Guruh wins Montblanc achievement award
Guruh wins Montblanc achievement award
JAKARTA (JP): Despite being tongue-tied, Guruh Irianto
Soekarnoputra beamed with elation after accepting the Montblanc
Achievement Award 2001 in a lavish ceremony at the Grand Hyatt
Hotel, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
"I asked myself, why me?" said the Sukarno clan member and
noted choreographer, composer, designer and avid painter, in his
brief speech.
The works of Guruh, the fifth child born by Sukarno's second
wife Fatmawati, combine modern and traditional styles.
"I guess I inherit my artistic blood from my parents. Both of
them loved the arts and were quite actively involved in them. As
a teenager I used to watch my father painting and admired his
collections. This fostered my interests in fine arts and the
performing arts," Guruh said.
Guruh has received a number of awards from foreign
organizations. He was awarded the Chevalier De L'Ordre Des Arts
Et Des Lettres from the French government in 1991 and the
Kawakami Award and Audience Selection Award in Tokyo in 1997.
He is the third Indonesian to have received the Montblanc
award. In 1994, the award went to the late painting maestro
Basuki Abdullah, while in 1995 it went to the late singer
Sudjarwoto Sumarsono, popularly known as Gombloh.
The award was presented by Wolff Heinrichsdorff, Executive
Vice President for Marketing and Sales of Montblanc
International, and Sumarno Lohardjo, President Director of PT
Sumaco Wahana Utama, Montblanc's agent in Indonesia.
Guruh performed two of his works, Lambang Sari and Gandrung
Greget Sari, during the ceremony.
"People may think that my works have been strongly influenced
by Balinese culture, but if you really pay attention I combine
movements from other parts of the country as well," Guruh said.
With the exception of Wednesday's event, it has been quite a
while since Guruh took center stage, a situation which he blames
on the prolonged political and economic crisis.
This year, Guruh said he would concentrate on the 100th
Anniversary of Sukarno, for which he is chairman of the
organizing committee. (lup)