CCF is bridge to cultural exchange

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.