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.