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Jakarta Post

Pramono R. Pramoedjo: Caricaturist at heart

Antara/Dodo KarundengFrom profession to passion, Indonesia’s caricature maestro Pramono R

Ika Krismantari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, July 8, 2011

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Pramono R. Pramoedjo:  Caricaturist at heart

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span class="inline inline-left">Antara/Dodo KarundengFrom profession to passion, Indonesia’s caricature maestro Pramono R. Pramoedjo has made his drawings not only his source of income but also the energy that moves his daily life.

Not a single day goes by that this bespectacled man does not draw.

Despite his old age, the caricaturist for almost 45 years is still producing sketches for a newspaper on a daily basis.

The 68-year-old says he can still do up to five illustrations a day.

“Drawing is my lifestyle. I found that my life has been dedicated to it,” he said in a recent interview with The Jakarta Post.

But, it took Pramono years before he finally understood that his life was meant for caricatures.

As the son of a drawing teacher, the Magelang-born man said it all started as a hobby.

“I liked to accompany my dad when he was at work. When he drew, I also drew and many people said I drew better than him,” he says with a laugh.

But, Pramono did not take his gift very seriously.

He decided to ignore his talent and studied economy and law at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta after he graduated from high school.

Yet no one can escape something when the heart is calling, including Pramono. Amid a busy student’s schedule, young Pramono again discovered his interest in drawing by joining a group of art students in Yogyakarta.

“I liked to hang out with them. I joined their classes and I realized at one point that I really enjoyed it,” he reminisced.

So, with no hesitation, he dropped out of school and decided to study art despite opposition from his
family.

“I told them that I was meant for it. Luckily, they understood,” he said.

However, hard times came during the social revolution in the 1960s, forcing Pramono to rethink his
decision.

Then just at the right moment, a job offer arrived for Pramono to become an illustrator for the afternoon newspaper Sinar Harapan.

“I took the job. I let go of all my studies. I only thought that I needed to survive,” he said.

Who knew that the decision would lead him to become an important figure in caricature-making in the country?

His faithful attachment to Sinar Harapan to this day has put his name in line with other prolific caricaturists like G.M. Sudarta of Kompas and Dwi Koen.

People know Pramono for his soft and indirect caricature style — not straightforward, but witty and full of criticism.

Rather than drawing specific faces, Pramono likes to portray corrupt officials as fat or rat-headed people.

And despite such vague depictions, Pramono is able to get his criticism across.

For Pramono, caricatures have to provide criticism, ideas and solutions so that the subjects of criticism realize that things need to change.

Therefore, it is no surprise that Pramono still gets a lot of grief from people who do not like his drawings, mostly people from the government.

During Soeharto’s repressive era, Pramono’s office frequently received threats from government officials who were offended by his works.

But, luckily, the recipient of a bronze medal in the 1979 International Cartoon Contest in Tokyo has managed to avoid prison throughout his entire career.

“I kept a toothbrush and towel in a small bag during that time just in case I was abducted,” he said.

The situation has changed nowadays as the government has given people freedom of expression. But, several things still cause him concern.

The caricaturist, who has been working under five presidencies, said he was concerned about the emergence of radical religious movements lately.

“They don’t care if it is right or wrong. What they know is they attack people who are against them,” he said.

Pramono also worries about people’s ignorance.

“I doubt if people care about the criticism, or if they understand it or not,” he remarked.

Pramono felt the same doubt early in his career in the 1970s, which caused him to stop drawing and become a reporter instead.

Fortunately, such worries were short-lived as his art professor advised him to get back on track.

Since then, Pramono has fully committed to caricatures.

Nothing can seem to stop him from drawing and achieving in his illustrations, not even the ruling government, extremists or people’s ignorance.

After decades of ups and downs, Pramono says caricaturing has been an important element in his daily life and even his personality.

And, being a devoted critic of the country’s problems for years has not made him bitter.

Instead of feeling hopeless and stressed out, he cherishes every difficulty and issue this country
encounters.

“The more chaos with the government, the happier I am because I get tons of ideas for my drawings,” said the man who confessed that he could get ten new ideas from monitoring problems in newspapers and on TV.

Looking at the bright side of everything and living a life that flows like water seem to be Pramono’s life principles.

“Life is already good by itself. It is people who tend to make it worse,” he said.

With such principles, Pramono seems to live life to the fullest. He is now living in Salatiga, a mountainous area in Central Java.

His decision to move to the town, which he depicts as on the periphery of paradise, was triggered by his desire to escape from his hectic life in Jakarta.

But it is not really a quiet life that Pramono has found in Salatiga, as he struggles with his busy schedule, juggling between producing caricatures for Sinar Harapan and running a handful of social organizations.

Under Pramono’s initiatives, a number of organizations that aim at empowering local people in Salatiga were born.

Among them are workshops for local craftsmen and communities of nature lovers and local writers. In Salatiga, he initiated an association for young aspiring caricaturists.

The brains behind the establishment of the now-defunct Indonesia Cartoonists Association says he still likes to interact and discuss with his younger and older colleagues to find ways to keep the world of caricature in Indonesia alive.

He is currently busy preparing an international cartoon contest and exhibition to be held next year. He also plans to organize exhibitions for Australian and Japanese caricaturists at his museum in Bali next year.

“You ask when I will stop [working on caricatures]. I guess [I will continue] until I die,” said the man, who, in his 60s, still looks healthy and robust.

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