Semsar, the rebellious artist
Semsar, the rebellious artist
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Semsar Siahaan was a powerful artist who revealed the
complexities and injustices of society with a clear eye.
Born on June 11, 1952 in the North Sumatra capital of Medan,
Semsar died on Wednesday at Tabanan Hospital in Bali after
suffering a heart attack.
His passing will be mourned by Jakarta's art community but
also by other pockets of society and individuals who knew him as
a passionate activist.
Following his involvement in a street rally during the New
Order regime against the ban on free press, Semsar, who was the
son of an Army major general, fell from the government's favor.
During the rally near Gambir railway station he was shot and
beaten by military officers. The incident later became known as
the Gambir incident.
That year, 1994, Soeharto's administration banned two
magazines, Tempo and Editor, and Detik tabloid, for running
pieces unfavorable to the regime.
Constant pressure from the Soeharto regime caused Semsar to
leave for Canada in 1997, where he continued to work as an artist
for the duration of his five-year stay.
Semsar returned home in 2003 and staged a solo exhibition of
his mostly black-and-white works at the National Gallery last
year.
Unlocking the impenetrable through his work, Semsar found
resolutions and unexpected hope in a world of rights abuses and
injustice.
"I adhere firmly to the belief that man is the creation of God
and that art is the creation of man. And within conditions in
which humanity is threatened, the artists must step forward to
convey the values and principles of humanity and
humanitarianism," he once said.
Semsar's awesome mural showing soldiers' boots crushing the
marginalized hangs in the Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM), Central
Jakarta.
Semsar, who was once married to an Acehnese woman named
Isnaini had a son, Christo, who died shortly after delivery.
He first studied art in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, when his father
Maj. Gen. Ricardo Siahaan became a defense attache at the
Indonesian Embassy between 1965 and 1968.
After finishing high school in Jakarta in 1975, Semsar
continued his studies in painting at the San Francisco Art
Institute in the United States.
He returned to Indonesia and studied sculpture at the Bandung
Institute of Technology's Visual Art School between 1977 and
1981.
The rebellious Semsar was suspended and then expelled from the
institute for burning a lecturer's artwork that offended his
esthetic values.
Coming from a middle-class family but choosing to live in a
modest way, Semsar was often invited to seminars here and abroad
to talk about art and social issues.
"Local human rights activists are now disoriented. They fight
each other," said disappointed Semsar, who once, having fallen
behind with his rent, was almost evicted from a house in Cinere,
South Jakarta.
He said today's activists lack solidarity and have been co-
opted by political and commercial interests.
While some found Semsar difficult to approach, friends and
colleagues are quick to speak of his generosity, loyalty and
persistence.
Semsar leaves behind him a precious legacy of works and the
unfulfilled dream of seeing justice upheld in his beloved
country.