Sanggar Bumi Tarung gets back to unfinished business

Margaret Agusta ,  Contributor ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 06/29/2008 10:56 AM  |  Arts & Design

Hardija Pujanadi, Indonesia Berduka (Indonesia mourns). (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

Artists Amrus Natalsya, Djoko Pekik, Misbach Tamrin, Isa Hasanda, Adrianus Gumelar, Hardjija Pujanandi, Sudiyono SP, Sabri Jamal, Dj. M. Gultom, Muryono and Sudjatmoko feel like they have a lot of unfinished business to take care of.

Their current exhibition, Sanggar Bumi Tarung II, is all about catching up.

"I have many debts to pay toward this nation," Amrus explained, his voice shaking with conviction, during an interview last week. He has several paintings and sculptures in the show ongoing through June 29 at the National Gallery in Central Jakarta.

Amrus and his colleagues from Sanggar Bumi Tarung (Arena of Contention Studio) haven't shown together in 46 years. Their last exhibition as a studio was in 1962.

They are all survivors of the socio-political backlash unleashed against the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Communist Indonesia:PKI) after what has been recorded in history as a botched coup on the night of Sept. 30 - Oct. 1, 1965.

Sanggar Bumi Tarung was a member of members of the Indonesian Artists Association (Lembaga Senirupa Indonesia), an art body under the auspices of the People's Cultural Association (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat: LEKRA), the cultural arm of the Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia: PKI).

All 30 members of the politically active and outspoken studio were hunted down, some were arrested, many held indefinitely for years without trial.

Their earlier works were almost all destroyed or, at the very least, banned. Some died in prison, some in exile, and others lost their lives at the hands of vengeful mobs bent on destroying the Communist Party.

Amrus Natalsya, Bahtera Indonesia (Indonesia Ark). (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

There are only 11 of the Sanngar Bumi artists left. Those who did survive prison to return to society found it very hard to show their work for a very long time.

Only occasionally would they find someone who was willing, most often anonymously, to sponsor them singly or in group shows with artists outside of their Sanggar Bumi Tarung colleagues.

According to Tubagus "Andre" Sukmana, the director of the National Gallery of Indonesia, these artists "have a long connection back to the political arena of the 1949 revolution."

"The works of the Sanggar Bumi Tarung artists characteristically reflect their commitment to the oppositional art of Revolutionary Realism, which sets their works apart from that of artists from the other early studios like Sanggar Pelukis Rakyat, Seniman Indonesia Muda and Persagi," he explained further.

"They have a pact to dedicate their work to the ongoing struggle of the farmers, laborers and other marginalized citizens of Indonesia to overcome suppression and injustice," he added.

It is this pact that drove the artists of Sanggar Bumi Tarung to keep trying until they could organize and present this current exhibition.

"Now, we have to see to it that what we started with the independence revolution is actually achieved," Amrus Natalsya explained, saying this meant keeping the plight of the downtrodden and disenfranchised in the public eye.

The current exhibition, which features a few rare works from the 1960s, but mostly pieces down much more recently, certainly lives up to that promise.

Amrus Natalsya, Sejarah Tidak Pernah Melupakan Rakyat (History Never Forgets the People). (JP/Ricky Yudhistira)

Amrus' painting titled History Never Forgets the People reflects his views of the debt this nation, and, of course, its artists, owes to its poverty stricken.

As painter Misbach Tamrin said recently: "We have to open up what really happened. We have to keep telling the stories of the people."

Misbach's works titled Trisakti 1998, Container TKW and Pengusuran (Eviction) most certainly keep the dialogue about human rights and the country's ongoing socio-economic problems in the public eye. Their powerful images are hard to ignore.

Other pieces definitely worth viewing in this exhibition are the wooden sculpture by Amrus Natalsya titled Bahtera Indonesiaku (Indonesian Ark); and the painting titled Indonesia Berduka (Indonesia Mourns) by Hadjija Pujanadi, along with many others.

The Sanggar Bumi Tarung II exhibition has been a long time coming, and it is to be hoped that the hard work of the reformists, who have created a safer environment for these once-banned artists to show now, and the democratic vision of the current National Gallery management, will be honored and appreciated.

It is also to be hoped that many more exhibitions of this kind will be held to inform our collective conscience, as Sanggar Bumi Tarung has so strongly reminded us, of the need to keep working toward the dream of this nation's independence fighters: a just and prosperous Indonesia.

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