Politics that divide, art that connects

Julia Suryakusuma
Author of Julia's Jihad

PREMIUM

Jakarta / Wed, March 20, 2019 / 12:02 pm

The entrance to The Past Hast Not Passed exhibition. (Courtesy of Museum MACAN/File)

Don’t you get tired of the political chaos around the world and in Indonesia, now with the never-ending election cacophony? Ugh! So when I got an email reminder from Museum Macan that it was the last weekend for its contemporary art exhibition on March 9 and 10, I jumped at the chance. There’s nothing like art to reduce stress, stimulate one’s brain and revive flagging spirits! There were exhibitions by Arahmaiani, one of Indonesia’s most respected, multitalented artists; Lee Mingwei, a renowned Taiwanese artist living in Paris and the United States, and On Kamara a Japanese conceptual artist whose “One Million Years” is about the passage of time, on “society’s use of dates to give materiality to the elusiveness of time”. “To give materiality to the elusiveness of time”? Wow! Don’t you just love that? &ldquo...