Massaging at Senen Sidewalk by Edhi Sunarso. JP/Munarsih SahanaHundreds of thousands of people each day drive pas his creation Selamat Datang, the Welcome Monument at Hotel Indonesia’s traffic circle in downtown Jakarta.Edhi Sunarso (77), the sculptor commissioned by Indonesia’s first president Soekarno to make this memorial — commemorating the return of the Indonesian government from Yogyakarta to Jakarta in 1949 — is one of Indonesia’s most noted figures in the world of sculpture.Having left his mark all over the country, with major monuments in Semarang, Denpasar, Ambon and Biak in Irian Jaya, Sunarso was bestowed the Empu Ageng Seni (Grand Master of Art) award on Thursday night. The Indonesian Institute of Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta award kickstarted his much-anticipated one-week
solo exhibition titled “Retrospeksi” (Retrospective), displaying miniatures of his monument...