Stimulating public discourse through art
By Amir Sidharta
JAKARTA (JP): An exhibition of the work of five artists, Amrus Natalsya, Salim M., Sulan, Tomy Faisal Alim, and Firman is currently being held at the Japan Foundation. This group of five artists appear to take their work very seriously, if its quality and the diligence with which they have developed their own artistic discourse are anything to go by.
These artists have been present at many exhibitions throughout the past two or three years. They are usually the first to arrive and the last to leave, and always take the opportunity to carefully inspect and discuss the merits of works on show.
Unfortunately, this group of artists have not yet been taken seriously by Indonesia's leading art critics. They have been marginalized by what is called the "progressive" development of art in Indonesia, and a lack of communication and understanding between the artists and curators has done little to help this situation.
A few months ago, lecturer in art philosophy and leading critic Tommy F. Awuy raised a question regarding art within the control of authority. What he questioned did not only concern political or governmental authority -- he also questioned the control and authority of art curators.
In this new age of openness, interpretation should no longer be the monopoly of curators. Curators have done little to promote understanding of artists and their work among the general public. Far too often we hear: "I don't know, I don't understand," as the man-on-the-street wanders round an exhibition or is asked to comment on the works on show.
Indeed, curators have often been more successful in hindering the understanding of art among the general public and repelling popular interest through their self-indulgent, over-intellectual, esoteric discourses.
More avenues of communication need to be opened between artists and the general public. All should feel free to interpret art in their own way. Perhaps Amrus Natalsya's poem, written for Indonesia's 50th anniversary in 1995, is the most simple yet fitting means with which to convey this point.
I think, painting is good work
It can also be highly honorable
It can also bring out our stupidity
It can also make us contemplate
Think and become the mirror of anyone
People say: painting is work from the heart
It can be hot or cold
I say: the heart must be free
from there art originates
Heart and freedom
Without a free heart
How can there be a feeling of love,
Sorrow and beauty
The best thing
That free heart
Makes other hearts also free
That is art
Certainly, each work of art would affect observers in different ways. We all might wonder what the teapot, dagger and flower which recur in Tomy's paintings are meant to symbolize, or question whether or not Sulan's depiction of ruins relates to the recent riots. Others might identify Firman's mandala-like Kammaloka with their own contemplations.
Salim's black and white piece, anak-anak Jaman Sabak, is particularly interesting given the recent events in the country.
It depicts three boys standing in a classroom with marked faces. The elaborate background is filled with various expressions in the Indonesian language which offer moral reminders of how we should lead our lives.
Initially the painting looks somehow related to the fall of the New Order government. Among the inscriptions, there is the lyrics of the famous Indonesian song, Sorak-sorak Bergembira ("Chant, chant in Joy"), jokingly associated with the recent change in president.
Yet the painter claims he wanted to remind us of the time immediately after Indonesia gained independence in 1945. He wanted to show the state of education during the early years of the Republic, a period known as jaman sabak (blackboard period).
In those days, children worked on their own personal slate blackboards called batu sabak and would get their marks written directly onto their cheeks.
That is why the boys in the painting have those strange marks on their faces.
Salim said he was reminded of this period when he heard a reporter ask the Minister of Education and Culture whether we would need to return to the jaman sabak to overcome the effect which the crisis has had on education here.
In those days education was provided free of charge and school children were even provided books and equipment.
To be sure, the painter did not intend his work to merely reflect that long ago period. Although the painting seems to be focused on the three boys, it is obvious that Salim actually wanted to question why we failed to follow the expressions that are so familiar to us and have existed since even before the days of jaman sabak.
There is no doubt that there is something very wrong in our society and also in our education system.
The exhibition clearly brings to mind a new spirit of ethnic diversity. Raising the issue of ethnicity is no longer taboo and instead seems to be very necessary.
On such work which treads these fraught paths is a painting by Amrus called Jakarta Kelabu (Gloom over Jakarta), which clearly refers to the riots of May 13-15 1998.
Amrus was born in Medan, North Sumatra, to Minang (the West Sumatra ethnic group) parents; Salim M. is Javanese and was born in Kroya, Central Java; Sulan is a Chinese-Indonesian woman from Jakarta; Tomy Faisal Alim traces his ancestors back to Palembang, South Sumatra; and Firman is a Chinese-Indonesian man hailing from Jambi.
The different ethnic backgrounds of the artists perhaps provides them with the inspiration to tackle the issue and it can only be hoped that this exhibition will help to foster better mutual understanding between different ethnic groups in the country.
In a recent seminar, film maker Garin Nugroho stressed how important it is for Indonesia to build a communicative society. In the arts, it is through exhibitions that such efforts can start. Hopefully it will not only result in a communicative society, but also a society that is aware of the art that exists around them.
It is unfortunate that the need for an increase in open communication has appeared when we are experiencing a deep and prolonged economic crisis. But the crisis did not stop this group of artists. Although they know that they have been marginalized by some curators, and despite the weakness of the art market, this group is standing firm and taken the bold step to exhibit their works.
Fortunately the Japan Foundation is still willing and able to provide the artists with the opportunity to stage their show. This deserves commendation because Japan too is on shaky economic ground. Hopefully other institutions will follow their lead and provide other artists with the opportunity to display their works to the public.
In this time of crisis, artists can no longer rely upon the sale of paintings as their motivation to exhibit. During the art boom, which ended toward the end of 1997, exhibitions were mostly held to market and sell works of art.
Today, exhibitions can once again become events where artists present their works to the public and hope in return to receive an intellectual responses from them, allowing a true art discourse to once again flourish.