More murals to cherr up Jakarta residents

Arya Abhiseka, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

When one arrives in Jakarta, one would agree that this city is indeed colorful and distinct, with a unique character.

For example, one can see that a high-rise building looks odd, standing immediately adjacent to a shack.

Fancy cars can be seen racing against bajaj (motorized tricycles) during peak hours in the city's busy streets.

Meanwhile, people are willing to engage in friendly conversation with groups of foreigners, blending together at local pubs or nightclubs.

One thing missing is the literal presence of color in this city.

Inspired by the idea of making Jakarta a colorful city, Jakart@2003, the city's annual arts festival, is presenting painted murals across the city using public spaces, including bridges, tunnels and empty walls.

More than 100 painters from 11 art organizations have been invited to present their art at public spaces, as paint, brushes and even production money has been provided by the organizing committee since the program's inception in Jakart@2001.

"The main concern is that the city has become so gray and stressful to live in, with a limited amount of space for people or artists to express themselves," said Ary Sutedja, secretary- general of Jakart@2003.

Ary added that what the city needed was something to boost the morale of its citizens, and everyone, including artists, should be willing to take on that responsibility. "If painted murals can help soothe the mind, then we shall present them to the people."

At present, dozens of murals are scattered across the city. They can be found in public spaces at Kali Besar, North Jakarta; Kuningan, Senayan, Mampang Prapatan, Casablanca and the Landmark building, South Jakarta; Rawamangun, East Jakarta, and Tomang and Slipi, West Jakarta.

Some of the paintings present aspects of the city's life, including portrayals of hardship, as if keeping faith with reality.

Although some paintings can only be understood by artists, a combination of bright colors in each painting, together with the city's congested traffic and pollution as a backdrop, should at least comfort motorists' eyes amid the city's frustrating traffic jams.

Juned, a six-year-old boy who lives under the bridge at Rawamangun -- where a series of murals are located -- said that he liked the paintings, adding they were pretty.

In fact, he was inspired by the paintings and started a project of his own, drawing images of animals on the ground under the bridge with chalk found at a nearby high school.

"I want to draw like that," he said, while pointing to one of the murals.

Sinta Tobing, coordinator of the murals program from Jakart@2003, said that although the administration supported the murals project, several problems occurred during the two previous Jakarta art festivals due to a lack of coordination between city officials.

"They were not informed that the program was supported fully by the city administration. Once they thought the murals were graffiti, and quickly cleaned them off," said Sinta.

"None of that will happen this year, and ultimately, we want to ensure Jakarta has the world's longest murals in public places," she said.

Indeed, if the world's longest city mural materializes, Jakarta will become more colorful and finally have something it can be proud of, despite its shameful state.