Indonesian artists teeter on 'reformasi' road

Evi Mariani and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

American writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. has the most apt expression to describe the state Indonesian artists are in these days.

"Who is more to be pitied; a writer bound and gagged by policemen or one living in perfect freedom who has nothing more to say?"

Seven years after the downfall of the authoritarian regime of Soeharto, artists here are no longer hassled by the notorious state police who put a stranglehold on their artistry, but, at the same time, they are barely producing anything new of significance.

If anything, the quality of their work pales in comparison with what emerged under the repression of the New Order regime.

The country's only credible candidate for the Nobel Prize for literature is still Pramoedya Ananta Toer; no new writers are prolific enough to challenge his literature, produced while he was trampled on by the autocratic Soeharto regime.

Loss of role

Artists who made their name at that time by taking on the authoritarian regime now appear to be at a loss about where their artistic direction should go.

Stage actor Butet Kertaradjasa, who was famous for making fun of the strongman and his henchmen through his searing parodies, now turns up regularly on TV, trying to make himself relevant with somewhat uninspiring social commentary.

Yogyakarta-based seminal writer Seno Gumira Ajidarma stood out for writing incendiary condemnations on state-sponsored violence, alleged to have been committed by the Indonesian Military (TNI) in particular. However, as the TNI has now adopted a more subtle approach, his works can at best be seen now as a tale of a bygone era.

Folk singer Iwan Fals, whose prolific pen has written about every vice the Soeharto regime ever committed, is more than happy now to compose simple love songs for teenagers.

This year, Teater Koma's attempt to relive their guerrilla play Maaf, Maaf, Maaf, which in 1978 became their milestone, failed to generate the same enthusiasm. Instead, the audience yawned several times during the three-hour play in which the actors spoke satirically about dictatorship and military violence.

Street artists who recited Wiji Thukul's poetry about the fight of the oppressed could, at one time, make a whole bus shudder with inspiration. Now, they have to face indifferent bus passengers who give them Rp 500 coins out of pity.

Although the Indonesian movie industry imploded long before the downfall of the Soeharto regime, in its current state it has failed to match the industry's heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, a period alo considered the regime's heyday.

At the crossroads

Leftist critic Hilmar Farid of the Network of Cultural Works (JKB) said that artists were at a crossroads of wanting to discard the past and wanting to create something new, but they were in the dark over it.

"They are tired of politics but they don't know what they will speak of for the time being," he told The Jakarta Post.

As a result, some artists have only dipped their toes into unknown territory. "Some female writers, for instance, write about sexuality but don't know how to achieve it without touching on its vulgar aspects," he said.

Art critic Mudji Soetrisno of the Driyakara School of Philosophy painted a similar picture on the country's art, although less pessimistic in tone.

"Financially, we are bankrupt so we can't finance the promotion of art that represents the country," he told the Post.

Mudji has judged a variety of art competitions in the country.

However, he denied suggestions that art had faltered at a time when freedom was supposed to enable it to bloom.

"There are enclaves in which a group of artists thrive in their work although they are not covered by the press and elude the public gaze," he said, adding that Yogyakarta-based painter Heri Dono for instance, had gained an international reputation despite being overlooked at home.

State oppression replaced by market forces

Mudji said that after decades of oppression, artists these days embraced a celebration of life as their artistic theme. "Most female writers such as Dewi Lestari and Ayu Utami adopt postmodern themes in their celebration of the body. They just want to be honest," he said.

When it came to another social critique, artists aimed their grievance at recurring human rights abuse, Mudji said. "The artists also become mouthpieces for those who had been disenfranchised during the Soeharto regime," he said.

Writer Hamsad Rangkuti, who recently won a Khatulistiwa Award for his collection of short stories, told the Post that art pieces protesting a particular regime tended to be irrelevant when the regime toppled.

"But humanity will never lose its relevance. Poverty and injustice are two things that are still of major concern when writing," he said.

Hamsad's stories written before and after reformasi are mostly about the life and drama of poor people, and sometimes about love.

In consequence, artist like Hamsad was never as outstanding as those who were more "vocal", like Rendra and Wiji Thukul, who gained wider popularity when the regime oppressed them.

The govermnent no longer crushes expressions of dissent by artists.

This ostensible freedom has, instead, caused some artists to teeter, bowing to market interests to gain popularity.

Hilmar said that if the menace to artistic freedom in the past was the state, the specter that hangs over artists these days is the dictates of the market.

"Artists are allowed to be creative within the confines set by the market; this is very dangerous -- both for the artists and their audience."