Still with Pak Jim Supangkat, Christine Cocca and Entang at his beautiful home close by to the amazing Prambanan Temple of Yogya (known as the most beautiful Hindu Temple of Java) and I get a phone call: Curator Charles Merewether had just arrived in the Hotel.
Charles and I met in Tbilisi, Georgia, last October, when we both went there for Artisterium'09 (I was there do assist Curator Shaheen Merali, as he had a big exhibition in Vienna on the same dates). As he left, I entered the hospital to remove my appendix (but that story has been told already). He and I talked about our experiences and when I asked him if he knew the Curator Jim Supangkat he said "yes, I do". I was excited; he was the first person I met that in fact knew him personally.
After a great lunch, I had a meeting with Jompet, an artist from Yogya that presented his work in the Lyon Biennial 2009, curated by Hou Hanru. Hou Hanru's wife, Evelyne Jouanot was in Tbilisi too. It's a small world, this one.
So, I went to meet Jompet in Kedai Kebun Forum. Charles Merewether went to IVAA, the biggest archive for contemporary art in Yogya.
After meeting Jompet, I was to meet Charles at Cemeti Art House, one of the most important galleries in Ygoya and the one that has in fact made major impact since its constitution in 1988. It is directed by Meela Jaarsma, from Holland and her Javanese husband, Nindityo Adipurnomo.
As I arrive there with Jompet, we understand that we are both meeting Charles! In his research for the "Archive", Jompet is included. So I let them talk, have a mandi and return to go with Charles to meet Alia Swastika, for a dinner. Jompet is brilliant artist, and we all think the same way.
At this dinner, Alia and Charles that have met in Cemeti Art House reconnect again, after several years. It was indeed a nice dinner. And I ask both to meet me the following day to show them my research topic. So we did.
Charles had invited me to go to his hotel in Yogya, the Phoenix, with this beautiful swimming pool the following day. When I arrived, Pak Jim Supangkat and Charles are finishing their meeting and we go for a swim that felt heavenly. After swimming, I sneaked into the sauna! Oh how nice :)
Later in the afternoon, I met Linda Kaun, an artist whose work I admire, because she makes hiper-realistic batik. Linda represents the reality of life in Java, making compositions of school-girls, mobile warungs, rice-fields, but with an extreme realism. It was somehow interesting that back in 2006 I started doing realistic batik, but as portraits. I can't achieve Linda's result yet, but she is 30 years ahead of me, so I didn't loose the hope!
After meeting with Linda, I go to meet Charles and Alia again and we have a sincere talk about my research. They both are very informed in my subject matter, and it was of great help to have their feed-back.
The following day, Sunday 17th January, is the only day I am 100% free. I was thinking of going to Aguk to make batik, but I felt the need to go around, engage more with the people I have been so lucky to meet, like Alia. So we spent the whole day together. We had a motorcycle adventure (we were fined because I didn't have helmet and she didn't have the license), so we decided to behave and I borrowed a helmet for the rest of the day. She had a meeting in Via-via with 4 curators that are here to choose works for a commercial show to be held in Seoul, Beijing and Singapore. After this, we went to her mother's house, her house and, while Alia had a nap, I went for a massage. Reflexology. Very nice: we had a good talk, had dinner together and I went back home. Alia droped me in a taxi and I got home faster.
Monday I had a meeting with another artist, Eko Nugroho. I had seen his work various times, but live only at the Tropenmuseum, in Amsterdam, in August 2009. I adored the fact that a Tropical Museum, or Ethnographic museum is actually updating its collection buying contemporary art. Very good vision. I hope Portugal starts soon updating its collections, as we need to follow the changes in the world that surrounds us. I believe all these artists would be honoured to have their work shown or in the collections of the museums of Portugal. There is a very strong connection between the Portuguese and the Indonesian. They, like us, they remember our presence in the past and actually they are interested in renovating this dialogue. This is why I call this post "dialogues". It’s a dynamic talk, between two parts.
I like Eko's work more now, after being with him than I did before. Now I see where he wants to go. And how funny, how aware of the world around him he is. Actually I am loving all the work of these artists, it's indeed very good. As Karim Raslan said in his talk in Jogja Biennial: Yogyakarta is the leading city in terms of art practice of South East Asia. In terms of institutions he believes is Manila.
As suggested by Alia, I had a meeting with Agung Kurniawan. His wife Neni gave me the name "noor" back in 2006. They run Kedai Kebun Forum.
Our talk was very good. I am really lucky to have actually met so much people willing to help, criticize and comment on my topic, Memory and Contemporaneity.
The fact that I started my relation with Indonesia through Batik led me to this topic that mixes tradition, collective memory, high and low art, fine art, with contemporaneity. It was a difficult process at first, as I was so engaged with the technique, but through reading the Curators Jim Supangkat, Shaheen Merali, Dwi Marianto (among others), and after meeting in Lisbon with my supervisor, Fernando António Baptista Pereira, Isabel Carlos and Jessica Hallet (thank you Jessica, you were brilliant), I luckily found my way.
It has been very productive, and with an open heart, all comes to us.
Salam, noor
Friday, 22 January 2010
Monday, 18 January 2010
Dialogues: part 1
This have been hectic days: without programming or planning, things emerge and happen. So nice!
Actually, now I understand that the artistic community I came to talk, they actually know each other very well, so it works as a chain reaction.
I will report from Tuesday last week. I have had various productive days: I started by going to the school I studied in 20016, ISI Yogyakarta to meet a great artist, Ninus Anusapati, who is also a Professor there in the Fine Art Department. Anusapati is considered one of the most successful modern artist in Indonesia and he combines with extreme grace traditions and modernity. Maybe this combination is easy for an Indonesian, or perhaps an Asian. I have been in the past days confronted with the possibility of a South East Asian art that combines the two with grace and ease.
Anyway, Anusapati gave me a very good interview. We talked for an hour. Then I left Yogyakarta to go to Magelang, another city.
Magelang is a city not to far from Yogya where the tobacco industry is settled. There, the major collectors and buyers of art live. If it was not for the tobacco industry, the sponsorship of arts in Indonesia would be scarce. Recently there was a recent attempt to consider the tobacco an enemy of Islam. So many people would loose their jobs in the country that they re-evaluated the decision.
Luckily Pak Oei Hong Djien was a man with a vision. His Museum, known as OHD Museum, possesses works that range form the masters such as Affandi (there is one that was exhibited in the Venice Biennial of 1954!!! Affandi was the only Indonesian artist to exhibit there until Heri Dono arrived in 2002, making space for the current projection of the artists in the international art scene). Also, there are plenty Sudjojono, considered the "father" of modernist art in Indonesia. There are also Chinese painters in the collection and two very special paintings, made by Indonesian artists, referring to the massacres of East-Timor. For me, a Portuguese, being able to verify the disapproval of acts of war by the Indonesians themselves was something.
These "in-door" museums, meaning that they exist at a private home, is something I could testify for the second time. While talking to Pak Oei, I told him that in 2006, while living here, I visited the "home-museum" of Pak Ardyianto, one of the finest Batik makers in Yogya. Instead of looking at Modern and Contemporary art, there I could see an incredible collection of gold, tribal art from various islands of the archipelago, textiles, any many many books. Unfortunately Pak Ardyianto suffered a stroke in 2007 and he is now very ill and cannot recognize anyone. I was sad to know that...
After Pak Oei, I visited the gallery of Pak Deddy Irianto. He is a fine collector of the latest art produced in Indonesia but also has, next to his house, a commercial gallery. I was very pleased to see the works by Fx Harsono, Heri Dono, S. Teddy D, etc etc. I was enjoying the gallery so much, that he took me to his house to see his personal collection. I was very impressed with S. Teddy D, an artist I knew but can't include in my research, like Agus Suwage, an artist that I admire but can't refer to.
Wednesday was the day I visited Brahma Tirta Sari, a project that mixes batik with new media, such as installation. Nia Ismoyo talked to me about the oral traditions of Batik and the Javanese culture I am looking at. There is several ethereal knowledge in this culture. Fantastic.
Later in the afternoon, I visited Entang Wiharso, an artist that I liked the work at the Biennial of Yogya. I also met Pak Dwi Marianto, a Professor of ISI that runs the Post-Graduate Program and is actually responsible for my choosing to do the MA within the contemporary art of Indonesia: I saw in 2006 an exhibition that was curated by him in Yogya Gallery called ICON. There I met many good works by an extensive list of artists. How nice! We had a beautiful dinner all together and it has been very nice to meet all them. Entang gave me several of his published catalogues and work for further reading :)
On Thursday, I went to ISI again. Pak Edhi Sunarso was distinguished by the University of Yogyakarta as a Master of the Arts, in his case, sculpture. The ceremony was to die for! Gamelan, beautiful dances, all the Board of ISI dressed as academics and a large audience. It was memorable and it shows the relevance of Edhi Sunarso in the context of Indonesian art. Here goes the link of today's report on Jakarta Post.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/
I had lunch there (so kind of them) and then, as I was returning home to get changed for the opening of the exhibition of Jogja Gallery at 4 in the afternoon, I get a phone call. From Pak Jim Supangkat!!! He had arrived from Jakarta and was able to meet me in the Hotel. So I went immediately. After all, Jim Supangkat is the pioneer of Curatorship in Indonesia!
We had a good talk, a memorable talk, I should say. After this talk we went together to the opening of the Jogja Gallery. Imagine: I arrive there with Pak Jim Supangkat and I find all the Professors of ISI, Pak Oei, from the Museum in Magelang, and also some friends. So nice: chain reaction!
A beautiful story about Edhi Sunarso was told by himself: Soekarno, the first President of Indonesia after the post-colonial period asked him to make many works. We can see big dimension work by Edhi Sunarso in Jakarta. Soekarno wanted so much the work to be financed that he sold one of his personal cars to help pay the bronze! What a patron of the arts! I always saw Soekarno as a hero, and he is.
As they all had to be interviewed and the rain was very very strong, I stayed waiting for Pak Jim to finish. In the meantime, dinner was served and once more I was invited to join. Very kind of them. Finally, Pak Oei took me home in his car, as the rain was looking like it would not stop ever.
Friday was another intense day: I went with Entang, Pak Jim Supangkat to his studio again. There, Christine Cocca, Entang's wife, also showed me some of his work. They were so kind, we had lunch is a great restaurant and I had the opportunity of looking at the work again.
Terima kasih all of you, I have been blessed in meeting all of you in Yogya!
Salam, noor
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