Ignorance shows through in the burning of Tisna's artwork

Ignorance shows through in the burning of Tisna's artwork

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Tisna Sanjaya has a unique way of expressing his
political inspiration. He has created a piece entitled Monumen
Tiga Puluh Tahun Berpikir dengan Dengkul (Monument of Thirty-two
Years of Thinking with Our Elbows).

The work includes three billboards made of bedeck mats of
woven bamboo with the images of Habibie kissing the hand of the
artist, Soeharto kissing the hand of another image of his own
self, and Habibie kissing the hand of Soeharto. It also consists
of statues of three figures made of woven bamboo strips. The
gigantic nude statues are upturned, standing on their heads on
top of a nampan beras, a round receptacle used to sort rice.

In the first billboard, the artist is wearing the official
uniform of the Civil Servants Corps (Korpri). The image seems to
refer to Habibie's great consideration for political emblems like
Golkar (the ruling political "functional group") and ABRI (the
Armed Forces).

Tisna Sanjaya is a lecturer at Bandung's Institute of
Technology, and due to his position, also categorized as a civil
servant. As the institute's 1996 "model lecturer" he often wears
his Korpri uniform to express his cynicism in viewing the Korpri
institution itself.

The second billboard suggests the New Order's self-adulation,
while the third shows Habibie's relationship to his predecessor.

The exhibition of Tisna Sanjaya's work was displayed at the
Yayasan Pendidikan Kesenian in Bandung.

A discussion held at the closing of the show on Dec. 10
concluded that Tisna should not only be shown in gallery or
general exhibition spaces, but should be exhibited to a larger
audience, in a more public space. The participants in the
discussion decided to parade the first billboard and one
sculpture to the Regional Legislative Council (popularly known as
"Gedung Sate") in Bandung that very evening.

At first, lacking adequate support, the pieces did fall down
as they were blown by the wind. Only after the work was propped
up once again and properly supported, did it stand proudly in
front of the building for a few days.

However, on Dec. 14, the work disappeared, and no one dared to
claim responsibility for the piece. Tisna finally found the
remains of the work already burned and lying in the garbage dump
of the council complex. A label for the piece, also made of
bedek, and part of the rice receptacle were also burned, but
other parts of it remained. However, the statue was nowhere to be
found.

Tisna collected the pieces that were left. He said that he
intended to make another work based on the incident. Previously
Tisna meant to take the work to the Asia-Pacific Triennial in
Brisbane, Australia next September.

Ironically, what happened to Tisna's work indeed reflected the
very ignorance that is the result of 32-years of thinking with
our elbows. It also shows an unwillingness to engage in dialog
and discussion -- characteristic of the repressive New Order
regime -- that has led to a destructive reaction that was also
rampant during the New Order era. It is a clear case of cowardly
terrorism. On the one hand, it is meant to terrorize the artist
and other artists into refraining from presenting their outspoken
art in the public realm. On the other, it shows an unwillingness
to face the issues.

Lacking the intelligence to deal with the art work and the
artist, the culprit chose the most inane way out, that is to
destroy it.

What makes it even worse is the fact that the incident
occurred in the compound of the legislature, a place where
people's aspirations should actually be voiced, not destroyed.
The incident is so telling of the pathetic state of our
legislative body, which is supposed to consist of advocates of
democracy.

Even though perhaps the members of legislature were not
directly responsible for the act, they should at least have been
able to stop it from happening. Until now, there has been no
reaction from the legislature. No one has claimed responsibility
for the destruction of the art work. What has happened is no
different from the ninja attacks in Banyuwangi, East Java. It has
claimed a victim, the felon is on the loose, but the authorities
are either indifferent toward the situation or incapable of
apprehending him.

Tisna is reluctant to make a fuss about the incident. "It
doesn't seem right to make this a public matter, while there are
other, more important things," he said. "Human beings are dying
of hunger," he added.

However, he expressed interest in developing the work further,
to make it more significant. The incident made a significant
impact on Tisna himself. He admitted that artists like himself
have a tendency to create art works as a response or reaction to
an incident that has happened or a phenomenon that exists in
society.

"Perhaps we should try to think about how we can take our art
another step forward, to make it more meaningful," he said,
introspectively.

What Tisna will do remains to be seen. Meanwhile, it seems
clear that Bandung artists will not be able to rely on the
current members of their legislature to guarantee the freedom of
expression that is part of their basic human rights, and that is
necessary for the development of their creativity. For now, they
will need to fight for their own rights.

The writer is curator at Museum Universitas Pelita Harapan,
Lippo Karawaci, Tangerang, West Java.