Yogya Perek artists raise plight of women

Stevie Emilia, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Gloom and doom reigns at the British Council in Jakarta.

The mood has been created by an art exhibit that draws attention to the misery of women as represented by women figures in a depressing state: poignant, nude, abandoned and even headless.

The art works, paintings, drawings, sculptures and installation pieces are the work of Yogyakarta female artists grouped under Perek. Set up last year, Perek comprises local art students and expatriates who want to express themselves through art.

Perek aims to make the plight of women heard. It is named provocatively after a local derogatory term shortened from Perempuan Eksperimen, or "experimental women", which simply means prostitute.

"We want to give a new meaning to the term perek, women eager to experiment in art," A. Lenny Ratnasari AS, a Perek member said.

The works, however, do manage to get the message across -- expressing the artists' concern over the stereotyping of women.

One untitled painting by Sri Ambarwati Lestari is a seated naked woman wearing an expressionless mask with a big chain on the back of her neck. Next to her, a woman's head is staring at her while on the chained woman's other side, a big hand is holding a mask of a beautiful face of a woman.

Other pieces by the 29-year-old artist, a student of the Yogyakarta-based Indonesian Institute of Arts who has taken part in several exhibitions, are just as interesting. An untitled one features a bald woman clad in a low-cut dress looking at a white board with a circled question mark on the board.

The two paintings portray women who have been denied freedom of expression and are victims of chauvinism that places them in a position inferior to men.

Sculptures by Lenny Ratnasari show the artist's unique, but direct representation of women, such as in one titled Pengantin Tunggal (Single Bride), or a wooden statue of a headless pregnant woman titled Bisa Tidak Laki-Laki Seperti I (Can Men Be Like I). Through the sculpture of the headless pregnant woman, the artist wants the viewer to share the shame of getting pregnant out of wedlock.

Works by Lelyana are unique in that she prefers to express herself using different media like charcoal, lipstick or a sheet of paper.

An installation piece by Heidi Arbuckle draws one's attention not only because it is placed near the exhibition room's entrance but because it centers on a sewing machine with a very long sheet of white cloth stamped with popular brands like Gucci, Levi's and many more.

"I mean to try to draw attention to our relationship (as middle class consumers) to the products that we consume. Is the clothing that you wear 'fair' (now when people are struggling just to make the ends meet)?"

The art exhibition at the British Council at Widjojo Center, Jl. Jend. Sudirman 71, Central Jakarta, will last until Feb. 16, 2002.