Present Encounters : Papers from the conference of the Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, 1996

Dolorosa Sinaga The Role of 'ContemporaryArtists ' in Indonesia My paper is an i ntroductory note from Indonesia about the issue of the role of contemporary artists. The context of the discussion will focus on the cu rrent situation in I ndonesia in the context of social conditions. What is the role of the contemporary artist in I ndonesia, what are the factors that affect their existence? To see the dimensions of the issue, th is paper wil l also add ress the issue of the role from a historical perspective. I need to mention events and names according to the progress of history. The tempo rary definition which I will use for a contemporary artist is an artist who has a role of historical d imension , or has h istorical signifi cance. The evaluation of the role wi ll start from the time of Sudjojono up to the present time i n I ndonesia. National I dentity The role of the contemporary artist can be said to have been pioneered by Sudjojono. I n 1 947 he managed to i mplant the spirit of struggle and renewal i n the group of artists who joi ned ' Pelukis Rakyat' (People's Painters) by rejecting the painting concepts of 'Mooi l ndie' ('The Beautiful I ndies') . Accordi ng to Sudjojono, the pictures of I ndonesia created by the 'Mooi l ndie' artists were superfi cial impressions because they [the artists] painted only beautifu l , natural landscapes and implemented exotic ways of observing social life in villages in I ndonesia. Based on his spirit of nationalism, Sudjojono and his fellow artists changed the exotic image (which is a colonial i n heritance) into an image of I ndonesian painting that is based on the realities of life which they observed and experienced . At this point, it is important to note that the role of Sudjojono is seen as that of a leader in bu ilding national spirit and fighting for I ndonesian freedom. Thei r commitment was not to focus on aesthetic val ue but rather, through painting , to convey the feeling and spirit of Indonesia , i n order to cal l for national consciousness. After I ndependence, the artists' commitment focused on searching for I ndonesian identity. Th is movement was supported by artists from Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. I must mention some names of important exponents of art who continued to struggle and develop the spi rit of exploration of national identity. Among them: Oesman Effendi, Nashir and Zaini. I nstead of confronting the style of 'Beautiful Indies' paintings, these artists were committed to exploring sou rces of artistic stimu lation , such as Indonesian traditional art, the spiritual realm and externa l infl uences that entered Indonesia. Effendi, in his writing about Indonesian painting , said that I ndonesian pai nting does not exist, I ndonesian painting does not have an identity. This statement, I believe, is his foundation and he passionately strugg led to discover the Indonesian identity. New D i rection The tendency toward national identity gives the perspective to lay a basic foundation for art education in I ndonesia. The drawing/painting classes introduced by Bandung and Yogyakarta artists eventually led to the birth of formal institutions. The first established art institution is i n Bandung and t he second one is i n Yogyakarta . Artists from Bandung were mostly involved i n education and q uite a number o f lecturers were given a chance t o study abroad . As a consequence , at one time, the Institute of Technology, Bandung [ITS] was considered to be a 'laboratory' of Western infl uences, because the artists' work showed a strong tendency toward formal aesthetic expression . Their 1 977 exh ibition in Jakarta entitled 'Seni Patung Kontemporer I ndonesia' ('Contemporary I ndonesian Sculpture') (in the history of Indonesian sculpture , this is the first exhibition to use the term 'contemporary') showed ideas about Indonesian sculpture that no longer stemmed from the figurative ideas generally familiar to I ndonesian people, but started to i ntroduce a new perspective that focused on media and visual elements as artistic substance. The spectators of the exhibition having been brought up with trad itional art as their first experience in art, were given a chance to enter i nto a new experience which they were not familiar with, and this experience made them able to enrich their artistic talent. Despite the issue of national identity, Bandung artists established their role as pioneers in introducing a new perspective, which is formal aesthetic expression. From my observations, 59