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The 'maker' of six presidents
JP/Slamet SusantoSculptor Yusman is carving history
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JP/Slamet Susanto
Sculptor Yusman is carving history.
The artist has been entrusted to create statues of the country's six presidents, from the country's first president Sukarno to current President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
The six sculptures have been ordered by the Education and Culture Ministry and are to be displayed at the Bogor State Palace.
The graduate of the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) of Yogyakarta said he had no idea why he was chosen to do the job, rather than another more famous sculptor.
'The job comes with historical weight. The statues should accurately reflect the details of the subjects during their lives,' the 50-year-old artist said at his studio in Tirtonirmolo, Bantul regency, near Yogyakarta.
Yusman is not a new monument-maker; he made his debut in 1995, building the Mandala monument to the liberation of West Irian in Ujung Pandang (now Makassar, South Sulawesi), which was inaugurated by then-president Soeharto.
In 2001, he made the relief for the tomb of Bung Hatta (the first vice president) in Tanah Kusir, South Jakarta, which was inaugurated by former vice president Hamzah Haz.
Eight years later, he made the Dwikora and Trikora Struggle Monument at the Indonesian Military headquarters, which was inaugurated by President Yudhoyono.
Born into a farming family in the West Sumatra town of Pasaman, Yusman showed interest in art from an early age, drawing the country's national icons, from Diponegoro to Raden Saleh, on his school's blackboard.
But in junior high school, where art was not a priority, he had to abandon his passion, turning his attention to badminton. Only when he studied at an art high school in Padang was he put back in touch with art ' though with a focus on decorative arts rather than sculpture.
Using his own savings, Yusman decided to further his studies along with four friends at ISI Yogyakarta. He decided to study painting.
'Painting was a big deal at that time, while sculpting was less popular and had fewer students,' he said. 'But I was placed in sculpting'.
After studying for a year at ISI, he started assisting his instructors in crafting statues, getting involved in projects undertaken by his seniors and lecturers, including renowned monument-maker Edhi Sunarso.
Yusman said he took his job seriously ' whether it involved a sculpture worth millions of rupiah or one built free of charge for the public.
For Yusman, the sculpting process involves historical portrayal, not just mere carving ' especially since the statues he is now working on will represent the country's leaders, who have inspired the nation and left their mark on history.
Since the works are of historic significance, in the past month he has been gathering background information needed for the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this month.
He said that when making statues, the details should perfectly match the subject being represented.
For example, when he received an order to create a statue of national hero Gen. Soedirman, he spoke to family members to get detailed information about the guerrilla commander during the post-independence war against the Dutch from 1945 to 1949.
Since he did not have a picture of the general, Yusman ended up using the likeness of his grandson, Ganang Sudirman, who, according to family members, bore the closest resemblance to Gen. Soedirman.
He also garners small details ' down to the appearance of buttons and shoestrings ' from the period when the person lived.
'The design of shoestrings produced during the 1980s, for instance, is different from those made in 2010. If such features are wrongly portrayed, we make historical errors.'
The statue of Sukarno, for example, is depicted making a speech, with his arm raised and his finger pointed. President Soeharto's statue shows his popular smile.
President Abdurrahman 'Gus Dur' Wahid, renowned for his great sense of humor and strong character, is waving his hand while the statue of Megawati Soekarnoputri is raising her fist, as if shouting 'Merdeka!' (freedom).
With six statues to be completed by the end of August, Yusman has set up a team to assist him.
The first team is in charge of building the basic frames for the statues, which principally use special clay brought in from Purwokerto in Central Java.
The next team is assigned with crafting detailed shapes of the statues in line with the gathered information.
'I do the finishing work myself,' Yusman says.
The six sculptures will be cross-checked before being refined and declared complete.
Family members and close relatives of the former six presidents are allowed to inspect the statues to detect possible inconsistencies.
'Family members of Pak Harto (Soeharto) have observed the statue and they were happy,' said Yusman.
As ordered, the statues are built at around one and a half times the normal height. The statue of President Yudhoyono, who is listed as 178 cm high, will be 270 centimeters tall and is set to be the tallest of the six.
The list puts former presidents Sukarno at 172 cm, BJ Habibie at 162 cm, Gus Dur at 163 cm and Megawati at 160 cm.
Yusman said he would consider his job well-done if the subjects represented in the statues were immediately recognized by viewers. 'If not, then it's a failure,' he said.
The carving of monuments has also made him fall in love with history.
'It turns out that our great national heroes, from Diponegoro to Cut Nyak Dien, died due to betrayals. It made me feel troubled and since then, I have begun to love history,' he said.
