Nothing Voice Nothing Word II, Zirwen Hazry, acrylic on canvas.

The inaugural Sumatra Biennale of fine arts, the first major event of its kind in Indonesia outside Java or Bali, was the main highlight at the Exhibition Hall of the West Sumatra Cultural Center on Jl. Diponegoro in Padang from Dec. 5, 2012 to Jan. 5, 2013.

With biennales already taking place in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Bali, the all-Sumatra display indeed aroused the curiosity of fine art enthusiasts for the region’s prominent artists, their major works and the process of selection.

However, this biennale was quite promising as an initial step of self-discovery of Sumatra’s contemporary works, which are regarded as part of and adding more color to Indonesia’s fine art treasure.

Dua Sejoli Two at the helm), Bambang Soekarno, felt-pen on canvas.

Suwarno Wisetrotomo, a fine art observer from the Indonesian Art Institute (ISI) of Yogyakarta, said this event was different from the other fine art biennales in Indonesia and was more delicately handled from various angles.

Citing examples, he referred to biennales in China, like the Beijing International Art Biennale, the Shanghai Biennale, the Hong Kong Biennale and the Guangzhou Biennale. “Each offers appealing features as a yardstick to measure the growth of relevant genres, with its distinct position. Yet the four are mutually supporting,” he noted.

The 2012 Sumatra Biennale presented 33 works from 31 Sumatra artists selected by the Indonesian National Gallery’s curator, Kuss Indarto. Most of the pieces were canvas paintings and the rest comprised installations, woodcarvings, graphics, photographic works and mixed media.

Padang Bengkok (Distorted Padang), Stefan Buana, installation. Stefan Buana’s installation titled Padang Bengkok (Distorted Padang) drew public attention. The national artist, domiciled in Yogyakarta and a native of West Sumatra, challenged the history of the Revolutionary Government of the Republic of Indonesia (PRRI) by the end of the 1950s.

Used galembong, the traditional black pants of West Sumatra’s Minangkabau ethnic group, hung from barbed wire. Stefan’s scribbles on the pants criticized the historical account describing the PRRI as a rebel movement centered in West Sumatra, which he saw as a stigma resulting from the mistakes of Sukarno.

Through this symbol, Stefan wished to convey the message that the Minang group, as a cofounder of the republic, should not forget its bitter experience as a lesson to reawaken and prove the Minang people’s capability of playing a role in the national arena.

Berselimut Blanketed) (left) and Selimut Hijau (Green blanket), M. Zikri, acrylic on canvas.

In contrast, while Stefan confronted Sukarno, Bambang Soekarno, a painter from Medan, North Sumatra, expressed his admiration of the national hero on his canvas with the faces of Sukarno and Hatta, entitled Dua Sejoli (Two at the helm). The felt-pen painting measuring 135 x 270 centimeters showed both figures’ authority and amicability.

Two Padang painters, M. Zikri and Zirwen Hazry, depicted vivid, detailed and current figures in bright colors. The fine art graduates of Padang State University gave a strong impression of technical capability.

Zikri’s Berselimut (Blanketed) and Selimut Hijau (Green blanket) portrayed a bare-breasted man with his body and part of his head covered by green mud and a small flower growing in the chest. His other picture was a man bathed in white, blue and red liquids with a scared face, apparently threatened by chemicals. Zikri is known as an environmentalist artist.

Zirwen, through Nothing Voice Nothing World II, communicated the idea that paintings speak louder than words. A little girl was shown to give a finger gesture to her doll against the background of white flowers, one of which carried the words “I Love Mom”.

Medan’s Endra, well known for his cassava ornamental paintings, presented the present-day portraits of Indonesia through different forms of cassava: its tubers, tree stems, stalks and leaves. Wayang Singkong Scene #9 Hasta BrathA was shaped into wayang puppets made from woven cassava stalks, under the topic of Indonesian leaders’ character.

His other work, Celebration at Large, illustrated the defeat of the Indonesian team on the soccer pitch. Cassava tubers, red and white, were scattered over and broken to pieces.

Sumatra’s traditional culture appeared as Padang’s realist painter Amrianis offered Bagurau (Joking) to represent the performance of Minang traditional art with the Basaluang (flute) and Barabab (stringed instrument) and its joyful evening atmosphere. With this work, the Padang vocational high school teacher won the 2012 National Painting Teachers’ Contest in October.

The first show: A visitor looks at an installation at the 2012 Sumatra Biennale.

Lampung also had its tradition rendered by realist painter Bambang Suroboyo, with the picture of a woman in Lampung traditional dress waiting for a man to propose to her while buffalos roamed around. In the custom of Lampung, the ownership of buffalos constitutes a needed status symbol to propose to a virgin.

Tekstur Rumah Gadang by the other painter from Padang, Hamzah, criticized the abandonment of many traditional houses, causing them to be haunted. North Sumatra’s Budi Siagian likened a man whose hobby is cockfighting to a stud rooster along with six cocks, in his canvas named Tujuh Pejantan (Seven cocks).

As the self-discovery theme suggests, the works displayed in the Sumatra Biennale 2012 indicate a significant degree of quality in terms of performance maturity as well as the strength of the artistic creations.

Sumatra Biennale executive committee chairman Aprimas said it had been hard to decide whether art work should be chosen based on artists’ homes or places of origins. Finally it was decided to use both criteria.

While he understood the complaint about West Sumatra artists’ domination (almost 60 percent), a fine arts observer from Padang said such domination was proper because of West Sumatra’s position as a major fine arts center in Sumatra. Many national painters come from West Sumatra.

Still, the Sumatra Biennale was seen as a good start. It was promoted by Indonesia’s foremost painter, Joko Pekik, who attended the opening of the event and contributed a work he painted on the occasion, titled Berburu Celeng (Boar hunting).

— Photos JP/Syofiardi Bachyul Jb