Rabat MS takes the spiritual path in art

Rabat MS takes the spiritual path in art

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): Musician and painter Rabat MS believes the only
way to stop oneself from indulging in evil is to listen to the
soul and reach out to other people.

"If all those who put bombs in places where people worship
paused to listen to their souls, they would not do such dreadful
things to hurt other human beings," he told The Jakarta Post on
the eve of the opening of his exhibition at the Regent Hotel in
Kuningan, South Jakarta, last week.

"I can only pray that all those lost and misguided people of
this country will appeal more to their souls every time they feel
angry and frustrated in life."

His artwork shows the relationship of human beings with each
other, and also man's relationship with God. The 53-year-old
Rabat feels that it is the confusion between God and religion
that is the cause of most of man's murderous problems. Rabat
believes in the search for God, but once someone is lucky enough
to find God then they have to do little else but believe.

After being obsessed with finding answers to the identity and
intention of the creator of this world, Rabat recently came to
the conclusion that just the belief in God is far more important
than religion. God is indeed One, and religions are just the
different paths different people in different corners of the
world, and at different periods in history, have taken in worship
of the same god.

The son of a post office master in Surabaya, Rabat recalls
watching his father draw while his grandfather designed clothes
and interiors for the palace in Central Java. Born in Tretes,
East Java, Rabat has been painting ever since he can remember.
After graduating from the Academy of Art in Surabaya (AKSERA), he
taught in an elementary school before leaving for Bali, where he
stayed for a decade.

In Bali he found people following a religion different than
his own, and he could not help noticing how devout the Balinese
are. During this time, Rabat learned the techniques of art from
Le Mayeur's paintings and also formed The Balinese Artist
Foundation (CITRA).

Rabat mostly did realistic portraits and landscapes, even as
he continued to struggle to find answers to basic questions of
identity.

Theater

He had returned to his native Java when in 1982 he expressed
his love for the theater by creating a contemporary repertoire
called Genta Dalam Warna.

As he sat pondering one day the eternal puzzle as to who the
creator of this universe is, a wave of spirituality swept over
him and overnight he moved from figurative painting to the
abstract, from this world to the other.

In his mind he identifies realism with the complexity as well
as the detailed beauty of this world, in contrast to the
simplicity and freedom of spirit he is able to enjoy while
exploring the abstract.

Rabat imagines the world was a ball of atmosphere at first,
home to nothing but the elements. Then the particles of dust
begged God to give them human form, to make them participate
intelligently in a world so beautiful. So God created human
beings.

Rabat refuses to believe in the maxim that human beings did
not ask to be born. He believes instead that even as tiny specks
in the atmosphere we loved life, the beauty of birth and the
innocence of the newborn.

"But once we are born we forget how simple and full of
goodness we once were. The longer we live life the more we
pollute the purity of our spirit and seem to be attracted more
easily toward the devil than toward God."

He feels that abstract painting suits him better at this stage
in his life, allowing him to play freely with his ideas of
simplicity and goodness, which he hopes will help him return to
the wholesomeness and purity he once enjoyed as a mere dot of
dust.

To share the freedom he himself enjoys, Rabat does not believe
in influencing the imagination of his viewers by giving titles to
his paintings.

He sincerely adheres to his beliefs, according to his only
daughter, Iping.

"The one thing that I have learned from my father is never to
preach about what I believe in," said Iping, 28, who is also her
father's private secretary.

Like her father, she would like to share her beliefs with
those around her by practicing them.

"I don't ever recall my parents telling me to do this or not
to do that. On my part, I just emulate whatever I see and hear
them do and say." said Iping.

The paintings of Rabat MS are on exhibit until Feb. 6, 2001,
in the lobby of the Regent Hotel, Jl. Rasuna Said, Kuningan,
South Jakarta.