Tobelo artists persevere to create

Grace Siregarb, Contributor, Tobelo, N. Maluku

Tobelo, the capital of North Halmahera regency in North Maluku province, offers some breathtaking views, which can best be seen from the dozens of small islands that lie just off its coast.

One such island is Kumo, popular among locals for weekend picnics on the beach. Other islands reached easily from Tobelo include Pawole, Tupu-tupu, Tagalaya and Kakara, each with their own diverse marine and reef life to explore.

Tobelo is not only blessed with natural beauty, but also possesses a wealth of traditional culture that is integral to daily life to this day.

Kakara island, 15 minutes by longboat from Tobelo, boasts strong, cross-generational music and dance traditions such as Lelehe, Cakalele, Tide, Gala, Bangheli and Tokuwela -- the last a call-and-response rhyming form accompanied by elderly female drummers. Also very popular now is the Hawaiian-sounding Yangere music, which was created by young Tobelo people in the mid-1980s and features tea-chest bass and an abundance of ukuleles.

Apart from its astounding potential in terms of its natural environment and local culture, Tobelo has become a haven of development in contemporary art since the end of the North Maluku conflict in 2000.

Walking around town, murals conveying social messages appear on every spare length of wall in a refreshingly frank and powerful minimalist style.

Raffles Pulingkareng, 70, is a glass painter and sculptor who fled to Tobelo when the interreligious conflict hit Aru village in the north of Morotai island. Now living in temporary refugee housing in Tobelo, Raffles sought a way to continue creating art.

This critically minded artist, despite his advanced years, has never ceased his pursuit of intellectual development, and can often be found hunting for discarded pieces of glass in Tobelo harbor.

Biblical tales and traditional culture are an endless source of inspiration for Raffles. In a glass painting entitled Cakalele, this self-taught artist illustrates the Cakalele dance as the lifeblood of the North Maluku people.

"My wish is that the regental government organizes a cultural festival in North Halmahera, where our art work can be exhibited to the public. In this way, Tobelo can become the cultural center of North Maluku, like Yogyakarta in Java," he said.

Raffles is driven in his enthusiasm to show his work to the public, and he recently held a solo exhibition in Hibualamo square in downtown Tobelo.

Following in a completely different vein is Hans Ririmase, who has been exploring the cartoon genre for some time now. This wiry, autodidact artist from Padamara Polytechnic said he was lucky that his work was much appreciated by the local population.

His cartoons have often appeared in local papers such as the Halmahera Post, Hibualamo and the Halmahera Press.

During the North Maluku conflict, almost all of Hans' work was destroyed by fire. However, this disaster did not deter him from his passion to create.

"In my work, I often raise current social issues, like refugees, violence and the peace that has blessed us," said Hans, who felt that contemporary art was developing fast in Tobelo, but received very little attention and support.

"But this situation also has its advantages, as many of my artist friends can create paintings in the center of town on blank walls. Without realizing it, when people come out of their homes, they are forced to view our work," he said.

Hendrix Sitania from Gura, who creates brightly colored paintings, said that contemporary art in North Halmahera had yet to be accepted by the public at large.

Although Hendrix, who began teaching himself how to paint in junior high school, felt that many people enjoyed his paintings, he was concerned about the future of contemporary art in Tobelo. He said that one of the difficulties faced by local artists was the lack of exhibition space in Tobelo, and in North Maluku in general.

In order to support his family, Hendrix works as a landscape designer, with clients ranging from offices to churches and to private individuals.

"I had to work out how to support my family. One way is to design gardens, as I have yet to sell a single painting. They are mostly borrowed for free for church or office events. Landscape design is a way for me to express myself artistically," he said.

Hendrix said he couldn't live without art, and that Tobelo always provided new opportunities for him to create.

"I live through my art, even though it is a struggle to receive acknowledgement as an artist here."

Fadriah Syuaib, a Ternate artist, said that the greatest difficulty she faced was the reaction of friends and family, who showed no appreciation for her abstract paintings -- particularly as Fadriah is a woman artist in the heavily patriarchal North Maluku culture. Nevertheless, she is determined to make art her life's focus.

Fadriah is an admirer of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, who she said kept her inspired to continue her own artistic journey.

She also expresses her creativity through theater, and has already written a number of radio dramas about education for the international non-governmental organization Cardi, which were broadcast province-wide on RRI Ternate radio station last year.

"For me, art has no borders. Any media can be used for artistic expression," she explained.

Fadriah also admires her artist colleagues from Tobelo who, even with the absence of gallery space or financial backing, found ways and means to exhibit solo or as a group in public spaces.

"Tobelo will become the Yogyakarta of North Maluku. Apart from being an open-minded town, it is also fertile ground for artists and their work."

Raffles Pulingkareng, Hans Ririmase, Hendrix Sitania and Fadriah Syuaib all feel that their work have not been recognized nor been taken seriously, as they have yet to receive wider exposure.

"Our work stands up in comparison to work produced in Java and Bali, but they have not been given attention by art lovers, galleries and the national media," said Raffles.

The dream of achieving wider recognition like some of their peers in Java and Bali is a common aspiration that unites these North Maluku champions of the arts.

As they hold on to their dream to exhibit in galleries in Jakarta, Medan, Yogyakarta, Bandung and Bali, these artists balance their time dedicated to creating with their efforts to survive, working respectively as a construction worker, a lecturer, a landscape designer and a fruit seller to support themselves.

Considering the level of maturity and honesty of their work, it is high time they were given an opportunity to show their work at a national level.

The writer is a Batak installation artist currently based in Tobelo.