CCF's activities traced in photographic essay

By Yenni Kwok

JAKARTA (JP): The existence of Centre Culturel Francais, or the French Cultural Center, means a guaranteed art event in Jakarta every month. Hardly a month goes by without an interesting activity at the center.

A play in sign language, a dance performance, a jazz-gamelan concert and a socially provocative photo exhibition focusing on ugly Jakarta are just a few of the many acts the CCF has brought to town.

For Dodo Karundeng, a photographer and faithful CCF visitor, these events are more than personal enjoyment. The assorted cultural events have provided him with many photo opportunities and, ultimately, helped him put together his own show.

The result is Interaksi, his first solo photographic exhibition. The CCF gallery will exhibit 26 of Dodo's black-and- white photographs through July 7. They not only highlight the emotions around the city as the CCF brought their native and Indonesian artists to the local cultural scene, but also deliver subtle social criticism.

The documented events include Les Flambards street theater, jazz gamelan concerts, Les Arts Sauts acrobatic troupe and Rendez-Vous interactive street art. And, of course, Dodo ventured to several photo exhibitions, such as Isabelle Waternaux's Equivalences, Herve Dangla's Belantara Jakarta and Yudi Suryaatmojo's Paris-Metro.

Indeed, it is likely that Dodo's pictures will invoke memories for some Jakartans, especially those who follow CCF's cultural events. As a photo editor for Antara news agency and former photojournalist for the defunct Tempo newsweekly, he is not a novice in documenting events.

However, the 45-year-old sees his photographs as more than just a documentation device. He chose the title Interaksi (Interaction) to underscore how inevitable an interaction is in a cultural happening.

This is not simply interaction between performers and their audience. As a photographer who often takes pictures from the sidelines, Dodo considers himself part of the interaction.

"When I shoot a picture, there is also interaction between me and the object," he explains, "When I took these pictures, I was in the middle of the audience and the performers. I became a part of the interaction."

Interactions

Although Dodo's pictures reflect dynamic interactions, his exhibition lacks the art's vibrant atmosphere. His exhibited pieces are about the same size. Moreover, they are hung and evenly spaced on the CCF's white-painted gallery wall. All of these give a sense of monotony.

Nonetheless, the monotony is gone once we observe what is inside the frames. Capturing jubilant faces, grim emotions and even empty expressions in different events, Interaksi manages to reflect the vibrancy of the art world.

Despite the variety of the art events, Dodo clearly separates the exhibition into two parts.

The front part of the gallery is generally devoted to expressions of joy: a close-up shot of a laughing clown from Les Flambards street theater in front of the Arts Centre gives a festive feeling. A visitor would likely be captivated by his photograph of a Les Art Sauts male acrobat hanging on to a swing with his hands and legs swaying towards the camera. His legs are spread as if to frame another male acrobat on the ground and the Monas Monument in the background.

The back room, on the other hand, has a rather serious, if not depressing tone. Here Dodo shows the shots from Dangla's Belantara Jakarta photo exhibition, which features many harsh and unflattering images of Jakarta, as well as Waternaux's Equivalences, the main object of which are unsmiling faces.

An "accident" occurred when he shot Waternaux's picture of an old man. The gallery's spotlights fell on the man's eyes, but he experimented by taking its picture anyway. It turns out that the annoying spotlights created a stunning but puzzling image. Is the man enduring God's punishment like Paul the Apostle? Or is he accepting a heavenly revelation instead?

Dodo won't say what he thinks. In fact, he invites the audience to have their own interpretation as he also expects active interaction from the public. "People always ask me what it means. Sometimes I want to hear their own personal opinion," he said.

Despite the seemingly light theme of Interaksi, Dodo insists his pictures do not stray far from the current social reality. The wild stunts and the festivities are the reflection of this month's activities -- the election campaign.

While most artists avoid performing or exhibiting their works during the campaigning period, Dodo believes this is a perfect time for his exhibition. He reasons that his exhibition's festive images coincide with the current campaign mood.

He points out the picture of an eccentric sporting a pair of goggles as if they are his glasses while visiting the Paris-Metro exhibition in 1994. He uses this photo to show a connection with the wildness of the campaign time. "People campaign by masquerading in strange faces," he says. "And, that man seems to reflect how we sometimes see things through foggy spectacles."