Insight into Indonesia

A detail from Agus Suwage's Holy beer and friends 2003.

A sadfact reinforced by the Boxing Day tsunami is that our awareness of other cultures is often limited to their presence in world media headlines in times of strife.

It may take a major catastrophe to raise our awareness of certain parts of the globe, even in our own region, but much more than the statistics and politicking of news journalism, art can give us a deeper insight into the nuances of foreign cultures.

Rather than the usual focus on international art from Europe or America, the Govett Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth has taken a particular interest in establishing dialogue with New Zealand's geographical cousins in the Asia-Pacific region.

Last year's ambitious Japanese survey Mediarena would have been the envy of any larger institution, and later this year projects are planned with Asian luminaries On Kawara and Lee Bul.

Now on at the Govett is Transindonesia, which examines the diverse heritage of one of our nearest neighbours; a nation that boasts approximately 300 different ethnic groups.

"One of the things we wanted to achieve with the exhibition is to highlight the complexity and diversity of the cultural situation in Indonesia," says gallery director Greg Burke.

"In some ways the disaster has brought some of this to international media attention. It may now be better known that the Indonesian archipelago spans thousands of miles horizontally and that the epicentre of the tsunami was closer to India than eastern parts of Indonesia.

"Through the media coverage we have also learned there is a separatist movement in Aceh, as there is in other parts of Indonesia that were never considered Indonesian before Dutch colonisation."

One issue that becomes immediately apparent in the exhibition is that it is difficult to separate Indonesia's lively political history from its visual culture.

Influenced by nearby India and China, Indonesia had its roots in Hindu and Buddhist culture before the arrival of Islam in the 15th century.

Holland colonised Indonesia in the 1600s and so Indonesia's awareness of Western art, particularly early modernism, is with a Dutch perspective.

An emphasis in seeking a more indigenous national identity emerged towards the middle of the 20th century, which paralleled the political climate, and modern art in Indonesia has been closely associated with politics and power since, says Jakarta-based curator Rifky Effendy.

Revolution and then independence in the 60s resulted in only government-endorsed socialist art being allowed. With criticism becoming a dangerous stance, there was a rise in abstract work, which had previously been unpopular.

Transindonesia may focus on more recent developments but these early legacies still linger just below the surface of much of the work.

Since the fall of Suharto's regime the socio-political commentary now common in Indonesian art has some uniquely sophisticated issues to explore.

Tino Djumini became Valentijn Gabriel van Dijk when, like many Indonesian children in the decade from 1973, he was adopted by Dutch parents. His large-format, family portrait photographs, taken in Indonesia and in the Netherlands, raise complex questions of identity, as do Agus Suwage's digital prints that blend religious, political and economic icons.

Religion and its place in contemporary society is another common theme in Transindonesia. "Islam is one dimension - it's more complicated in this country.

"There is a lot of fundamentalism as well and also many kinds of beliefs related to the influence of history in Indonesia, such as the Hindu era and colonialism," says Effendy.

"After September 11, there was a rise of Islamophobia in the world, especially related to present terrorists. What is interesting is how artists reacted to that issue."

Iswanto Hartono's Border installation takes particular exception to the binary axis-of-evil rhetoric promoted by the Western media.

Guests arriving at the exhibition opening were required to complete lengthy and probing immigration-style forms before being fingerprinted and photographed.

This mimics the procedures all travelling Indonesians are subjected to, largely because they come from a country identified as having the world's largest Muslim population.

"They ask you if this credit card is truly yours or not. Like a thief, like I stole it," recalls Hartono. "It's like closing the border of humanity and human privacy."

 

Heri Dono is the best known artist in the exhibition and his work, as well as critiquing Suharto's military regime, combines different aspects of traditional Javanese culture.

This is in stark contrast to the funky designer gear exhibited by the EAT collective, who represent a younger generation subject to the more insidious influence of contemporary consumerism.

The collective of friends started out making their own surfboards and accessories as a way to earn money after art school, and also because they couldn't afford and didn't like the Western brands, recalls Syagini Ratna Wulan, 25, the youngest and only female in the group, who adds that she doesn't surf or skate.

When they started six years ago as 347 Boardriders, they were Indonesia's first indigenous fashion label.

They have grown into a major company that virtually runs itself with minimal involvement from the five founders. Their own logo is being mimicked by other pirate merchandisers.

EAT soon found, by combining fashion and design with art-savvy, they could become a counter-cultural operation, sending up the iconic Western logos that have become common in the newly prospering Indonesian economy.

Wulan, who also exhibits separately, doesn't see politics having any significant role in her work.

But she is considering a new career: "Actually, I'm going to move to politics because I feel like I've done this and I'm happy now."

Exhibition

* What: Transindonesia, featuring Heri Dono, EAT, Iswanto Hartono, Mohammad Iqbal, Angki Purbandono, Agus Suwage, Titarubi, Valentijn Gabriël van Dijk (Tino Djumini)

* Where and when: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, to Feb 27

Caption2: FAMILY CONNECTIONS: Prints from Valentijn Gabriel van Dijk's Nice Boy 2002-2003.