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Flood Disasters and Visual Empathy
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“A Flood on Java” by Raden Saleh. (JP/Agus Dermawan T)
Floods have always been a source of inspiration for visual artists.
Indonesia’s legendary painter Raden Saleh (1807-1880), for example, painted Banjir di Jawa (A Flood on Java) in 1863, which depicts dozens of people clinging to a rooftop to escape the raging floodwater below.
Sunaryo’s Jakarta Tenggelam 2002 (Jakarta Drowned 2002) is an interesting example of a more abstract take on floods, with the whole of Jakarta –– in the form of an aerial map or photo –– being inundated by brownish rain and tidal waters.
Jakarta’s massive flood in 2002 also prompted Ketut Sudila to record it from Bali, where he observed Jakarta on the television. He created Banjir Jakarta (Jakarta Floods) in a traditional decorative style. It was a major highlight exhibited at the Indofood Art Awards 2003 in Jakarta.
Following the Bandung flood disaster in 2016, dozens of Fine Art Alumni Association (IASR) artists of the Bandung Institute of Technology held a flood-themed exhibition. Tisna Sanjaya presented his installation with all kinds of household furniture scattered and drifting erratically.
Apart from expressing sadness, protests against the government and negligent people as well as self-indignation, some works appear with a touch of humor, including one by Otto Djaya (1913-1994).
