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Exhibited destruction: Seeing forest fires through art, photos
Bingkisan (Gift) by Abdi SetiawanAs a reminder to society that forest fires are far from resolved despite the arrival of the rainy season, artists and photographers join forces to portray the disaster
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Bingkisan (Gift) by Abdi Setiawan
As a reminder to society that forest fires are far from resolved despite the arrival of the rainy season, artists and photographers join forces to portray the disaster.
Fourteen artists and nine photographers are taking part in the Mencegah Bara (Avoiding Embers) exhibition at Central Jakarta's Fatahillah Gallery, which runs until Jan. 17.
The exhibition ' organized by the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, Independent Research and Advisory Indonesia (IRAI), Kemitraan Partnership and the Jakarta Old Town Revitalization Corporation (JOTRC) ' invites people to never forget the issue and keep looking for solutions to resolve it for good.
'Many people still think that as the rainy season comes and extinguishes the hotspots, the problem is solved, when in fact there are many things that need to be done so that forest fires won't happen again next year,' said Lin Che Wei, the CEO of JOTRC.
The exhibition is divided in two wings, one for photography and one for other forms of art.
In the art section, curator Bambang 'Toko' Witjaksono chose artworks of various forms ' paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations ' that portray the artists' impressions of the current condition of the forest.
'The displayed artworks are not new, but they really represent the artists' concerns and criticism related to the destruction of nature,' he said.
The exhibition showcases three paintings by Widayat ' one of the most influential Javanese painters of the 20th century ' that reflect his fondness for Sumatran forests. The paintings are: Hutan Tropis (Tropical Forest), Flora and Fauna and Keluarga Burung (Bird Family).
Inspired by his work, young artist Theresia Agustina Sitompul reinterpreted Widayat's 1977 painting Rainforest by creating an engraving called Dialog dengan Pak Widayat (A Dialogue with Mr Widayat).
She copied the painting, engraved it on acrylic and cut it by hand, completing it with birds made from aluminum. 'This work is like my criticism about a jungle that has changed into an industrial forest. I grew up in a forest, and I'm so sad with how ugly our forest is now,' Theresia said.
Contemporary artist Anusapati presents two charcoal drawings at the exhibition.
Bambang said that Anusapati's works, made in 2012, depicted the condition of trees in a forest that had become dry, burnt by fire or had even died. 'His works invite us to think of the face of the forest as a blackened shadow of the past,' he said.
There are also two interactive artworks that allow visitors to get the impression of being in nature.
Arya Pandjalu made a 90 by 90 centimeters hanging wooden box that features cut-out paper birds. When visitors put their heads into the box, they can hear the birds chirping.
Dadi Setiyadi, meanwhile, made a tree installation where visitors can play their part by buying heart-shaped leafs and hanging them on the branches. The proceeds will be donated to firefighters in Kalimantan who bought equipment with their own money to extinguish the recent forest fires.
'With such interaction, artists do not only work on their own creating something in the studio, but also show responsibility as a messenger,' Bambang said.
Other artworks displayed at the exhibition include the famous Luxury Crime gold skull by Agus Suwage; by Titarubi's Unbearable Darkness, which consists of burnt wood, fiberglass beads and cotton and a teak wood sculpture by Abdi Setiawan.
If the arts wing presents works resulting from the artists' impressions on forest destruction, the photography section presents the burning reality of Indonesia's forest fires.
Curated by renowned street photographer Erik Prasetya, the arrangement of the images builds a connection between the pictures and visitors.
'I'm trying to create a dialogue between two or more pictures. I don't want people to just see the element of beauty from a disaster photo, but to see the message behind it,' he said.
For example, Erik put a photo by Ulet Ifansasti about efforts to extinguish peatland fire side by side with a photo of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo walking through a destroyed forest.
'That photo shows how big his role in tackling this issue is, and he looks quite alone in doing it,' he said.
The left side of the wall features a series of photos that showcase efforts to tackle the problems, while the right side is covered by pictures that depict the destruction conducted by humans and the life of those affected by the disaster.
'We also display photos from regular people that were posted on Instagram. It's through their pictures we can see small important things that professional photographers missed to capture,' Erik said.
' Photos by JP/DMR
