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Lacking art conservators, can Indonesia preserve its cultural heritage?
The preservation and restoration of old artworks is a complicated matter in Indonesia given the lack of conservators and conservation educational programs.
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A painting by late Yogyakartan artist Sapto Hudoyo (Rachmat Budiman/-)
T
he paintings, statues and installations at the Lini Transisi (Transition Line) exhibition in the National Gallery of Indonesia inspire a strong sense of nationalism.
The exhibition, which runs throughout the month of August, showcases works by 40 Indonesian artists created between the 1950s and 1980s, when Indonesia was still a young nation.
Some paintings, like S. Sudjodjono’s Aku Cinta Padamu, Tanah Airku (I Love You, My Homeland), captures the artist’s love for his nation. Other works offer a glimpse into the socio-cultural shifts in the first decades after Indonesia’s independence.
The artworks come from five government institutions – including the Foreign Ministry and the Central Bank Museum – that lent some of their collections for the exhibition.
More than just showing nationalism and Indonesia’s artistic achievements, Lini Transisi also presents us with a crucial question: Will Indonesia’s future generations be able to see these masterpieces?
In a discussion held on Aug. 20 as part of Lini Transisi, the Foreign Ministry’s inspector general Rachmat Budiman said that many of Indonesia’s prominent artists’ works adorned Indonesian embassies across the globe.
The Indonesian Embassy in Washington DC, for instance, is embellished with the paintings of late maestro Basuki Abdullah and notable painters Hendra Gunawan and Sapto Hudoyo.
