Tarko Sudiarno

Tarko Sudiarno
The Jakarta Post
Yogyakarta

Mount Sumbing in the west of Magelang city, Central Java, looks
very beautiful from the window of the veranda in the morning. The
slope of the mountain is green with tobacco plants. The panorama
is like a pretty painting on canvas.

There is indeed no direct relationship between tobacco and
paintings. For Deddy Irianto, 43, the owner of the house in the
elite housing compound of Taman Wisata Kyai Langgeng Magelang,
tobacco and painting are intertwined.

Starting his tobacco business in 1994, he is now one of the
most successful businesspeople in Magelang.

Irianto is not only known as a tobacco businessman but also a
painting collector. Being an art collector/dealer has been a sort
of trademark for Magelang's fabulously wealthy tobacco traders.
Uniquely, Magelang's tobacco businessmen treat paintings like
they do the commodity of their core business.

In the tobacco business, the busiest time of the year only
lasts for three to four months -- usually between August and
November, the months for the tobacco harvest. As these tradesmen
make a lot of money from selling tobacco, they also turn to
selling paintings.

For some people, these tobacco traders-cum-painting collectors
and dealers are often cynically called kolekdol, a Javanese
acronym meaning "collect and resale". A businessman will buy some
paintings and then sell them again, just like what they do in the
tobacco trade.

For these tobacco traders paintings are just as profitable a
commodity. If you know the right paintings to buy you can make
money quickly.

"These kolekdol businessmen do not see paintings in terms of
esthetics but in terms of how fast they can rake in profits,"
said Irianto, who avows he does not belong to this group. He has
been a painting collector for three years now and has collected
about 100 paintings.

Still, he maintains, some collectors in Magelang have a high
appreciation of art.

"Usually, they view paintings as long-term investments. So,
the presence of these collectors will do no harm to artists. Nor
do they dictate the market prices. If these collectors are only
after profit, the artists will simply cater to the market taste.
A sound art market will be one that gives freedom to artists to
produce their work," he said.

To show his commitment to educating art lovers, Irianto set up
Studio Budaya & Galeri a year ago at his home. The gallery
reflects the idealism and vision to promote good-quality
paintings.

To mark the first anniversary of the gallery last March,
Irianto organized the Magelang Art Festival, featuring famous
national artists of various genre, among others, WS Rendra, Harry
Rusli, Made Wianta, Arahmaiani, Tisna Sanjaya, Eko Supriyanto,
Sapto Raharjo and Slamet Gundono.

At first the presence of the gallery was received with
cynicism as was the March festival. Among the skeptics is the
Magelang regency government. But the skepticism has failed to
dampen Irianto's spirit.

"I could afford it now so I just gave it a go. Is there a
regulation prohibiting someone from inviting great artists to
their house? What I am doing will also benefit the arts," he
said.

Irianto's gallery focuses on Indonesian contemporary arts that
he hopes will achieve international recognition.

"If you happen to browse through a foreign art book, for
example from an Asian country, it will be difficult to find
advertisements about Indonesian paintings. Of course, you can
find works by Vietnamese, Chinese and Korean painters but not by
Indonesian artists," said Irianto, a graduate of UCLA (University
of California at Los Angeles).

Irianto believes many Indonesian painters have great potential
and artistic enthusiasm. Unfortunately, they have not gained
recognition in the international art market.

Through his gallery, Irianto aims to build a good market
network at home and overseas -- something vital to promote
Indonesian arts. Another thing that he wants to do is to organize
major art events.

"It is my dream to organize a biennial art festival in
Magelang. This event will indirectly promote contemporary art. As
far as I know, this event has long been absent in Yogyakarta, a
city known to have a lot of very talented artists," said Irianto.

Irianto is an organizer of the Borobudur cultural festival
that will last until June 27, 2003. He is a guest lecturer at the
management master's program at Gadjah Mada University in
Yogyakarta.

He said he has often been treated with suspicion for what he
has been doing for the arts simply because he is a Chinese-
Indonesian. Even his wife does not like it -- for a different
reason -- as she claims he spends "too much money" on things like
the Magelang Art Festival.

Still, Irianto believes that the future for Indonesian
paintings is quite bright.

"Professionalism on the part of the artists and a good
marketing network are the key to the world market," he said.