Painter Sopandi explores ethnic art of isolated tribes
By R. Fadjri
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Achmad Sopandi has immersed himself in the rites and rituals of more than 400 ethnic communities in Indonesia, including the isolated Baduy Dalam people in South Banten, West Java.
He is not an anthropologist: he collects information to create his art, not for science.
Since he became a lecturer at the Jakarta Teachers' Training Institute, he has spent time with the Kubu community in Jambi, the Dayak in Kalimantan, the Bajau in Sulawesi and Asmat in Irian Jaya.
He familiarizes himself with local mythology, and this enables him to understand the spirit of community life far from the influences of modernization.
He is strongly attracted to cultural objects and visual symbols in the mythology of the relatively isolated ethnic groups.
Those contacts are evinced in what he expresses on canvas. Thirty paintings -- all in distinctive ethnic styles -- are on exhibit at Ardiyanto Gallery here until this Saturday.
Ornaments in the form of animals common to local mythology are often found in his works -- lizards, swine, birds and fish -- but the shapes are distorted.
Sopandi's expression sometimes resembles primitive painting, with strong decorative tendencies.
His works are heavily supported by elements of lines, composition and a trend toward strong monochrome colors.
For instance, in Jaro Telu Tangtu Telu, Baduy, animal forms nearly fill the whole surface against a terra cotta background; swine, frogs, birds, tortoises, and snakes seem to depict the wealth of the fauna in the countryside.
In Jagad Etnik, Sopandi only uses two colors which tend to be monochrome. Four human figures drawn from dark brown naive lines, against the background of animal forms which fill the whole canvas.
Though not as narrative, Sopandi's ethnic paintings have the theme of an unspoiled environment untouched by modernization. His works express his journeys described in a highly ornamental, symbolic language.
The environmental theme is enhanced by the use of paints he made himself of natural raw material.
Sopandi uses woka leaves to obtain blue, pere stones to make ochre, shells mixed with vinegar to get white and even ants' nests to obtain red and brown. He obtains the materials in the Baduy's surroundings.
He makes his paintings during visits to the villages, always traveling with a large quantity of canvases and handmade colors.
Sopandi's attraction to the life of isolated ethnic groups began in 1974 when he was active in the scouts movement at his high school.
He also frequented the Baduy Dalam community in the Kendeng mountains.
"I had to walk for several days to reach the area called Tanah Kenekes," said the graduate of the ASRI painting art academy in Yogyakarta.
Born in Tasikmalaya, West Java, he said he knew from an early age that his views were sometimes not in accordance with those of the community. But he still managed to cultivate a strong relationship with his peers.
Sopandi, 49, has visited the Baduy Dalam village dozens of times. Although the area is actually off-limits to outsiders, he has been permitted to watch sacred ceremonies.
"I am fortunate that I have been able to see even the most taboo things, which would be most attractive to anthropologists," said Sopandi who once allowed his son to live by himself with the Baduy for several days.
Sopandi said the Baduy's ornamental work is an expression of the Sunday Wiwitan faith that has remained unchanged for the past hundreds of years.
He has no pretensions to study ethnic groups with an anthropologist's precise eye.
"As a person who likes to go on adventures in the forest, who is attracted to the fairly original lives of people there, and who happens to be a painter, I am enthralled at seeing fantastic ornamental works."