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Indonesian dancers hope to raise awareness for victims of Ukraine war
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Steel Magnolias: Dancers perform the Tari Kusumo traditional dance that epitomizes Javanese notion of grace under pressure. (JP/Tunggul Wirajuda)
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em>Amateur Ukrainian artists Varvara Hamianin and Vitalii Korzenenko raise awareness about the plight of their country’s women and children after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February.
Javanese dancers made their way to the central atrium of the Mitra Hadiprana Mall in the South Jakarta district of Kemang, their serene movements unhurried by any external turmoil. Mitra Hadiprana owner Puri Hadiprana introduced the performance of Tari Kusumo (Flower Dance) as “a dance that symbolizes vulnerability”.
The dance epitomized frailty, belying inner strength and grace under pressure, which contrasted with the following recital of Tari Topeng (Masked Dance). The solo dance is more dynamic, seemingly symbolizing the subject’s determination to fight back and not give in to adversity.
Women and children
The dances and their themes, along with an art bazaar, kicked off Heart Through Art, a charity art exhibition highlighting the plight of women and children affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country last February. The event featured art by Ukrainian amateur artists Varvara Hamianin and Vitalii Kornezenko.
Hosted by Varvara’s father, Ukraine’s ambassador to Indonesia, Vasyl Hamianin, and Puri, the exhibition seemed like another high-powered gala of Jakarta’s diplomatic corps. Other notable guests included Australian ambassador Penny Williams and Japanese ambassador Kenji Kanasugi. But Hamianin dispelled this notion.
“Women and children make up 85 percent of over 20 million Ukrainians displaced from their homes or forced to flee overseas as refugees. This makes their plight a transnational and humanitarian issue,” he said at the exhibition’s opening on Oct. 8.
