On May 21, the Indonesian art world celebrated the centennial of National Awakening with a grand opening of what was perceived to be a grand exhibition.

Over 350 artists from major cities were featured in the exhibition. Curator Jim Supangkat said the only condition for participation was that the artist had been acknowledged -- whether by his or her community or through a history of participation in exhibitions.

The opening was crowded, with punters enjoying meeting both friends and artists. Through the layers of the crowd, the exhibition looked good, even in the eyes of critics. A spirit of togetherness was palpable. It was as if an exhibition of this scale was something that many had been yearning for. Thumbs up to the National Gallery, and its director Tubagus Andre Sukmana, for the vision to commission such an exhibition.

Even as a closer look reveals its many weaknesses and the grave disharmony between the curatorial premise and the actual exhibition, a sense of general buoyancy nurtures the expectation that this is an important step amid an atmosphere in which material values and auction achievements seem to dictate the judgment of artworks.

The curatorial statement for the overall exhibition, signed by Jim Supangkat, Ritzki Zaelani, Farah Wardani and Kuss Indarto, talks about exploring the Indonesian understanding of seni and senirupa -- and the inclusion of rasa (taste) vis-*-vis the understanding of the English word art. But little if any, synergy could be detected between the curatorial basis, which lacks a sharp focus, and the actual works in the exhibition.

The size of the exhibition was far to large to enable a clear focus, but nevertheless, the team managed to classify and divide the over 300 works into four parts: "Art and the Sense of Beauty" by Jim Supangkat," Art and Ethics" by Rizki A. Zaelani, " Existence : Esoteric and Transcendental" by Farah Wardani and "Art and Narrative" by Kuss Indarto.

Many of the participants have yet to show their work in a solo exhibition and some mimicked the styles of successful artists. Truly original works included s. Dwi stye Acong's painting Human Light, Ayu Arista Murti's digital work Showtime and Yudi Sulistya's paper sculpture Evolution-2.

Old works had also been "repackaged" for Manifesto like Yani Mariani's installation of hanging stones, titled Endless; Titarubi's installation of ceramic stone sculptures, Cerita Tanpa Narasi; Pintor Sirait's Formula 1, now named Xoxoxo; and Srihadi's early (1947) sketches redone in oil (1982).

Also impressive is the ongoing creative energy of senior artists, as seen in Hanafi's installation.

Social and politically laden works describe the country's situation, like Agung Tato Suryanto's darkened space in which victims of violence lie on the floor, or Januri's painting Indonesia Raya featuring the islands of Nusantara hanging in the air, or Isa Perkasa's Indonesia Terbalik showing the islands in reverse sequence, or Sigit Santoso's painting Mimpi Ikaria of the Indonesian archipelago painted on the back of a young man with a small announcement in red, reading "sale", or Agus Suwage's haunting installation of three black crows on a spade titled Dead Poets Society.

Ham Ngieng Beng's painting Hanya cukup 1 kilo suggests little has changed when it comes to the issue of rice; similarly Hardiman Rajab's suitcase installation Made in Indonesia -- depicting the mudflow disaster in East Java -- reminds us that two years on, no solution has been found.

But the installation Java Amplified by Kuswidananto (Jompet) -- a portrait of a drummer minus the drummer -- shows art's lighter side, while Indra Leonardi's digital photograph, M1, taken in the transition from dust to night, is truly beautiful.

The large number of works compels one to come back at least two times to get a comprehensive view of the exhibition, as is the mimicking of world masters by senior artist Chandra Johan and the otherwise very innovative Yuli Prayitno.

"Manifesto"

Pameran Besar Seni Rupa Indonesia

The National Gallery

Jl. Medan Merdeka Timor No. 14

May 21-June 15

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