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Kamis, 30 April 2009
Jumat, 30 Mei 2008
National resurgence through the eyes of artists
Claudia Seise, Contributor, Yogyakarta
On May 20, Indonesians observed two celebrations: One was the Buddhist festival Waisak and the other was the 100th anniversary of National Awakening Day, the nation's resurgence marked by the formation of the Budi Utomo organization in 1908.
National Awakening Day is one of the country's most important annual public holidays, like Kartini Day, which falls on April 21, and Independence Day every Aug. 17.
All three holidays are aimed at strengthening the nation's -- and its people's -- identity and creating unity amongst the diverse cultures, languages, religions and ethnic groups of Indonesia.
But National Awakening Day seems like a controversial, almost disputed, holiday in Indonesian history. In 1948, three years after Indonesia's independence, former president Sukarno referred to the Budi Utomo as a historical milestone in the process of the nation's rise. Indonesia commemorates the day of the founding of this organization as Kebangkitan Nasional (National Resurgence).
Yet, the idea of the Budi Utomo as a key element in the fight for national resurgence is a controversial issue among different political, religious and ethnic groups in the archipelago. Some consider the movement a farce initiated by the Dutch.
The real story behind this historical event has been discussed in various books by different experts and scholars.
On the celebration of the 100th anniversary of National Resurgence, the issue surrounding the Budi Utomo became once more the center of interest, and Yogyakarta bustled with events.
One did not know where to go first; which discussions to follow or what exhibition to enjoy. Riding around town, one was overwhelmed by the display of posters and flyers promoting different events, including an opera about Diponegoro held at the Sultan's Palace, an Islamic discussion organized by Hizbut Tahrir and a youth congress at the Monument Jogja Kembali.
Another interesting event was the opening of a visual art exhibition titled "Setelah 20 Mei" (After the 20th of May) at the prestigious Jogja Gallery.
The exhibition was the result of an open competition involving more than 520 participants. Members of the jury included Soedarso and Oei Hong Djien, both advisors to the board of Jogja Gallery, and permanent Jogja Gallery curator Mikke Susanto. The fourth member of the jury was history specialist Sri Margana from Gadjah Mada University.
The idea of the competition was to explore young artists' ideas and opinions about this controversial public holiday and to present it to the wider public. Artists from all over Indonesia submitted their work for selection. In a two-step selection process, 67 works of art were chosen to be displayed in the exhibition.
As described in the curatorial notes by Mikke Susanto and Sri Margana, three main topics could be distinguished amongst the exhibited works.
The first group explored culture; formed and influenced by the nation's character. Artists in this group created a feeling of nationhood and optimism towards National Resurgence.
Sigit Blank's painting could be seen as belonging to the first group: He compared the need for the nation's revival with the metamorphosis of a butterfly that developed from an ugly caterpillar to become a beautiful, elegant creature.
The second group of artists could be considered as observers of history, who offered multiple interpretations through their works.
The third group, however, consisted of critical artists who illustrated some form of conflict or issue the Indonesian nation currently faces. This group formed the most interesting aspect of the exhibition, as the artists depicted people's critical thinking and their urge to express it.
Khusna Hardiyanto used easy, understandable symbols of the need for people to work together to achieve or change something. At the same time, slight criticism was incorporated into his piece that suggested gotong royong (mutual assistance) to achieve something on a national level, which has yet to be achieved.
Another artist, Askanadi, reflected on the guidelines that were once supposed to be the direction or the course for the new Indonesian nation. But somehow Garis-garis Besar Haluan Negara (State Guidelines) were never fully realized and therefore became somewhat of a myth. The lines that attempt to go straight to the top of the painting are broken up in little bits and pieces. Meanwhile, the spirit of the red color at the base fades into gray shades. The composition of lines and colors seems to reflect a broken spirit and some kind of distrust found among the people of Indonesia.
The selection of pieces in the exhibition was influenced by the demand of the art market for pop-art paintings. But compared to former competitions organized by Jogja Gallery, it also included more alternative painting styles and other media.
This development towards a more independent approach -- independent from the current trend in the art market -- offered a very pleasant change and showed that Jogja Gallery is not only a commercial gallery, like many others in Yogyakarta and Jakarta, but stands out against its rivals as an institution respected for its appreciation of art as such (not as a product) and the artists behind it.
The exhibition "Setelah 20 Mei" was scheduled to be officially opened by former president Abdurrahman Wahid; popularly known as Gus Dur. Although he was not able to make it to the event due to another engagement, opening night saw the gallery packed with official guests, prominent collectors, participants of the exhibition and artists from Yogyakarta.
The highlight of the opening ceremony was the announcement of the five winners of the competition. Of the 67 works exhibited, five were picked to each receive a Rp3,000,000 cash award. The five artists were Dedy Sufriyadi (from Palembang), I Made Supena (Bali), Jaya Adi (Solo), Wilman Hermana (Bandung) and Y. Indra Wahyu (Lampung).
Wilman Hermana's piece stood out the most and impressed the audience: What appeared to be a regular Indonesian flag from afar, turned out to contain hundreds of small plastic soldiers.
The jury awarded two other artists who submitted rather non-conventional pieces of art: Midori Hirota, from Japan and Saptoadi, from Madiun -- both submitted object and video installations.
Midori Hirota's installation showed the reconciliation process of Indonesians who became victims during the Japanese invasion. Her work was inspired by her research and personal reconciliation in the city of Blitar, East Java, where Japanese soldiers were based. Saptoadi's installation showed a video screen in front of an electric chair.
On May 20, Indonesians observed two celebrations: One was the Buddhist festival Waisak and the other was the 100th anniversary of National Awakening Day, the nation's resurgence marked by the formation of the Budi Utomo organization in 1908.
National Awakening Day is one of the country's most important annual public holidays, like Kartini Day, which falls on April 21, and Independence Day every Aug. 17.
All three holidays are aimed at strengthening the nation's -- and its people's -- identity and creating unity amongst the diverse cultures, languages, religions and ethnic groups of Indonesia.
But National Awakening Day seems like a controversial, almost disputed, holiday in Indonesian history. In 1948, three years after Indonesia's independence, former president Sukarno referred to the Budi Utomo as a historical milestone in the process of the nation's rise. Indonesia commemorates the day of the founding of this organization as Kebangkitan Nasional (National Resurgence).
Yet, the idea of the Budi Utomo as a key element in the fight for national resurgence is a controversial issue among different political, religious and ethnic groups in the archipelago. Some consider the movement a farce initiated by the Dutch.
The real story behind this historical event has been discussed in various books by different experts and scholars.
On the celebration of the 100th anniversary of National Resurgence, the issue surrounding the Budi Utomo became once more the center of interest, and Yogyakarta bustled with events.
One did not know where to go first; which discussions to follow or what exhibition to enjoy. Riding around town, one was overwhelmed by the display of posters and flyers promoting different events, including an opera about Diponegoro held at the Sultan's Palace, an Islamic discussion organized by Hizbut Tahrir and a youth congress at the Monument Jogja Kembali.
Another interesting event was the opening of a visual art exhibition titled "Setelah 20 Mei" (After the 20th of May) at the prestigious Jogja Gallery.
The exhibition was the result of an open competition involving more than 520 participants. Members of the jury included Soedarso and Oei Hong Djien, both advisors to the board of Jogja Gallery, and permanent Jogja Gallery curator Mikke Susanto. The fourth member of the jury was history specialist Sri Margana from Gadjah Mada University.
The idea of the competition was to explore young artists' ideas and opinions about this controversial public holiday and to present it to the wider public. Artists from all over Indonesia submitted their work for selection. In a two-step selection process, 67 works of art were chosen to be displayed in the exhibition.
As described in the curatorial notes by Mikke Susanto and Sri Margana, three main topics could be distinguished amongst the exhibited works.
The first group explored culture; formed and influenced by the nation's character. Artists in this group created a feeling of nationhood and optimism towards National Resurgence.
Sigit Blank's painting could be seen as belonging to the first group: He compared the need for the nation's revival with the metamorphosis of a butterfly that developed from an ugly caterpillar to become a beautiful, elegant creature.
The second group of artists could be considered as observers of history, who offered multiple interpretations through their works.
The third group, however, consisted of critical artists who illustrated some form of conflict or issue the Indonesian nation currently faces. This group formed the most interesting aspect of the exhibition, as the artists depicted people's critical thinking and their urge to express it.
Khusna Hardiyanto used easy, understandable symbols of the need for people to work together to achieve or change something. At the same time, slight criticism was incorporated into his piece that suggested gotong royong (mutual assistance) to achieve something on a national level, which has yet to be achieved.
Another artist, Askanadi, reflected on the guidelines that were once supposed to be the direction or the course for the new Indonesian nation. But somehow Garis-garis Besar Haluan Negara (State Guidelines) were never fully realized and therefore became somewhat of a myth. The lines that attempt to go straight to the top of the painting are broken up in little bits and pieces. Meanwhile, the spirit of the red color at the base fades into gray shades. The composition of lines and colors seems to reflect a broken spirit and some kind of distrust found among the people of Indonesia.
The selection of pieces in the exhibition was influenced by the demand of the art market for pop-art paintings. But compared to former competitions organized by Jogja Gallery, it also included more alternative painting styles and other media.
This development towards a more independent approach -- independent from the current trend in the art market -- offered a very pleasant change and showed that Jogja Gallery is not only a commercial gallery, like many others in Yogyakarta and Jakarta, but stands out against its rivals as an institution respected for its appreciation of art as such (not as a product) and the artists behind it.
The exhibition "Setelah 20 Mei" was scheduled to be officially opened by former president Abdurrahman Wahid; popularly known as Gus Dur. Although he was not able to make it to the event due to another engagement, opening night saw the gallery packed with official guests, prominent collectors, participants of the exhibition and artists from Yogyakarta.
The highlight of the opening ceremony was the announcement of the five winners of the competition. Of the 67 works exhibited, five were picked to each receive a Rp3,000,000 cash award. The five artists were Dedy Sufriyadi (from Palembang), I Made Supena (Bali), Jaya Adi (Solo), Wilman Hermana (Bandung) and Y. Indra Wahyu (Lampung).
Wilman Hermana's piece stood out the most and impressed the audience: What appeared to be a regular Indonesian flag from afar, turned out to contain hundreds of small plastic soldiers.
The jury awarded two other artists who submitted rather non-conventional pieces of art: Midori Hirota, from Japan and Saptoadi, from Madiun -- both submitted object and video installations.
Midori Hirota's installation showed the reconciliation process of Indonesians who became victims during the Japanese invasion. Her work was inspired by her research and personal reconciliation in the city of Blitar, East Java, where Japanese soldiers were based. Saptoadi's installation showed a video screen in front of an electric chair.
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