Violence against women explored in art

By Amir Sidharta

JAKARTA (JP): Some of the works by 18 artists in the Taking a Stance Towards Violence Against Women, on show at the Cemara 6 Gallery, Central Jakarta, until Dec. 20, have really startled some viewers.

Mella Jaarsma's Show Me the Truth Part III is a device made of tin with two large conical shapes protruding from the base. Behind the cones is a footprint of where the viewer should stand when looking at the work. From the corners of the device four rods extend high above the viewer. Cloth is tied to the ends of the rods, reminiscent of the cloths used over the funerary vessels in Balinese cremation ceremonies. On the bottom of the conical forms, a couple of forms resembling frogs' legs are placed inside cobek (mortars). The pestle is placed over the frogs' legs.

In an interview with artist F.X. Harsono in 1996, Mella related that she saw frogs at Pathuk Market, Yogyakarta. She explained, "the shape of the skinned frog arouses associations, memories and thoughts of mine about naked humans, death, victims, giving birth, violence, sex, life under pressure of political situations, etc." The way the frogs were shown in the double conical shape might evoke the images of physical torture inflicted on women -- presumably East Timorese -- spread through the Internet a few months ago.

While Mella intended to invoke various associations using the shape of frogs' legs, she was conscious that the response would vary greatly from one person to another. Of course, many people were shocked and even found her work repulsive.

Astari's piece, Prettified Cage, consists of a fine kebaya (blouse) and sarong costume of Javanese women in silver, placed on a hanger. In contrast to the outward appearance of this work, under this costume can be seen underwear made of metal.

Most strikingly, is that the underpants of the figure have been transformed into a kind of steel chastity belt, similar to the ones appearing on the market following the May rapes, placed rather vulgarly right where the crotch should be.

Certainly, the work is intended to show that the beauty and elegance of the Javanese women's costume is actually a cover or a front for traditional customs that are repressive toward women.

Similar in appearance to Astari's piece is Marintan Sirait's Unexplainable Moment. It also features a collarless shirt, painted with images of human figures, in front of a device made of steel perforated with numerous holes arranged carefully on a grid. Periodically, a large fan on a timer turns on and sucks the shirt back. The artist is trying to make a statement of how the system gradually sucks all of his humanitarian energy and potential. This goes on continually, until the entire potential is eroded away. The smoke that spews out from the back of the device is intended to symbolize a robot-like attitude of disenfranchised humans.

Violation by Iriantine Karnaya shows a woman laying helplessly, with her hands covering her crotch and behind her a man standing erect, with his trousers still pulled down below his crotch. "I want to show the figure of a egoistic man, who after raping a woman shows himself as if without guilt, while the woman has to bear the burden for the rest of her life," she explained. While the woman tries all she can to cover her shame, what has happened to her will remain her shame for the rest of her life. Meanwhile, although the man is caught red-handed and with his pants down, it is likely that he will still be able to get away with what he has done.

Not only the works by women artist break the stereotypical portrayal of women's art in Indonesia. Jerry Thung's painting, KATA-nya Ber-bunga (Her Words are Flowery), shows the image of a woman wearing dark sunglasses with her scarf tied over her head. There are flowers coming out of her mouth, but she seems rather reluctant to let them out. To a viewer, the work seems to assert that when women are made to conform to the expectations of society, then it is inevitable that their words become flowery.

The Very-very Happy Victim by Agung Kurniawan shows a woman dressed as a ballerina, including ballet shoes. However, her head is covered with a black cloth, reminiscent of the head covers worn by executioners in Medieval times. The figure is tied upside down from a rope above. Through this work, the artist intends to remind us that there are still many women who do not feel repressed because they actually do not know better. The works by the two male artists by no means depict the beauty of women, which perhaps has been one of most explored themes in Indonesian art.

Certainly, the works in the exhibition show the diversity of the individual works of the 18 artists. While some of the works may be easier to accept, many, like the ones aforementioned, are not the kind of artworks normally seen in exhibitions of women artists or art about women. It certainly breaks the stereotypes of women's art and art on women.

Three of the works in the show will also be exhibited as part of the Indonesian Women's Documentation Exhibition on Dec. 16 and Dec. 17 at Gedung UC of Gadjah Mada University in Bulaksumur, held in conjunction with the Indonesian Women's Congress, Dec. 14 through Dec. 17.