, at Gedung
Galeri Seni in the Ancol arts market in North Jakarta.

The exhibition, which will end on Monday, features the works
of 39 cartoonists from Jakarta, Bandung, Denpasar, Kendal
(Central Java), Medan, Wonosobo and Yogyakarta. It was organized
by the Indonesian Cartoonist Association, Tempo weekly magazine
and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung.

"Cartoonists are intelligent people who can represent real and
complex situations within the community -- not their imagination,
and picture them, in a simple way, in their sketches," said
former education and culture minister Fuad Hassan before opening
the exhibition on Saturday.

"And cartoonists also use their works to voice their opinion
or concern of the current situation."

Fuad made a few sketch marks on paper to mark the exhibition's
opening. He named his piece Democrazy.

"I like cartoons, especially in times like now. I've already
tired of reading reports in media covering the same issues ... By
enjoying cartoons we can look at the situation from different
angles, such as funny political humor. For a moment, we loosen up
and forget our difficult problems," he said.

He singled out the work of Ganda Sumpena from Bandung.

The cartoon pictures a man standing in an empty field holding
a bow with a ready-to-shoot arrow, targeting a list of the
political parties' 48 symbols.

"See ... a caricaturist can embrace complex matters into a
simple but meaningful work. It perfectly pictures people's
confusion about choosing which party to vote for. It (what's
being pictured) might really happen. People will choose any party
because they're too many of them," said the professor.

Other caricatures were no less interesting.

G.M. Sudarta of Kompas daily illustrates his well-known
cartoon figure Om Pasikom.

Responding to questions about who is responsible for unsolved
tragedies, such as events at Trisakti, Semanggi, Banyuwangi,
Ambon, Sambas and Jepara, Om Pasikom says: "... the work of
provocateurs."

But when asked who the provocateurs are, he says: "Sst...
don't ask." (ste)