New Millennium Exhibition takes influence from the past

New Millennium Exhibition takes influence from the past

By Emma Cameron

JAKARTA(JP): Photographs taken in Indonesia have been fairly
grim lately. Captured in immortality have been riots, beatings,
begging and demonstrations.

An ongoing exhibition, The Spirit of the New Millennium,
provides a picture of hope for the next thousand years while
still referring to the history of Indonesia.

Held at the Galeri Foto Cahya on the second floor of the
Menteng Plaza, the exhibition that will be on until Jan. 31
features 18 photographers.

Many of the photographers are businessmen who use photography
as a way to unwind in their travels all over Indonesia and the
world. As well as Indonesian photographers, the exhibition also
includes a Korean and a Dutchman as well as one female.

Soedjai Kartasasmita is one exhibitor who started
photographing 20 years ago as a "diversion" and has now taken
photographs on almost every continent as part of his travels as
chairman of the Indonesian Planters Association.

He is the only exhibitor to include photographs of a country
other than Indonesia with his two shots of Melbourne. Although at
first the photographs look incredibly out of place, they begin to
make sense after talking to the artist.

Hanging next to the photographs of Melbourne is a close-up of
a red flower, the petals long and thin, layered together to
create a sphere. According to Soedjai, the flower is used to make
salads and "it's in my own backyard, I found it in my own
backyard". Despite the beauty of the many cities Kartasasmita has
visited, he continues to find inspiration right at home.

Soedjai believes the amount of businessmen as photographers,
not only in this exhibition but in the wider population, stems
from the difficulty of making a living from the art as well as
the huge costs involved in photography.

"I never feel satisfied, I want to get better and better and
that means a lot more money."

Another artist who stands out from the crowd is Karin Sukarya
and not only because of her responsibility as the only female.
Karin used Photoshop to enhance the colors on her photographs and
the result is reminiscent of a psychedelic, drug-induced dream.

If Karin is to be believed, anyone can achieve the same
results with the right software. "You scan the picture first,
anybody can do it, select the image, adjust the dialog box curves
and then push it and pull it and see what kind of colors you
get."

Karin found her main problem to be the fact that after she had
played with the results she could never remember the steps she
used in order to recreate a particular color design. The tie-dye
colors of the photographs fit in neatly with the theme of trees
chosen by Karin.

Originally from Europe, where trees are always in the center
of the village, she is in awe of the huge trees that grow in
Indonesia which are much rarer in the colder climate she was born
in.

Karin talks of the trees of Indonesia like old friends, and of
one in particular.

"When we travel past we always have to see what our tree is
doing. When it is full of leaves it is not so interesting but
when it's bare you can see all the branches, bird nests. It has
all different faces."

Karin is also aware of the relationship between humans and
trees, especially in Bali where small temples are built and
offerings given to the spirit of the trees.

Deniek G. Sukarya is Karin's husband and continues the theme
of bringing the past culture of Indonesia to the new millennium.
Deniek is president director of Galeri Foto Cahya and his works
are widely published in books, magazines, advertising, promotion,
posters and calendars.

Deniek chose to photograph Taman Sari in Yogyakarta to
highlight the degradation of a historical sight. "It's a protest
about Taman Sari, it's being left alone to rot either by weather
or nature. I took pictures to try to inspire people to see the
beauty of this place as part of the history of Yogya," he said.

Other photographers in the exhibit are Suherry Arno, Noes P.
Moeksan, Effendy Bong, Warren Kiong, Imam Pribadi, R. Hertanto,
T. Hartono, Kim Yoon Ho, O.K. Kim, H.J. Kang, Paul Beiboer, J.
Januar, Darto Satoto, Rohan F. Mochtar and FX. Ratkocodomo.

Recurring themes in the photographs are boats on water,
experimentation with light and shadow in historical ruins, people
at work selling goods or involved in manual labor, detail in
plants and flowers and portraits.

The gallery opens daily from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.