Edhi Sunarso, a forgotten sculptor of the Sukarno era

By Sulistyo Budi N.

YOGYAKARTA (JP): "Never ever forget history," Indonesia's first president, the late Sukarno said. These words are still fresh in the memory of Edhi Sunarso, 69, a "great" sculptor during Sukarno's era.

Edhi, former head of sculpture at the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI)'s art department in Yogyakarta, said that, 31 years after Sukarno's death, many have forgotten Sukarno's grand concepts and the artists who played a significant role in realizing them in the commemoration of Indonesia's independence.

Very few know who came up with and then realized the ideas for the Tugu Selamat Datang (Welcome Statue), the monument commemorating the liberation of Irian Jaya from the Dutch in Banteng Square, Monumen Dirgantara (Aerospace Monument) and the diorama of national struggle inside the National Monument. These statues are significant historical monuments in the annals of the Indonesian people's struggle for independence and their fight to maintain it.

"If Sukarno were still alive, he would be very happy to see how his people always remember the works presented to the Indonesian nation," said Edhi at his home in Yogyakarta.

Not many people today are aware that it was Sukarno who came up with the idea to erect these statues and that it was Edhi Sunarso who translated his vision into reality. Unfortunately, Edhi is also a mystery to many.

A father of four, who was born in Salatiga in 1932, Edhi said Sukarno paid a lot of attention to artists. He even recruited young artists to create works that ignited a strong spirit of nationalism and anti-imperialism. Sukarno "challenged" Edhi to create the Tugu Selamat Datang even though he knew that Edhi had no experience in creating large monuments.

After some argument with the president, Bung Karno, Sukarno's popular name, said, "If you refuse the idea, I'll ask foreign sculptors to create the statues of your people. Have you still the heart to see this happen? Do you still love your own nation and are you still a nationalist?"

Edhi could not respond. Then Bung Karno told him to return to Yogyakarta and discuss the matter with artists there. "You have a week. When you return to Jakarta, I don't want to hear you say you can't take the job," Edhi said, recalling the words of the president.

Edhi worked hard to bring artists together in Yogyakarta, including the late Ignatius Gardono (a sculptor) to discuss the statue. He also contacted pensioners from the state's railway company to lend a hand in the casting of 7 tons of bronze for the statue. The statue was taken to Jakarta and erected as a monument in 1959.

After his success in creating Tugu Selamat Datang, in 1962 Edhi was entrusted by the president with making the monument celebrating Irian Jaya's liberation and then the bronze Monumen Dirgantara in 1964, which he completed in 1967. For the Monumen Dirgantara, the construction of its support was left to the late Sutami, the architect of Karangkates dam in Malang, East Java.

"At that time, Bung Karno had an idea for the Monumen Dirgantara. He wanted the statue to take the appearance of Gatotkaca, a flying figure in Javanese shadow puppetry, while in flight. So, the statue is modeled on Gatotkaca in this position," said Edhi.

To boost national pride, Bung Karno also wanted to provide the National Monument with a diorama depicting the nation's struggle. At first, the job to make this diorama was entrusted to 20 artists, who had all been sent abroad to take a special course in relation to the technique for its creation. Unfortunately, the president did not agree with the plan made by these artists and then assigned Edhi the job.

"I recruited three artists, including the late Saptoto, to help me. It was indeed a tiring job as we had to first study national history. We had to inspect the locations and even had to go to Holland to study historical manuscripts," he said.

Edhi's other landmark works include the diorama of events during the alleged abortive coup of the Indonesian Communist Party, the September Thirtieth Movement, in Lubang Buaya (1969), the diorama at the Museum of the Indonesian Armed Forces (1968), the diorama in the Monument of Yogya Returns (1996) and the diorama in the Heroes' Monument in Surabaya (1998).

Edhi first became acquainted with the late first president when Bung Karno visited Yogyakarta to meet the city's artists. Edhi said Bung Karno held intensive dialogs with artists in Javanese. It was through these dialogs that Bung Karno learned of Edhi's strong ability in sculpture. In later years, when Bung Karno happened to be in Yogyakarta, he would drop by at Edhi's house.

Humble past

Edhi's past was not all rosy. During the period of struggle for independence he was put in prison in 1946 by the Dutch in Kebonwaru, Bandung. At that time he was a member of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and was assigned as a member of the sabotage unite of Division I, Battalion 3, Regiment 45 Siliwangi in Bandung. It was when he was in prison that he learned how to sketch. "That was how I became acquainted with art," he said.

In June 1946, he was set free. Actually, he had wanted to return to his corps in Semarang but, as he could not find them, he went to Yogyakarta in search of the troops. When he got to Yogyakarta, he learned that his troops had returned to Bandung.

So, the Students Demobilization Office in Yogyakarta offered him the opportunity to continue studying or join his troops in Bandung. He decided to join the Indonesian College of Fine Art (ASRI), now ISI. Here he studied fine art along with the late Saptoto and G. Sidharta, a former sculpture lecturer at ITB.

In 1956, Edhi joined an international sculpture contest in England, winning second prize for his stone sculpture titled The Unknown Political Prisoner.

In 1955 he received a scholarship from UNESCO to learn more about sculpture in Rabindranath Tagore University. In 1957, he earned a gold medal for winning a sculpture contest offered by the Indian government. His work for this contest was a stone statue titled Nude.

Edhi returned to Indonesia in 1958 and began teaching at ASRI the next year. Here he assumed a number of academic positions, including head of the sculpture department and a member of the senate. Now he has fully retired from the institution.

He has approximately 90 works in his house-cum-gallery. These works are relatively good in quality, he admitted. Take, for example, Di Emperan Senen (In Front of a Shop in Senen -- 1989), which depicts a man massaging one of his clients. The head of this man leans on the legs of the masseur's wife. "I simply want to show the unwillingness of the husband to see the man lean on his wife," said Edhi.

Some people think sculpture is marginalized as the "golden boy" in art is fine art (painting). This is an assumption based on the fact that there are more painters than sculptors. Besides, a painting is usually more expensive than a sculpture.

Edhi, however, expressed his disagreement, arguing that it took a longer period of time to make a statue than to produce a painting.

"You can easily find the materials for your painting, but it is more difficult to find the materials for your statue. As I have said, it usually takes a longer time to make a statue than to produce a painting," he noted.

It is true that there are now far more collectors of paintings than those collecting statues. Therefore, paintings are usually more expensive than statues. Efforts need to be made to promote public appreciation for the art of sculpture.

As for the development of the art of sculpture in Indonesia, Edhi said that there are young sculptors with great potential to make progress and that, in addition to stone and wood, they also use fiberglass, resin, copper and bronze.