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Jakarta Post

The Museum of Dullah - Rising from dark history of 1965

Dullah’s painting, Pemandangan Surakarta (View of Surakarta)

Agus Dermawan T. (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, December 21, 2016

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The Museum of Dullah - Rising from dark history of 1965

Dullah’s painting, Pemandangan Surakarta (View of Surakarta).

The Museum of Dullah in Surakarta, Central Java, has been reopened to the public this December, testifying to the great works and fame of the painter who was once marginalized for being labeled a “Sukarnoist”.

Despite his great work, painter Dullah was once blacklisted by the government for standing on the wrong side of history. His strong affiliation with former president Sukarno, who supported the Institute of People’s Culture (Lekra), a cultural organization associated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), has made him an exile in the country’s art scene since the late 1960s.

Fifty one years ago an aborted coup attempt was believed to be masterminded by the PKI. Since then, the PKI and its affiliations became an archenemy of the New Order regime.

Many artists associated with the PKI and Lekra were stigmatized and haunted by the most terrible terror in their lifetime for being branded as “leftists”.

Many of these “leftist” artists were arrested and went missing after the detention. Hundreds of the artists were alienated for years and even confined in political prisons, such as painters and sculptors Hendra Gunawan, Amrus Natalsya, Misbach Tamrin, Djoko Pekik, Tatang Ganar, Permadi Liosta, Isa Hasanda, Salim M., literary men Pramoedya Ananta Toer and Sitor Situmorang, and musician Sudarnoto.

Dullah’s painting, Kisah Revolusi (The Story of Revolution).

More than that, those regarded as close to then president Sukarno were targeted next because Sukarno was considered to have agreed with Lekra’s cultural ideology. Painter Dullah was seen as one of the Sukarnoists.

Dullah (1919-1996) admitted his worries following the 1965 incident, even more so after Sukarno’s ouster as president.

His very close ties with Sukarno, a political opponent to the next regime, gave him the label of Sukarnoist.

“I was under surveillance. Political rumors tried to make me alienated. I was forced to be dormant for over ten years. Thank God I wasn’t jailed,” he said.

Dullah certainly never gave up. In his “hideout”, he kept painting. From Surakarta, he moved to several villages in Bali, including Pejeng and Mas, avoiding publication. In the meantime, he was establishing communications with other like-minded painters, until finally they formed a small studio community.

“Bapak [Sukarno] actually liked me because of my realist paintings with populist themes, which he called marhaen [grassroots] pictures,” said Dullah.

Marhaen was the name of a farm worker used by Sukarno to symbolize common people, later even elaborated into an ideology called Marhaenism. Dullah only dared to appear in public in 1977, when the New Order’s politics were slightly lenient toward communism and Sukarnoism issues.

Dullah had known Sukarno since the Japanese occupation in 1942, when he joined Keimin Bunka Sidhoso (cultural center). Sukarno also cherished his memories of Dullah through a struggle poster, Boeng Ajo Boeng (Come on Friends), created by painter Affandi with its text written by poet Chairil Anwar. This poster used the model of a courageous man of slim build: painter Dullah.

Sukarno appreciated Dullah’s bold effort when Dutch troops invaded Yogyakarta in December 1948. At the time, Dullah even entered Yogyakarta and guided youngsters aged 11 to 15 to paint battle scenes on the spot. The works were finally considered the world’s only war paintings by children. In 1950, Dullah was named a presidential palace painter by president Sukarno. He held the position for 10 years.

When the political upheaval sidelined Dullah as a Sukarnoist, he wouldn’t cease painting and was gradually rising. He sold some of his works, keeping hundreds of others to be displayed at his private museum as once suggested by Sukarno.

His dream came true in 1990 when the Museum of Dullah was grandly built on Jalan Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo 15, Surakarta. In 2000, the museum on a plot of 2,500 square meters was closed for further improvements. But eventually in December 2016, Sawarno, Dullah’s son, reopened the building to the public. Sawarno as an entrepreneur has indeed maintained and enhanced the esteemed distinction of the museum.

The Museum of Dullah displays around 500 of his paintings, along with 40 others by his students, 48 war pictures of children guided by Dullah and dozens of traditional Javanese images. The museum also showcases paintings by Raden Saleh and Sukarno. Visitors are expected to come in groups after registration with the museum management. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and admission is free.

Sudjiatmi Notomihardjo, the mother of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, has visited the museum along with her peers. “Watching Dullah’s realist paintings will make us discover Indonesia as it really is,” she said in Javanese. Yes, Dullah has reappeared in the bright sky, after keeping the black December of 1965 in his memories.

All photos courtesy of Agus Dermawan T

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