Indonesia at the Venice Biennale 2005

Indonesia at the Venice Biennale 2005

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

Adjusting to the winds of change, the Venice Biennale, one of
the oldest and most prestigious exhibitions of contemporary art
in the world, has nominated Maria de Corral and Rosa Martinez
from Spain as the two directors in charge of the 51st
International Arts Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, opening on
June 12.

It is the first time for women to take charge of the event,
which this year takes a look at the relationship between the
present and the most significant past (to be held in the Italian
Pavilion), and the relationship between the present and the most
innovative trends (to be seen in the Arsenale di Venezia).

In a further sign of the changing times, the president of the
Fondazione la Biennale di Venezia, Davide Croff, and the
directors of the 51st International Art Exhibition have announced
that the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement will be awarded to
artist Barbara Kruger from the United States. The award will be
presented on June 10 in Venice during a ceremony at the Teatro
alle Tese in the Arsenale.

It seems that the changing mood has also touched the works
that will be exhibited at the Indonesian pavilion at the Venice
Biennale, beginning on June 11.

As curator Dr. Dwi Marianto explained in an interview in
April in Yogyakarta, at a time of overall gloom and sadness
caused by bomb threats, terrorism, violence and a succession of
calamities and national disasters, culminating in the tsunami in
Aceh and the earthquake in Nias, it is important to allow oneself
to retreat from the flurry of news and the buzz of the everyday.
One must be able to retreat into the space of the personal and be
still in order to uplift the spirits and the flow of a new energy
to fill our lives.

"We may be devastated and poor, but we must never give up
hope," he said.

With this in mind, Dwi Marianto selected four Indonesian
artists for the Indonesia pavilion at this year's Venice
Biennale, who were given the theme Daya Hidup (Life Force). While
the works by Krisna Murti (1957), Noor Ibrahim (1966) and Entang
Wiharso (1967) reflect efforts to cope with today's issues, Yani
Mariani Sastranegara's work culminates in a sublimation of inner
spirit, resulting in an elevation of the human being.

Entang Wiharso deals with the issue of intercultural marriage,
and the problems arising from different traditional backgrounds
and societal prejudice.

His large three-by-six meter oil painting, consisting of three
parts and titled Forbidden Exotic Country, expresses his feelings
of critique and disappointment with U.S. travel warnings and the
handling of Indonesian travelers at U.S. immigration gates.

In an installation titled Behind Space, however, Entang
symbolically indicates that the brushing together of two cultures
is bound to give birth to a new culture. In a three-by-four-by
three meter house made of pink-magenta colored textile, two
figures facing each other are hung in lying positions. The floor
in the obscure space is covered with rose petals, both from
original as well as hybrid roses. After a few days, the petals
smell of decay. But in the next stage they will have dried,
filling the space with a wonderful scent.

For the sculptor Noor Ibrahim, the over 300 ethnic groups
united in the Indonesian nation abound with problems and
deportments that hamper progress in the human condition. On the
other hand, he feels there are strong survival instincts. Such is
visualized in his installation works, inspired by the tsunami
devastation: one is titled Fossilised Behavior, measuring
1.85-by-two-by-three meters, consisting of a metal figure rising
up from the earth covered with clothing, like the dead bodies of
the tsunami disaster. Going Higher, an installation measuring
1.50-by-1.60-by-four meters, features a fossil body and stainless
steel ladders.

Video artist Krisna Murti's 15-minute video with images of
water in waterfalls, water treatments and peaceful landscapes
invites a rejuvenating experience. The video artwork is conveyed
through three projectors and a transparent cloth. Krisna Murti's
work is the result of over two years of research into the
question of what "paradise" means in various religions.

"They all visualize paradise with water," he says, and water
is also a basic ingredient in modern spas. Hence the title Video
Spa.

Yani Mariani Sastranegara's work is an experience not to be
missed. As I sat in the dark at Yani's studio in front of the
work (which was faintly lighted from the inside), together with
curator Dwi Marianto, the Biennale's Indonesian commissioner,
Sumarti Sarwono, arts manager Grace Anna Marie and a few others,
before the work was packed up for transportation to Venice, we
all felt we could sit there for much longer than our time would
allow. A profound sense of another world came over us, lifting us
into the sphere of the imagery, of the non-material, a blend of
beauty and suspense.

Titled Lazuardi, a poetic name for "blue sky", the
installation consists of eight sculptures made of whimsical,
imaginary plant shapes using natural plant roots for the frames,
covered with pastel-colored stretch material and resin for the
visual roots.

For some time, Yani Mariani has been preoccupied with the
issue of growth: is it limited or can it be prolonged without
end? Her work for the Venice Biennale reveals that growth in fact
can be timeless if it is related to the spiritual.

For the organizers of the Indonesia delegation, Sumarti
Sarwono, Grace Anna and Dwi Marianto, bringing the works of
Indonesian artists to represent Indonesia at this prestigious
event is a tough job. So far no financial sponsorship has been
obtained from the government. The artists have been selling their
works in special fund-raising events, and are willing to show
some of their works in exchange for a loan to pay for the
shipping of works, renting space, etc.

In this sense, plans to hold an Indonesia Day in Venice on
Aug. 17 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Indonesian
Republic seem quite ambitious, though not impossible given the
strong intent and hard work of Sumarti Sarwono and Grace Anna
Marie.

Daya Hidup (Life Force), May 11 to Nov. 6
Indonesian visual arts at the Indonesian Pavilion
Telecom Italy Future Centre
Campo S. Salvador 4826, Boot station Rialto, Venice/Italy