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.