Dolorosa Sinaga: Artist, role model

Dolorosa Sinaga: Artist, role model

Fabio Scarpello, Contributor, Jakarta

Dolorosa Sinaga has been very often defined as a feminist. But
in fact she is also an artist, role model and activist.

Her sculptures represent women's experiences. Grief, loss,
anger as well as joy are some of the emotions present in the
kaleidoscope of her production. She explores women's body
movements as well as community emotion and human connection.

The women she features are those victimized but not defeated.
They fight and draw strength from each other. A sense of
"togetherness" is tangible and consistent in her work.

In Indonesia more than half the population are women but they
are still considered inferior to men. In such a society it is
easy to see why Sinaga is considered a feminist. It all comes
down to identity.

Althusser, a 19th century French philosopher, defined identity
as the "image we have of ourselves, and according to which we
respond when called". Here a gender-biased educational system,
and a macho sociocultural apparatus shape woman's identity.
Unsurprisingly, television programs stereotype women as
dependent, cooperative and passive.

Sinaga begs to differ. Her work offers women a different
identity, with no figures representing virginal purity, or
sensual temptresses. Her women live in today's "real" world,
impregnated with difficulties, and most importantly they fight.

Her contribution to the women's cause has been noticed. In
1994 she was presented the Krida Anodya award for her outstanding
achievements as a woman sculpture by the minister of women's
empowerment.

But women are just a metaphor to her. She is far from the
angry, hairy feminist who burns her bra. Her ideology goes deeper
than that.

"I am an artist who is against injustice in society. In
Indonesia women are a target of injustices and that is why I give
them a voice."

Her experiences abroad were instrumental in forming her
ideology. After graduating from the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ)
in 1977, Sinaga moved to London where she lived for three years
and obtained a Master's degree at the prestigious St. Martin
School of Art in 1983. At Berkeley, near San Francisco -- where
she lived for a year -- she studied the Finest Method of Bronze
Casting.

"London and San Francisco gave me a means of comparison.
Living there certainly widened my perspective; I came into
contact with the people's movement and realized how great a
political pressure they can apply. Over there, the lower classes
are aware of their social rights, and I realized how this helps
them close the gap with the middle class. When I came back to
Indonesia I could not accept anymore the social inequalities and
injustices."

But she is an artist and not a politician. Her message is
clear and strong but the medium she has chosen to propagate it is
sculpture and not the legislature. But her impact is equally
effective.

To Sinaga, art is a mean of social progress.

"Art is the best tool to make minds productive and to make
people ask questions. Especially to children it can be a mind
opener. I don't expect every child to become an artist, but I
believe that every child should be in contact with a creative
environment. Art allows children to experiment. Results -- of any
level -- bring pride, and proud people aim higher. This, in time,
would make a chain reaction from which society as a whole would
benefit, becoming more productive."

Hers are not empty words. Sinaga makes things happen and
involving the young generation has been a constant in her life
for years.

She is currently dean of the School of Arts at the Jakarta
Arts Institute. Students gain from her experience and enthusiasm.
Some of them work in her studio and their works are proudly
displayed next to hers. Also when she exhibits, there is always a
space reserved for children where they can dirty their hands with
clay.

She does not just wait for people to come and experience art.
She is well aware of the cultural and economical barriers of the
lower classes, so she takes art to them. Together with a close
group of like-minded friends, she takes regular workshops for
underprivileged children at Sanggar Akar, an organization
concentrating on improving children's basic education and
widening their opportunities through various art forms.

But in the final analysis, an artist is judged on the
aesthetical merit of his artwork. Sinaga's "auteur signature" is
evident in the reoccurring themes of her art in relation to time
(the present) place (here) and subjects (women's experiences).

The common denominator is the fluidity and energy oozing from
them. More than just viewing Sinaga's art, it seems to invite you
to partake in the dance, in the protest, in the grief. The visual
messages transpiring from her works stirs emotion in men as well
as in women across the world.

Her art may be rooted in Indonesia but her message cannot be
limited to a country. She represents the pinnacle of Indonesian
sculpture because her art transcends gender-appeal, cultural
limits and local identification.