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.