Nation bids farewell to some of its best artists

Nation bids farewell to some of its best artists

By Rita A. Widiadana

Since every man who lives is born to die,
And none can boast sincere felicity,
With equal mind, what happens, let us bear,
Nor joy nor grieve too much for things beyond our care.
Like Pilgrims to th' appointed place we tend;
The world's an inn, and death the journey's end

quoted from Palamon and Arcite.

JAKARTA (JP): This is a year of great mourning for Indonesia
which lost many of its celebrities in a single year. Never before
in its history did so many celebrities pass away.

Among the country's greatest losses this year were
director/playwright Arifin C. Noer and Sunarti Rendra from the
world of drama, Benjamin S. and Dicky Zulkarnain from the film
world, talented young singer and moviestar Nike Ardilla and
singer Poppy Mercury from the music scene.

The Indonesian theater and film world lost one of its best
playwrights and directors Arifin C. Noer who died at the age of
54 in May. Arifin died after six days of treatment for a
malfunctioning liver. He was survived by his wife Jajang
Pamuntjak, 43, and four children.

Born on March 10, l941 in Cirebon, West Java, Arifin started
his career in theater as a playwright 27 years ago. When he found
that it was difficult to stage his works, he set up his own
theater group called Teater Kecil.

His contributions to Indonesian theater were colossal.
Together with W.S Rendra and Teguh Karya, Arifin was considered a
pioneer of Indonesian modern theater. With Teater Kecil, Arifin
performed distinguished plays such as Kapai Kapai (l970).

In l972, Arifin began his film career as a screenwriter. He
earned a number of prestigious Citra awards as best screenwriter
through his works Rio Anakku (Rio my son -- l973) and Melawan
Badai (Against the Storm -- l978). Arifin was also declared the
best screenwriter with his work Pemberang (The Outraged) at the
l972 Asian Film Festival.

In l977, Arifin began directing films and presented his debut
film Suci Sang Primadona (Suci the Prima Donna). He was also
noted for his controversial films Serangan Fajar (Dawn Attack),
which won him a Citra for best film in the l982 Indonesian Film
Festival and Penghianatan G.30 S PKI, both funded by the state-
owned film company Perusahaan Film Negara.

His other works include Harmonikaku (My Harmonica) and Yuyun
Pasien Rumah Sakit (Yuyun, A Mental Patient).

Arifin also produced "quality television drama" such as Sebuah
Dongeng Cinta (A Love Story), Bulan Dalam Baskom (Moon in a
Bowl), Tasi Oh Tasi, and Keris (Kris). The latter won him an
award for best director during the second Indonesian Sinetron
Festival on Dec. 7, seven months after he died.

Sunarti Soewandi, a stage actress and a prominent classical
singer, otherwise known as the first wife of poet-playwright W.S.
Rendra, died of uterus cancer in May. She was 55 years old.

Sunarti began her career as a classical singer in the l950s.
She met Rendra and married him in l959.

Sunarti and Rendra were actively involved in the Bengkel
Teater, a prominent theater group, and performed a large number
of plays, including Mastodon dan Burung Kondor, Kisah Perjuangan
Suku Naga and Lysystrata and Oedipus. She also made some
appearances in local films, including November l828.

Sunarti and Rendra have five children, Teddy, Andre, Daniel,
Samuel and Klara Sinta, who is now pursuing a career as an
actress.

Rendra also married two other women, Sitoresmi in l970, and
Ken Zuraida in l976. Sunarti, Sitoresmi and Ken lived peacefully
with their husband in the same house in Yogyakarta.

This arrangement lasted until l981, when Sunarti and Rendra
were divorced. However, she continued to take part in some of
Rendra's plays.

The music and film community also lost their top figures. The
death of Benjamin Sueb, popularly known as Benjamin S, shocked
thousands of local music and film fans. He died of a heart attack
at the Harapan Kita Cardiac hospital in September.

Born on March 5, 1939, Benjamin was survived by eight
children, a wife and an ex-wife. Owner of Ben's Radio, a Betawi
radio station, Benjamin's latest ventures also included two TV
shows, the Benyamin Show the popular TV series Si Doel Anak
Sekolahan and Begaya F.M.

Benjamin started his music career in l957 when he established
a pop band called Melodi Ria with Rachmat Kartolo and famous jazz
musicians Bill Saragih and the late Jack Lesmana.

Born to a middle-class Betawi couple, H. Sueb and Siti Aisyah,
of Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, young Benyamin became familiar
with traditional Betawi music and Portuguese-style keroncong
music.

In the late l960s, he began exploring Betawi music and
performed duets with female pop singers. His recordings with Ida
Royani were particularly popular. Many of his songs, most
containing anecdotes, clearly portray the way of life of the
Betawi people, while borrowing from Betawi folklore. His humorous
and satirical songs finally began to draw a large audience from
the lower-middle class to the upper classes of society.

His song Ondel-Ondel even inspired the Jakarta administration
to declare the puppet the city's mascot. After he gained
popularity as a prominent Betawi singer, Benyamin took a look at
the possibilities in film.

It was the late director Sukarno M. Noer who asked him to act
in his film Honey Money in Jakarta Fair (1970). But it was the
late director Sjumandjaja who discovered his natural acting
talent. Sjumandjaja cast him in the role of a tacky Betawi man
struggling to keep up with modernization in a film called Si Doel
Anak Modern. In this film, Benyamin, who played opposite famous
artist Christine Hakim, won a Citra as best actor. Benyamin also
won another Citra for his role in Intan Berduri.

Another blow to the local music world occurred when teenage
idol Nike Ardilla died in a car accident in Bandung in March.

Many believe that Ardilla was drink-driving. Before the
accident, Ardilla, 20, went to a disco with her close friends.
They had dinner together and continued their party of alcoholic
drinks and "illegal" drugs.

Ardilla started her music career when she was 13 years old.
Under the guidance of senior musicians like Deddy Dores and music
impresario Denny Sabri, Ardilla became one of the country's top
singers in the category of pop-rock.

Her debut album Bintang Kehidupan (l990) won her the
prestigious BASF Award, the annual music awards for Indonesian
musicians. In l994, her album Biarlah Aku Mengalah received an
HDX award as the best album. Ardilla was also popular as TV
artist and model. She was still involved in several television
projects including Trauma Marissa and Warisan II when she died.

Ardilla, an ardent fan of Hollywood star Marilyn Monroe, was
the real victim of instant popularity. Her lifestyle changed
drastically from a young and innocent girl to a big star. Unable
to cope with the problems of stardom in the big city, Ardilla
sought solace in liquor and drugs.

Other film star who passed away this year was senior actor
Dicky Zulkarnain. He died of a heart attack in March. He was 56.

Famous for his portrayal of Si Pitung, the legendary hero of
Jakarta during Dutch colonialism, Dicky Iskandar Zulkarnain was
born in Jakarta on Oct. 12, 1939.

He was survived by his wife, actress Mieke Wijaya, three
daughters, a son, and four grandchildren. One of the daughters is
the popular singer and actress Nia Zulkarnain.

The chairman of the Indonesian Association of Film Actors
reacted to the news as follows: "Indonesia has now lost one of
its most senior character actors."

After completing senior high school, Dicky went on to the ATNI
arts and drama school in 1957. He started taking minor roles two
years later.

Dicky starred in 65 films. In 1973, he received the Indonesian
Citra award for best supporting actor in the film Si Pemberang
(The Outraged). In addition to Si Pitung, one of his most famous
roles was in the film Salah Asuhan (Bad upbringing).

The death of actress Tarida Gloria, 35, also shocked the local
theater and film industries.

Tarida died of high blood pressure at the West Side Olympic
Hospital in Los Angeles, the United States, in April.

She was well-known as one of Indonesia's famous theatrical
figures. Tarida joined the controversial theater group Teater
Koma and played in a number of the group's repertoires including
Suksesi, succession, which was banned by the government in l991.

Tarida extended her career to the film world. Famous
playwright and film director Putu Wijaya casted her in his
prominent works such as Plong and Zig Zag. She also played in
several television dramas, locally known as sinetron, including
Pariban dari Bandung on the TPI television station.

Tarida was in the United States continuing her studies of
acting and film production.

In the literary world, the country also lost its best
individuals such as Subagio Satrowardoyo, one of Indonesia's
finest poets and literary critics, who died last July of a heart
attack when he was 71 years old.

Subagio was in the process of preparing his dissertation on
the late Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana, the doyen of Indonesian
literature.

Born in Madiun, East Java on Feb.1, l924, Subagio's studies
took him to the School of Letters at GaDjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta. He continued his studies at the Department of
Comparative Literature, at Yale University in the United States.

In l957, Subagio published his first collection of poems
entitled Simponi (Symphony). Among his best works are the
collections of his short stories entitled Kejantanan di Sumbing
(Masculinity in Sumbing). His collection of poems called Daerah
Perbatasan (The Border) earned him an award from the government
in l970. He also wrote a collection of essays which he called
Bakat Alam dan Intelektualisme (Natural Talents and
Intellectualism) in l972 and Sosok Pribadi dalam Sajak (The
Person within the Poems).

Subagio once taught at Gadjah Mada University, as well as at
Salisbury Teachers College and Flinders University, both in
Australia.

Prof. Dr. Ida Bagus Mantra, a well known figure in Indonesian
art and cultural circles and two-time governor of Bali, also
died in Denpasar in July. He was 67 years old.

Mantra died a day after he was admitted to the Sanglah General
Hospital in Denpasar. He had been suffering from a chronic kidney
disease.

Mantra was governor of Bali for two consecutive five-year
terms, between 1978 and 1988. He was later appointed Indonesia's
ambassador to India, where he had spent six years during his
student days. His last public post was as member of Indonesia's
Supreme Advisory Council.

But it is for his involvement in the cultural scene that
Mantra will be most remembered.

His love of culture and his extensive knowledge of it -- he
held a PhD in cultural history from the Visva Bharati University
in West Bengal, India -- brought him to the post of Director
General of Culture at the Ministry of Education and Culture
between 1973 and 1978.

As Bali governor, it was Mantra who initiated the Bali Art
Festival, now a major item in the holiday island's annual
cultural calendar. He died while this year's festival was in
progress.

Mantra served as rector of Udayana University in Denpasar and
was a lecturer at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta.

In his teens, he interrupted his schooling to take part in the
independence struggle.

Arwah Setiawan, a noted Indonesian humorist, died in Jakarta
in April from a stroke. He was 60 years old.

Arwah was the chairman of the Indonesian Institute of Humor,
which he founded in 1978.

He was survived by his wife Veronica Istrini, three daughters
and a son, and two grandchildren.

Born on March 8, 1935, in Sidoarjo, East Java, Arwah had been
an active columnist writing for a number of leading publications.
A law graduate of the Gadjah Mada University, he once managed the
humor magazine Astaga and later Titian magazine published by the
U.S. Information Service.

Domestic fashion circle also lost one of its best designers,
Prajudi Admodirjo who died of pancreatic failure on Dec. 7.
He was survived by his only son, Markus Admodirdjo who is now
studying in the United States.

Born in Jakarta on Jan. 15, l945, Prayudi, the third son of
Harsono Admodirdjo and Fien Finawaty Liem, was sent by his
parents to Germany to study architecture. However, after studying
architecture for only eight months, he changed direction from
architecture to fashion.

Prajudi introduced new concepts to fashion, using traditional
textiles such as batik, tenun ikat, traditional woven textile,
songket, gold embroidery textiles, as primary material in his
fashion items. He also developed stitch and dye styles for these
traditional textiles.

Together with Iwan Tirta, Prajudi was at the forefront of the
promotion of Indonesian designs and traditional textiles
worldwide. Every year, he displayed his creations in Indonesia as
well as foreign countries.

His tireless effort was fruitful. In l987, Prajudi received
Upakarti, the highest achievement award for distinguished
individuals, from the Indonesian government for his great
contributions in the development of local fashion world as well
as in the promotion of traditional textiles.

Selasih, or Sariamin, one of the New Age Writers (Pujangga
Baru), died at 86 in Pekan Baru, Riau, on Dec.16.

A pioneer among women writers, she was the only woman of her
generation to continue producing literary works into the 1990s.

Born in 1909 as Basariah in the village of Sinurut in Pasaman,
West Sumatra, she started her writing career in l933 with a
romance entitled Kalau Tak Tahu di Untung and Pengaruh Keadaan
(l937). She also wrote a number of essays and plays such as
Adikku Misrani, Cermin Perbandingan, Dahulu dan Sekarang, Nasihat
Kakak, Harapan Ibu, Jalan Mana yang akan di Turut, Si Malin
Kundang and Puti Payung.

She also wrote several text books, including Tata Bahasa and
Sastra Indonesia (Indonesian Grammar and Literature).

Between l981 and l986 she wrote 21 other works of fiction and
the Kamus Minangkabau, a dictionary of the Minangkabau (a West
Sumatran ethnic group) language.

Jajang C. Noer, wife of the late director Arifin C. Noer, has
just completed a documentary film on the life of this noted
writer.

"I feel so sad that she could not see the film," said Jajang
when she heard about Selasih's death.