The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane, Australia, 1996 : Report

twenty-first is celebrated in I ndonesia as National Kartini Day; on that day women wear traditional dress and konde. Adipurnomo began drawing inspiration from his traditional culture when he was studying in The Netherlands and while searching for his own artistic identity. Introversion (April the twenty-first) reflects his respect for Javanese culture and history and at the same time presents 'a questioning of our understanding of the traditional [Javanese] concepts of harmony and conformity, collective good manners and the expression of good conduct through the solving of problems by means of discussion' . (extract from artist's statement) Anusapati was born on the island of Java, I ndonesia. When he was young he studied music and traditional Javanese dance . Later he studied sculpture at the I ndonesian Institute of Fine Arts, Yogyakarta. Anusapati creates personal narratives employing familiar Javanese forms. Anusapati's recent works are wooden sculptures which reflect the influence of traditional objects and equipment used by Javanese people from the villages. Anusapati uses the wood available from his surroundings without resorting to the felling of trees to obtain his materials. Working with wood is also my attempt to bring the material to life . The trees used to be our brothers as we all are the children of mother nature. The cracks of the wood and the roughness of its surface are part of its nature. The defect brings its perfection. That is why I don't like to refine and work with it too much as I wish to let the material speak by itself. My objects contain metaphoric forms of my thoughts, ideas, dreams and desires. (extract from artist's statement) Arahmaiani's career has included extensive artistic studies in I ndonesia, Australia and Holland. She draws on her rich experiences as a nomadic artist to create provocative works that reflect her concerns about contemporary society. Consumerism, the cultural imperialism of the West, the worldwide problems of environmental degradation, and urban intrusion into rural ways of life are some of the issues that inform her work. The i nstallation Nation for sale and the accompanying performance Handle without care focused on mass manipulation by seductive methods of Western advertising, and the encouragement of global economic development at the cost of fundamental human and cultural values. 13