Lust with some dust: Erotic art from yesteryear on show

Joe Kuhlmann, Contributor, Jakarta

It's all about sex, baby. The dark wooden sculptures of mystic ancestors with their phalluses, the delicately ornamented golden mamuli jewelry, doors from traditional houses in Timor displaying two -- or more -- female breasts on each of them.

But is it really all about increasing our carnal knowledge? The Dharma Mulia Galleries claims just that in putting together a quite explicit ethnographic exhibition.

It's also got that eye-catching title, "Sex and the City"; one can just imagine libidinous Samantha from the TV show of the same name striding out on the town, some male genitalia -- OK, highly stylized in silverwork -- hanging from her necklace.

"It may be a silly title," admitted curator Irwan Holmes. Initially, he wanted to add the name of the metropolis of the Majapahit period in the first half of the last millennium, Trowulan, to stress the continuity of the sex theme in art throughout the ages.

"But then, I just hadn't enough pieces of that period," Holmes said.

He prefers to call the exhibition "erotic art", but even that might just be one side of the story.

Most of the pieces are not so much erotic as symbols of fertility dear to peoples for whom having lots of children was a matter of survival. Mamuli, for instance, are not just images of the female genitals often used as bride price, but are supposed to symbolize the connection between the upperworld and the underworld.

Their true value consists less in age, material or craftsmanship but in the meaning they have in their original social context, being part of rites of passage, like from the transition from girl to bride. Mothers on the island of Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, would pass them on to their daughters when they came of age.

All that cannot be reduced to just the sexual aspect, but sex sells -- and all the objects are, in fact, for sale.

It's something that does not please all in the art community.

"It is a pity that these artifacts go away like this," a senior expert at the National Museum said, criticizing not just the families who do so but also "very much" the galleries that make it their business, even if they do it in accordance with legislation that demands special permits only for export.

"But it's our heirlooms that get sold off," the expert added, shying away from giving her name. "The young generation has to know its ancestors and their culture, so these objects are part of their identity."

"I fear one day it will all be gone."

The younger generation sells what they inherited not because they are ashamed of it, "but for the money", said Holmes, who is quick to show an authorized letter from the Tangerang office of the tourism and culture agency, stating that the exhibition conforms to its regulations.

"They want to be modern, they want a car and a Rolex -- the meaning of these traditional artifacts seems not to be so important for them anymore."

Some might find the exhibition a little shocking because it certainly does not conform to a strict interpretation of Islam in traditional societies, Holmes, himself a Muslim, said.

"But when people bring those statues to me, no one has ever put a wrapper on them."

The curator did not go to distant villages to acquire the artifacts. As the Dharma Mulia Galleries are well known, people come to it with what they have to offer, Holmes said.

Over a period of 10 years, he collected the items for the "Sex and the City" exhibition. To tell where an object comes from, its age -- and whether its authentic or fake -- "is all about experience", Holmes, 61, said.

The gallery is proud to give a guarantee of authenticity -- it claims that only twice in 20 years has a customer proved that an artifact was fake and was then offered the chance to return it.

Among the objects exhibited is a terra-cotta artifact displaying a man touching a woman's breast that Holmes dates as far back as to between the 13th to 16th century.

Of course, there are various stone lingga, the famous phallus symbol of the Hindu Shiva deity. Also on display are some quite rare pieces, such as a hermaphrodite figure of the Dayak tribe in Kalimantan. They made bisexual persons their shamans, Holmes explained, "as they represent both worlds".

In the case of an almost human sized sitting wooden figure with a large penis and a demon-like shaped head that hails from the Irian Yayan tribe, probably from the 19th century, even the curator cannot explain its original meaning.

Unfortunately, the exhibition is cramped into one tiny, poorly lit cabinet.

"We would like to present it in a better way," said Holmes, who recently extended the exhibition to continue throughout May.

He hopes to be able to move it from the somewhat remote Jakarta quarter of Ciputat into some place in the city center. After all, the exhibition does count 165 artifacts with a combined value of more than Rp 1 billion.

Speaking of prices, one should be reminded that haggling is not just a matter of antiques buyers. In olden times, when a family was offered a mamuli by another one, they, too, would always complain about the quality, pointing out flaws, until they received one that they considered suitable.

The difference is, they did not give away money for it -- but the bride.

i-box -------------------------- Sex and the City Dharma Mulia Galleries Jl. Ciputat Raya No. 50, South Jakarta 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily (Tel. 749-2850) Until May 31 ------------------------------------