Edhi Sunarso, a forgotten sculptor of the Sukarno era

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.