Tobelo artists persevere to create

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.