JP/18/Yogya

Struggle and Creation: Young artists in Yogyakarta

Christina Schott Contributor/Yogyakarta

Behind the market of Yogyakarta's tourist area of Prawirotaman, where the garbage collectors pick up the trash in the morning and the rickshaw drivers take a nap in the afternoon, there is a roofed-over parking lot for motorcycles. It is this paved space that every night changes its face and becomes one of the city's latest and trendiest venues for young people and artists: Parkir Space.

Two young photographers, students of the Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) in Yogyakarta, had the idea of opening a cafe in the parking lot and thus not only fill the gaping holes in their pockets, but also provide a meeting place for young artists: Each month someone new presents his work on the small surrounding porch, while the landlords mix drinks at a food stall in the middle. At weekends, local bands perform their music or films are screened that usually do not reach Indonesian cinemas.

"Parkir Space is a great place to have an exhibition, as there is not only the usual crowd meeting in the evenings, but the people going to the market every day can also view it", says Arya Pandjalu. The 28-year-old artist exhibited his latest mixed media works at the parking lot cafe last August. All of them dealt with problems concerning the environment and consumerism.

Faked Fashion, for example, is an installation made up of little puppets in cans, symbolizing the blind acceptance of the masses of every passing trend. In No Space Any More (so I go home and make art), Arya has put a stuffed squirrel in a desk on an artificial meadow.

"Sometimes I feel constricted. So I like to try and explore new, alternative art spaces. Galleries are not really important. The most important thing is to not follow the mainstream", he said.

Like hundreds of prospective artists, Arya came as a highly idealistic young man to Yogyakarta to study at the renowned ISI, which is said to be the largest art institute in Indonesia. He did not want to apply at the School of Art and Design at the Institute of Technology in his hometown, Bandung (ITB).

"I decided to come to Yogyakarta because of its special atmosphere. My father studied here with Sudjojono (the father of social realism painting in Indonesia) and the traditions from that time still live on. Bandung is too exclusive", he says.

Once Indonesia's capital during the war of independence, Yogyakarta nowadays is one of Indonesia's top ten cities. But in terms of art, the sultanate city is definitely number one.

According to The Jakarta Post, there were 650 outstanding artists living in the city in 2002, 400 of them painters -- not to mention innumerable beginners and fine art students who have yet to earn a name for themselves.

But the city in Central Java is not only crowded with artists: with dozens of universities it is also Indonesia's city of students and, due to its variety of monuments and traditions, a popular tourist destination as well. Here, young people from all over the archipelago -- from Aceh to Papua -- encounter influences from other nationalities. At the end of the 1990s, when the reformat spirit swept over Indonesia after 33 years of dictatorship, this diversity came to the reflected in the development of contemporary art with a great variety of contrasting aesthetics and styles -- even among artists belonging to the same group.

The tradition of socialist realism from the days of Sudjojono and PERSAGI (Indonesian Painters Association) were revived in the days of reform euphoria: Social, political and economic issues such as abuses of power and corruption became once again a major source of inspiration for art. The students of ISI (formerly ASRI: Indonesian Academy of Fine Arts), played a major role in this development.

"One could identify the defining characteristic of this generation as the will to oppose as expressed in the common struggle of a global generation that has common convictions, common thinking, common ideals", curator Rizki A. Zaelani writes in Outlet -- maybe the only comprehensive book on Yogyakarta's contemporary art scene in the English language (Outlet. Yogyakarta and the recent Art Scene, Cemeti Art Foundation, Yogyakarta 2001).

Globalization slips in from everywhere, via tourism, the media and international exhibitions. Often there are no clear distinction anymore as to what is Indonesian and what is not. Cultural or ethnic identity is no longer as important to the artists. What is important is the content of their work: the fight against authoritarian domination of any kind, sympathy with those who cannot defend themselves, and the search for individual expression and a position in the social-ecological environment.

Yet, Yogyakarta still keeps up its attachment to mystical Javanese traditions.

"The ability of Yogyakartan artists to absorb new ideas so easily while retaining their original culture can perhaps be attributed to the flexibility of the Javanese culture. In the midst of traditional Yogyakartan life, competition among artists is strong and new practitioners and different styles emerge constantly, ready to sweep aside those considered outdated," wrote art critic Raihul Fadjri in Outlet.

It is this multicultural atmosphere that explains the phenomenon of Yogyakarta. So does Diah Yulianti, who came from South Kalimantan in 1992. The 31-year-old painter lives with her husband and little daughter in the artist colony of Nitiprayan.

She integrates a lot of her own cultural and spiritual background into her paintings -- as well as the female aspect.

Many of her pictures show fairy-like female figures with blowing hair, floating in the air with a yearning for understanding: like in her painting Go Up To The Sky, where a woman points from afar to a blue mountain, which seems to await being climbed over by a ladder. Despite her attachment to her on part of the country, Diah wants to stay in Yogyakarta even though she has already finished her studies there.

"The atmosphere here is unique. First, I am really interested in kejawen (Javanese mysticism). Every day I learn a new secret. Second, as a woman I can act much more independently here than in Kalimantan with its restricted gender rules. And then I can meet people from everywhere in the world. They keep coming because Yogyakarta still keeps its culture", she says.

Most artists living in the Central Javanese city are convinced that it would be impossible to find the same atmosphere of experimental creativity anywhere else in Indonesia. Some of the country's most prominent artists from other cities -- like Arahmaiani or Agus Suwage - even moved to Yogyakarta some years ago. Discussing contemporary art in Yogyakarta, therefore, is almost automatically considered synonymous with discussing contemporary art in Indonesia.

A key role in this development is played by the Cemeti Art House. Founded more than 15 years ago as an alternative gallery that dared to present the experimental works of young, unknown artists, it has become very significant in its influence not only on contemporary art in Yogyakarta, but also nationwide. Due to its professional management and excellent international contacts, an exhibition at the Cemeti gallery can mean an entrance ticket to the art world outside of Indonesia. And this, definitely, is the principal aim of most of the art students in Yogyakarta: anyone returning from a trip abroad is welcomed like a conquering hero.

"I really wanted to travel -- to get a wider view and new experiences. Once I had traveled, I became calmer", says ISI student Januri, who was invited to Liechtenstein in 2003.

Unlike most of his colleagues, the 27-seven-year-old painter was not primarily interested in getting access to a gallery in the first place but rather preferred to rely on his own initiative. He participated in a number of competitions and artist exchanges, even via the Internet. In August of this year, he -- together with his group, Gelaran Budaya -- hosted the Malaysian artist group Matahati after the Indonesians had been to Kuala Lumpur.

"I try to see the competition in Yogyakarta as a positive factor that motivates us to be productive and to find new ways of dealing with things, Januri says.

Indeed, the competition between hundreds of artists to get themselves recognized in one of the few renowned galleries, besides Cemeti, in town, such as the Kedai Kebun Gallery, Bentara Budaya Yogyakarta, the Yogyakarta French Cultural Center and the Vredenburg Museum, is definitely not for the fainthearted.

"The rivalry is crazy as the whole art scene in Indonesia is chaotic. Even information about awards or contests often does not reach most of the students as it is only given to a certain circle", says Surya Wirawan, who studied painting at ISI. "The renowned galleries are also not open to everyone. Who is successful or not mainly depends on contacts with the right persons. Corruption, collusion and nepotism are no strangers to the art scene, either."

The mostly very subjective selection of artists to exhibit at Cemeti often provokes jealousy - among those not chosen, of course. On the other hand, it was the Cemeti Gallery that inspired the launching of many other alternative and experimental art spaces both in and outside the city.

"The artists just need to be more daring and be self- motivated! Instead of waiting to get an invitation from a gallery, they should themselves actively create events", says Diah, who has always worked independently.

A really large venue that fostered self-motivation, was the former campus of ISI (which was then still named ASRI) in Gampingan area in the city center. The members of the young artists group, Taring Padi, worked and lived in the deserted buildings after the academy moved to the village of Sewon. Following the start of the reform, the Gampingan Campus changed in 1998 into a place for exhibitions, performances and concerts from "underground" artists from all over Indonesia.

In 2002, the city administration forced the young crowd to leave the place. This, however, did not stop the group from continuing their activities on the left side of the socio- political spectrum -- like conducting advocacy for farmers and workers through a woodcut poster campaign, the rejection of capitalism and the military, and the challenging of corrupt rulers.

What still seemed revolutionary in 1998, however, has now become the trend among many younger ISI students: socially engaged art is as popular again in Yogyakarta as it was at the time of the Independence War. Now, however, it is presented through techniques like graffiti, stencils and mural paintings.

Museums in Indonesia are rare, and are even more rarely visited. Government institutions, meanwhile, do not play a role in building a discourse in contemporary art, which is still considered exotic. Since there is practically no infrastructure for art and almost no scholarships or any other support from officialdom, it is still a very risky choice for a young person to become an artist.

"The Yogyakartan art world is a world of its own and might be regarded as quite separate from Indonesian society in general. The acceptance of contemporary art by the Yogyakartan people, moreover, is extremely limited, and most still regard it as an oddity that is hard to understand", explains curator Asmudjo Jono Irianto in Outlet.

Often not understood by their families, as well, art students have to rely mainly on their own resources. Most of them live in very simple boarding houses with not much more than a mattress lying on the floor, and spend the little money they earn on rice and their artistic materials.

Due to the lack of support in education, as well, most artists join groups and organizations based on the motto, "together we are strong". Januri, for example, joined Gelaran Budaya to get better contacts and responses from a discussion forum. Arya Pandjalu worked first with Taring Padi, then with Apotik Komik, a group that made itself a name through its comic-style and the murals it has painted all over the city, before finally joining Grafis Minggiran.

"The tradition of sanggar (community studios) in Yogyakarta is very old. One is not strong enough alone", Januri explained. "At the university, I learned only the theory. It was with other people that I later learned the practical aspect."

Many organizations disappear after a few years due to the changing priorities of their members. Already in existence for 30 years, and therefore unusual among its kind, is the Sanggar Dewata Indonesia, a community of ISI students hailing from Bali. Like many other non-Javanese, they tended to congregate with people from the same ethnic background.

"It was this community that strengthened my self-confidence at the beginning. I am never as productive alone as when I'm working together with others. Besides, the older members gave me the necessary introductions into the art world that I never got at university. The most precious thing is the network they provide", Sanggar member I Made Aswino Aji explained.

The drawback of these kinds of groups is usually the members of a particular group are all tarred with the same brush.

"I never joined any community as I did not want to be labeled one or the other way", Diah Yulianti says. "I did not struggle to gain my independence just to become restricted again in a certain kind of political or social context. Not to mention the fact that I am a woman: there are so few female artists that I always find myself being judged differently solely on account of my gender."

Although the number of young female artists is rising, there are still a lot of social restrictions that keep girls away from the art academies. At ISI, there are only a handful of girls applying each year -- they usually face problems with the predominantly Muslim population regarding their socializing with a crowd of guys decked out in punk or rasta fashion,s drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, as well as other things.

Over the last few years, however, the rebel ISI students have become trendsetters for other students and young people in Yogyakarta, popularizing underground fashions and music imported from the West, as well as tattooing and piercing -- under the New Order these were considered to be the mark of criminals. Besides being seen as cool, the young artists' style is often intended to express their concern for minorities and subcultures in Indonesian society.

One who continually focuses through his work on the losers in this society is Surya Wirawan. The art of the 30-year-old East Java artist show features very detailed paintings and graphic prints of their suffering. In many of these pictures, he uses phrases to underline his impressions, which has been a common approach among Indonesian artists since the 1980s.

"My pictures are not pleasant and thus don't attract people. I will probably never be able to feed a family with them. But before I let my art undergo commercialization, I would rather look for a job in a factory to earn a living", says the painter, who lives with his new bride in the artist colony of Sembungan.

Nevertheless, Yogyakarta is still a far cheaper place to live than the bigger cities like Jakarta, Bandung or Denpasar: Rp 2000 (about 20 U.S. cents) a day us enough to buy rice and tempe (fermented soya cake). But even artists from the younger generation who have already made names for themselves -- like S. Teddy D. or Toni Volunteero -- still struggle with a standard of living that is a far cry from their contemporaries enjoy in more developed countries. Many artists thus start adapting to what the commercial art and tourist market wants, or look for totally different work, for example, working in a restaurant.

"To live as a non-commercial artist is still very hard", says Ali Umar.

The 37-year-old sculptor has to support his wife and daughter, which is not always easy relying on the sale of his surreal wooden figures. To survive, he has had to compromise and produce craftwork that has better prospects in a tourist city.

"In Indonesia's art world, it is the law of the jungle that reigns", says Umar.

What brings the money in are works that deal with ethnical and traditional issues. "Alternative art works rarely sell as the alternative art in Yogyakarta abounds with social criticism, and its relationship with those holding power is distant. Bureaucrats and businesspeople seldom visit alternative art exhibitions. For this reason, the boom in Indonesian paintings has not really touched the world of contemporary art," writes curator Sumartono in Outlet.

I Made Aswino Aji is among the luckier ones as he has the option of taking over his father's gallery in Ubud.

"But this is only a business that I need to survive. There is no way that I will let my art be defined by the market!" he says. Actually, it is hard to imagine his latest mixed media work in a gallery in a Bali tourist center: it is a collage of drawings and photos showing banners of from an anti-Communist campaign recently launched in Yogyakarta. "My work does not necessarily have to be political -- I just like to express what I feel at the moment. And this campaign makes me really afraid: the Indonesian Communist Party has been out of action for decades. So, who are these banners and threats aimed at?"

Although maybe not satisfying mass tastes, Aji's work got a lot of response when it was shown at a Sanggar Dewata exhibition at this year's Nitiprayan Festival during the first weekend of September. The paddy fields of Nitiprayan village were crowded with literally thousands of people. Artists, farmers, students and tourists watched traditional shadow puppet plays and contemporary theater shows, Javanese Gamelan performances, and art exhibitions. Local ambience mixed with international flair, old cultural rituals were staged check-by-jowl with the latest contemporary art experiments. And, against all odds, it worked!

Given this very special atmosphere, there is no doubt that young artists will keep coming to Yogyakarta.