City holds painting expo

JAKARTA (JP): An exhibition featuring 50 paintings by 17 of Indonesia's most prominent painters from three generations will be held at Santi Gallery, South Jakarta, beginning today.

The exhibition of the paintings which carry the theme "Barong Emas" is scheduled to be opened by Mrs. Sri Harmoko, wife of Minister of Information Harmoko, Mrs. Santi Dewi, the owner of the gallery and the chief organizer of the exhibition, told Antara on Saturday.

"It will last through Sept. 10," she said, adding that the event is being held to mark the 50th anniversary of Indonesia's independence.

Some of the artists are highly reputed painters who have made names for themselves not only in Indonesia but also abroad.

Topping the list is the late Affandi, an internationally acclaimed painter. The others are Bagong Kussudiardjo, Srihadi, Sudarsono, Abas Alibasyah, Suparto, Nyoman Gunarasa, Popo Iskandar, Roedyat Martadiarja, Sunaryo, Dede Eri Supria, Gunawan Hanjaya, Neif, S.Yadi K, Rudy Pranajaya, Yuni A. Wulandari, Soekanto and Nyoman Meja.

Explaining about the theme, Santi said the Barong is a Balinese mythical creature that brings good and spiritual cleansing. A traditional Balinese dance exists depicting how the Barong struggles hard and eventually manages to defeat the witch Rangda.

"The Barong always triumphs over the witch because it is siding with the people. Perhaps this can be used as an analogy as to how our independence fighters eventually beat the Dutch colonial rulers because they fought for the sake of the people who were oppressed by the Dutch," Santi said. (bas)