CCF is bridge to cultural exchange

By Emilie Sueur

JAKARTA (JP): All of us hold on to an overflowing memory catalog of the important dates in our lives. For Ronny Augustinus and Dwi Aryo Prihutomo, Aug. 21 will be retained on special file as marking their first public exhibition, held in the gallery of the French Cultural Center (CCF) here.

These graphic art students from the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) called their exhibition Tandatanya (Question Mark) as the core of their work queries their present situation.

The paintings are dyed with pessismism, depicted most graphically by the colors -- white, black and red -- but also by the motifs.

Sundamanda (Hopscotch), by 24-year-old Dwi, is stamped with yearning for the innocence of childhood, especially the freedom of expression permitted the young. "Children can express themselves without thinking about social pressure," he said.

The carefree game of hopscotch symbolizes "the mastery of your own destiny". The child outlines on the ground the shape of the game, a representation of the game of life. Tossing the stone decides which direction life will go.

Freedom of expression is the foremost wish of the two painters. Ronny, 21, evinces this in Sing Your Own Requiem, in which human heads are trapped in cages as symbols of the imprisonment of the mind.

The heads are painted in blurry brushstrokes to symbolize passing through a brainwashing machine. Ronny describes the final aim of this process as "the death of thought".

Both painters contend that human thought or ways of thinking are framed so that innovation and renewal of the culture are very difficult to achieve. "Innovation is perceived as deviance and not as evolution," Ronny says.

This is also developed through the use of pieces of newspapers painted over in dark colors. "Newspapers used to be the way to convey opinions," Ronny says. "The dark paint that masks the sheets of newspaper is the symbol that newspapers don't express anything anymore."

The question of power underlies all their paintings. Power is represented by foreboding chairs, the symbol of strength and authority in the Javanese culture.

Supporting the work of students like Ronny and Dwi is an essential axis of the policy outlined by CCF cultural director Yves Ollivier. "The CCF wishes to play a part in the promotion of young Indonesian artists' work. The CCF has to offer a place to young artists, and not only to famous ones."

Alternative

The aim of a foreign cultural center is also to introduce its culture to the local population. Ollivier defines a role of the CCF in spotlighting "French culture as an alternative to the dominating American culture here".

The performance of French circus troupe Cirque Baroque earlier this month and the upcoming visit of three French comics called Les Cousins are part of this goal.

A main program is Nusantara, providing a French artist-in- residence to initiate cultural exchanges between French and Indonesian artists. "Making people from different cultures work together is really important for us," Ollivier said.

French artists spend time in Indonesia and work with local artists under the program. It is financed by the French Association for Artistic Action and by the French Embassy in Indonesia.

The ultimate aim of Nusantara is to define the common cultural ground between the two countries.

Thus, Olivier Patay, premier dancer at the Opera de Paris, spent one month in Jakarta working in collaboration with two Indonesian dancing schools, Namarina and Sumber Cipta.

The fruit of this collaboration was an original ballet, L'Union des contraires, performed last month at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta.

Even the stage setting was the result of an intercultural partnership between Michel Costiou, a French stage designer, and four graphic art students from the IKJ.

Future cultural ambassadors are Eric Wurtz, a French lighting technician for entertainment productions, and Gladys Sanchez, a French dancer.

After spending one month in Bali and Surakarta working with shadow puppet artists, they will set up a workshop open to students of the IKJ and to professionals of live entertainment.

They will return to France to create a show fusing Western techniques and the traditional use of light and shades in Indonesian shadow puppet plays.

This creation, to be performed here next year, will be one more entry in the French Cultural Center's mission to draw two distant cultures closer together through the arts.