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‘Panji Koming’ exhibition celebrates Dwi Koendoro’s legacy
Black and white comedy: A visitor looks at “Panji Koming” comics created by Dwi Koendoro at the Komedi Priyay Panji Koming exhibition at Bentara Budaya Jakarta on Tuesday
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lack and white comedy: A visitor looks at “Panji Koming” comics created by Dwi Koendoro at the Komedi Priyay Panji Koming exhibition at Bentara Budaya Jakarta on Tuesday.(JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
In the penultimate issue of comic strip "Panji Koming" in Kompas on Aug. 18, Pailul, one of the characters, is seen carving an inscription.
After “history of five centuries later” and “promise to not forget about it”, the last panel shows that he has carved the sentence “Farewell, Pak Swan”. Pailul then says, “It’s fun to write history.”
It was an homage to the late Polycarpus “Swan” Swantoro, a historian and one of the founders of Kompas, in which the comic strip was published in its Sunday editions.
After gracing the pages of the newspaper for 40 years, “Panji Koming” creator Dwi Koendoro “Dwi Koen” Brotoatmojo, passed away on Aug. 22. Born in Banjar, West Java, Dwi joined Kompas Gramedia in 1976 as an artist and illustrator, kompas.com reported.
His comic strip “Panji Koming” was first published in Kompas on Oct. 14, 1979. The very last strip of “Panji Koming” was published on Aug. 25, consisting of four black panels to symbolize loss.
The comic strip was well known for its subtle yet sharp criticism of the government on a variety of issues, ranging from politics to the environment and culture. It was set in the era of the Majapahit kingdom but the message was nevertheless relevant. Along with its acute views, “Panji Koming” was also noted for its humor, as shown through the characters of the naïve Panji Koming and the witty Pailul, among others.
The Komedi Priyayi Panji Koming exhibition provides an opportunity to those who wish to see the comic strips throughout the years. Taking place at Bentara Budaya Jakarta, the exhibition will run until Nov. 24.
Putu Fajar Arcana, curator of the exhibition, said he found it challenging to select 60 of the 1,920 issues of “Panji Koming”.
“It’s impossible to curate all of them in a short period of time, or three months after Dwi Koen’s passing,” Fajar said during the exhibition’s opening on Tuesday. “Eventually, we chose ones that are related to events in our daily life, especially those related to politics, economy, environment, law and culture.”
Walking into the exhibition venue can feel like entering the universe of “Panji Koming”. The comic strips have been enlarged, while statues of the characters and animation give an enchanting note. Each comic strip comes with details of publication date and the issues being discussed.
Ninuk Mardiana Pambudy, chief editor of Kompas, said the newspaper’s Sunday editions and Dwi Koen’s comics were inseparable. “There was one time when we didn’t publish his works because they were deemed too harsh,” she said. “The day after, we continuously received complaints [from readers] and it showed that ‘Panji Koming’ was something that could not be separated from our Sunday editions.”
In addition to those in “Panji Koming”, Dwi also created other comic characters, including Sawung Kampret and Pailul.
As a collaboration between Bentara Budaya Jakarta and Kompas, the exhibition will also hold a discussion about Panji “Dwi Koen” Koming on Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. The event will feature cartoonist Beng Rahadian and Bentara Budaya curator Efix Mulyadi, with Fajar as moderator.
