Dynamic Asmat auctions surpass Christie's and Sotheby's
By Amir Sidharta
JAKARTA (JP): Christie's and Sotheby's, eat your hearts out. The New York and London auctions of these two houses may fetch astronomical prices, but they would certainly seem tame and boring compared to the auctions at Agats.
For those unfamiliar with the name, the small town of Agats, located near the mouth of the Aswetsj River at the southern coast of Irian Jaya, is the capital of the Asmat region, an area world famous for its woodcarvings.
Since 1981, the community of Agats have been holding annual auctions of Asmat art, following a regional woodcarving competition, as part of their Asmat Art Festival.
The sale room is a simple open structure of wood raised on stilts above the mud of tidal swamp lands. Its zinc roof provides some protection from heat and rain, but still conducts the heat of the sun as the day progresses.
People have gathered here since the morning. The woodcarvers, whose works are included in the sale, sit or stand at the back of the room, while guests and prospective buyers are seated in the front of the room. The art works to be sold, numbering over two hundred, are placed on the stage in front and along the periphery of the room.
The main auctioneer was community leader Juven Biakai, a young man very much respected by the Asmat. As soon as the auctions began, the auctioneers were screaming and shouting, jumping and dancing, reminiscent of the style of African-American rappers,
They entice those present to join along. The woodcarvers scream and clap. Those seated stomp their feet, while those standing dance and jump. It is safe to say, without much doubt, that it is the most animated and lively art auction in the world.
The auctioneer presents the first lot, while another introduces the piece by describing this statue of a cassowary bird and a man. He also points out the best qualities of the piece.
The auctioneer asks for a basic price from the audience, and a guest offers Rp 50,000. Another bidder raises the offer to Rp 100,000, warming up the mood. The price suddenly increases to Rp 150,000, Rp 200,000 and then Rp 250,000.
The auctioneer asks for applause and the audience responds positively. But then it slows down again. While he shops for interest among the bidders, the auctioneer starts to count, "Rp 250,000 going once, twice."
Then an offer of Rp 300,000 emerges from the floor. The person who previously had the bid, now the underbidder, seems to be determined to have the piece. He raises the price once again, to Rp 350,000. After more applause, there seem to be no other contenders, and the determined bidder succeeds in getting the piece. The audience clap and shout again.
The auctioneer asks the artist to come up front. There, he is asked to hold his art work and pose for a picture, along with the buyer of the piece. Then the bidder goes to meet the organizers sitting at desks arranged along the front left side of the room to settle his account in cash.
The 17th Asmat Festival was opened on Monday, Oct. 12, 1998, by the Director General of Culture on behalf of the Minister of Tourism, Art and Culture. Among those present were Australian Ambassador John McCarthy, Chairman of the Asmat Foundation Kharis Soehoed, Senior Vice President of Freeport McMoRan Paul Murphy, senior editor of Suara Pembaruan Aristides Katoppo, photographer and writer Kal Muller, journalists, a number of dealers from America, Germany and Ujungpandang, some Freeport employees and other guests.
Since Agats is not only the cultural center of the region, but also the center of the Catholic mission, the event received the full support of bishop of the region, Alphonse A. Sowada.
The auction progresses in intervals set by the audience, but usually in intervals of Rp 50,000. The foreign bidders usually only have to say, "Tambah Lima!" to indicate this increase.
Although the audience were sweating in the heat, the mood of the auction remained light and humorous. When the bishop entered a bid, the auctioneer would entice other bidders to outbid him, saying, "Don't be afraid of the bishop."
There was also an instance where one woman realized that she was competing with her husband on a piece. Once a Freeport employee placed a bid, the auctioneer would turn to Paul Murphy, notifying him that he should not surrender to his subordinate.
"Can it stand up?" asked someone in the room about a freestanding piece being offered. The auctioneer checked by placing the piece on a table. Seeing that it could, he said "Yes, it can! Because it is able to stand up, will you offer Rp 100,000 more?" The audience burst into laughter. From Rp 400,000 the price of the piece climbed to Rp 700,000.
All of the pieces managed to sell this year, with the lowest price paid for a piece being Rp 100,000. But most pieces sold over that price because Ursula Konrad, an art dealer and expert of Asmat art, would seldom allow prices to be lower than Rp 200,000. If a piece was bid below that price, often she would scream, "Dzua razus!", causing her to earn the nickname of "Madam Dzua Razus".
Ursula was certainly the driving force of the auction. Once, in response to slow moving bids of Rp 200,000, Rp 250,000, Rp 300,000, Ursula raised the price to Rp 500,000, shocking the audience. Other times, in the middle of a sale, as the piece was being bid on by people in the room, she would come up close to the piece, inspect it and offer another bid.
Sometimes, Ursula would raise bids just to tease her German friends who had come along to Irian with her. One friend was bidding for a tifa with another person in the sale room, and was about to succeed in getting it.
But then Ursula entered her bid, and competed fiercely for the piece. Only after a while did her friend realize that it was Ursula who was competing with him, and therefore he could not surrender. The piece was eventually sold to Ursula, because she entered a bid after the auctioneer's third count.
On the second day, the Governor of Irian Jaya, Freddy Numberi, arrived in Agats and also participated in the event. He opened the auction by placing a bid of Rp 200,000 for a tifa ceremonial drum.
The third item, another tifa, initially became the subject of competition between Ursula and the bishop. From a starting price of Rp 500,000, the price climbed to Rp 1.5 million in a few seconds. After a short pause, suddenly the bishop raised his hands with eight fingers, indicating an offer for Rp 1.8 million.
Ursula countered the offer for Rp 2 million and a new bidder entered the competition with a higher bid of Rp 2.1 million. But then the governor offered an even higher bid of Rp 2.2 million. Noting that the next bidder was the governor, the new bidder refrained from placing a further bid.
Then, a large statue of warriors sold for Rp 2.4 million once again to the governor. This price broke the record for the seventeen years of auctions. Not long after that, the record was broken again. A statue of a ritual was sold to Ursula for Rp 2.5 million. She was rewarded with a kiss from Juven Biakai.
The second day of auctions seemed to fetch the best prices. A statue of a crocodile catching ceremony was sold for Rp 2.2 million to Haji Nurdin, a local businessman from Ujungpandang, who owns the main lodging facility in Agats.
Another statue of a ceremony became the subject of competition between the bishop and the governor. This time, the bishop succeeded in obtaining the piece for another record-breaking price of Rp 4 million.
Towards the end, a tifa was sold for Rp 2.9 million. By around noon, at the end of the morning session of the second day, it was estimated that the auction had fetched over Rp 100 million revenue.
The auction continued that afternoon, and yet another day. By the end of the third day, it was estimated that the auction had at least matched the previous year's revenue, or slightly exceeded it.
Although the revenue of the Asmat auctions in Agats is certainly much less than what is fetched by Christie's or Sotheby's in any auction, it is without doubt much more interesting than any auction the international houses have ever held.