Theft of art treasures on the rise this year

Theft of art treasures on the rise this year

JAKARTA (JP): The art boom and an attendant general lack of
knowledge about the sector have played their parts in the growing
number of art-related crimes.

While the number of these reached a high last year, art thefts
and the like have continued this year.

In February, the local art world was shocked by the theft of
19 paintings from the studio of Sudjana Kerton in Bandung.

This is the largest known theft of the works of a single
artist in the history of Indonesian art.

It followed several other incidents, including the theft of a
number of paintings from the National Museum and paintings from
the collection of writer Ajip Rosidi the previous year.

There has also been an increase in forgeries appearing on the
market.

In May, the museum theft trial began. Two museum employees
were charged with stealing, although there is no news about the
fate of the alleged mastermind of the crime, Singaporean Michael
Lee.

In November, a Jakarta court found a man not guilty of
attempting to steal a Hendra painting from the Jakarta Arts
Council.

The defendant claimed he did not intend to steal the painting,
but had wanted to vandalize it. He said this was intended as an
act of protest against Moenir Pamoentjak's sculptures, inspired
by Hendra paintings, which had been commissioned by an avid
collector of the painter's works, Ciputra.

The man argued that the borrowing of artistic creativity
constituted a breach of Hendra's copyright to the paintings.