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.