Italian art on show at National Museum

Italian art on show at National Museum

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): The closest Flavio Favelli ever got to this part
of the world was Iran.

Born in Florence, Italy, Favelli, 33, has been working as an
artist for only five years. While still a student, he liked the
peaceful atmosphere at the Institute of Oriental Studies in his
hometown and so he decided to take an advanced degree in Oriental
history and literature, specializing in Persia.

Today the work of Favelli is deeply influenced by ancient
Persian civilization and he makes liberal use in his art of
artifacts and natural materials like palm leaves of Iranian
origin.

One of 12 artists participating in Shapes of Mind, the first
major exhibition of contemporary Italian art to open here at
the still unfinished new wing of the National Museum, Favelli
admitted the last thing on his mind, ever, was the world of
Indonesia.

He traces his interest in the Orient, backward, from Rome to
the pre-Islamic glory of Istanbul, Baghdad and Iran. His art is
full of symbols representing the decadence of this age. One of
two artists to accompany the Jakarta exhibition, Favelli's
Cardio-writing (2000), a somber gray and black engraving on
slate, is a typical example of the mere illustration of an idea
by modern day minimalist artists.

He told The Jakarta Post that his one day trip to Jakarta was
just another job. He was not exceptionally overjoyed when he was
told that he was to visit the country, but he found after his
arrival that he wanted to stay longer.

"Indonesia is so far away from Italy. It is so traditional and
so different from my society," explained Favelli, a conceptual
artist who accumulates experience before choosing a piece from
multiple experiences for display. He concentrates on all those
ideas that are continuously being modified by time in the spirit
of conceptual art that was conceived out of a desire to shift
aesthetic discourse away from traditional objects and materials.

Up to the 1960s, art was seen in terms of concrete shapes and
objects. Conceptual art, by contrast, aims to find its own
definition as it attempts to represent the actual experience of
the artist. The work of art consists in the analysis and
investigation of the language of art and the result often is
"dematerialized" art, meaning art which is not committed to
long-lasting materials or forms.

The materials of this art can range from sheets of paper,
discussions about art to philosophical reflections on the
artistic system, with art moving from a method based intuition
and synthesis to one based on scientific analysis.

No wonder conceptual artists may find it a little difficult to
identify with much of Indonesian art, where form and external
beauty continue to take precedence over the idea. By good art it
is meant here that art which will last forever. However,
conceptual artists have now forced museums and galleries to
expand their notion of exhibitions to include installations
designed to be temporary.

It is possible for artists to be paid these days a fee
to produce temporary artwork, capturing fleeting moments with
mediums that may soon disintegrate. In painting, artists are
known to form images in the heat of the compulsive action of
becoming. That certain crisis or crucial moment of sensation or
release involves a gamut of experiences not just full of
anguish, but also ecstasy. Often what is realized in that instant
is beautiful and even considered an important work of art,
despite the fact that there is little intention to please. The
aim forever favoring reflection.

Pino Casagrande, the curator who chose the exhibits for
display and was here to put the exhibition up at the National
Museum, regretted that in his gallery in Italy, he did not have
even one piece of work by an Indonesian artist. Casagrande feels
that traditions help in getting to the root of the soul and give
each contemporary creation a solidity that is extremely
meaningful. He is happy that at least a beginning has been made
in an artistic dialog between the two very diverse cultures of
this country and his own. His dream is to get Indonesian and
Italian artists to exhibit together, both here and in Europe.

The other visiting artist, Elvio Chiricozzi, 35, was too jet-
lagged to talk very much about his trip. "It is like a dream," he
said simply.

Chiricozzi's artwork is compared to ontology and his exhibit,
The Hands You Want (2000), in oil and mixed techniques, explains
to a certain extent what conceptual artists are trying to do
today.

Roberta Postiglioni, the architect of the exhibition,
regretted that their stay was even shorter than all the hours
they spent journeying here from Rome. She was inspired by the
premises of the museum where she chose to display the 12
exhibits.

She was enchanted with the old world charm of the National
Museum and the contemporary ambience taking shape at the new
wing. Just like life itself, it is also involved in a continuous
process of completion.

Shapes of Mind is at the National Museum, Jl. Merdeka Barat
12, until April 7.