‘Make Humanism Great Again’
Tshirt project with https://t.co/3CnEfWn8E9Foto by Valeska pic.twitter.com/HduWTiwhkO
— eko nugroho (@Nugroho11Eko) July 31, 2019
Monthly Archives: July 2019
Editorial: Not the Representatives of the Corrupt
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The House of Representatives is certainly not the representatives of the corrupt. “The Honorable” people’s representatives are paid with the people’s money. The plan of the House of Representatives Committee of Inquiry into the Corruption Eradication Commission to go on safari to meet corruption convicts in a number of prisons in Indonesia has deeply unsettled the sense of justice of citizens, the taxpayers. As stated by Deputy Chairman of the House Inquiry Committee Risa Mariska (PDIP-West Java), “the Committee wants to uncover information on how they felt while they were witnesses, suspects, and convicts of corruption cases.” Risa is a Representative for the electoral district West Java VI covering the regencies of Bogor and Bekasi and received 25,578 votes. It is very easy to meet corruption convicts in prison. They will be very happy, overjoyed, to tell the House Inquiry Committee about how the Corruption Eradication Commission behaved when they were questioned, while they were in custody, about their beliefs that they’re the victims of conspiracies, their feelings of being entrapped, and any amount of other inhuman treatment. With that data, the House Inquiry Committee, being driven by a coalition of parties that support the government, will gain ammunition to dismantle the anti-corruption body. The aim of the Committee at the very least can be read from the statement of House Deputy Speaker Fahri Hamzah (PKS-West Nusa Tenggara) from the Welfare Justice Party House faction and is to review state commissions such as the Corruption Eradication Commission.
Reviewing is equivalent to disbanding the Corruption Eradication Commission, limiting the Commission’s authority, or transforming the Commission into an ad hoc institution. The House Inquiry Committee’s actual target can be read and it is to emasculate the Corruption Eradication Commission. The declaration of some politicians that the Committee is intended to strengthen the Commission does not have a shred of empirical evidence. From the beginning, a number of House of Representatives politicians have been agitated by steps taken by the Commission to erase corruption from this country. There are Representatives on trial, party chairmen and business people who have been arrested. The Corruption Eradication Commission is indeed not without fault. However, the way to fix these mistakes is not to exercise the House of Representatives’ right to establish committees of inquiry the legitimacy of which continues to be problematic. Members of the House Inquiry Committee should realize that they are the representatives of the people, not the representatives of the corrupt. Corrupt behavior by members of the government has resulted in violations of the civil and economic rights of the people.
5 July 2017
Source: Tajuk Rencana Bukan Perwakilan Koruptor. Image credits Detik Ini 17 Tahun yang Lalu Reformasi Dimulai and Masinton Ungkap Proses Konsolidasi Mahasiswa Untuk Jatuhkan Soeharto. Members of the House of Representatives http://www.dpr.go.id/anggota.
A chance for lift off: Indonesia’s solar sector – Asia and the Pacific – ANU
By Paul Burke
Indonesia has set ambitious targets for adopting renewable energy technologies, including solar power. India serves as a useful model for what is possible, Paul Burke writes.
Indonesia is behind the pack in terms of the adoption of solar power. The world’s fourth most populous country was outside the top 70 countries in terms of total generation of electricity from solar photovoltaics in 2016. (Read more here http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/news-events/all-stories/chance-lift-indonesias-solar-sector.)
Image credit “Dusk in the Park” (Senja di Taman) By Irsam, 1971 Source: http://www.masterpiece-auction.com/cata/TS/2014/001January/test/pages/L23.htm and https://ziladoc.com/download/fine-art-auction-masterpiece-auction-house-7_pdf cite Mikke Susanto, “Irsam: Decorative Steps” (Irsam: Jejak – jejak Dekoratif) Published by PT Dwi Samapersada, p. 50.
Obit: Vale Arswendo Atmowiloto
“Manusia hidup menunggu untuk mati. Kehidupan justru terasakan dalam menunggu. Makin bisa menikmati cara menunggu, makin tenang dalam hati”, tulis Arswendo Atmowiloto dlm “Canting”. Kini sahabat saya ini menemui yang ditunggunya dgn senyum. pic.twitter.com/qrT8vip4eM
— goenawan mohamad (@gm_gm) July 19, 2019
Indro: Pemikiran Arswendo Atmowiloto Mempengaruhi Perjalanan Warkop DKI
JAKARTA, (PR).- Komedian Indro Warkop saat ditemui usai melayat di kediaman mendiang Paulus Arswendo Atmowiloto di Jakarta, Sabtu, 20 Juli 2019 dini hari, mengatakan sosok wartawan senior dan sastrawan itu humoris dan konsisten menjalani nilai hidup yang diyakini.
“Dalam guyonannya, ada pesan, ada hal yang benar ingin dia sampaikan secara implisit. Mas Wendo itu sosok yang konsisten, dia seniman banget,” kata Indro, seperti dilansir Kantor Berita Antara.
Walaupun pertemuan antara keduanya tak selalu sering, Indro masih mengingat kepedulian Arswendo terhadap grup lawak Warkop DKI.
“Dulu dia sering kasih informasi, dan minta Warkop nyindir Pakde (sebutan untuk penguasa jaman Orde Baru),” ujar Indro seraya menambahkan keduanya selalu bercakap-cakap dengan menggunakan Bahasa Jawa.
Bagi Indro, sosok dan pemikiran Arswendo saat itu cukup sering mempengaruhi perjalanan Warkop.
“Kita sama-sama (tumbuh) di masa itu, terbiasa seperti saling punya kontribusi terhadap satu sama lain,” ujar Indro yang datang melayat mengenakan topi bertuliskan #kalahkankanker.
Indro Warkop menjadi salah satu pekerja seni yang datang cukup larut ke rumah duka di Jalan Damai, Komplek Kompas, Petukangan Selatan, Pesanggrahan. Ia tiba di lokasi sekitar pukul 12.30 WIB dan langsung memasuki rumah duka untuk memberi penghormatan terakhir ke mendiang Arswendo sekaligus menemui keluarga.
Paulus Arswendo Atmowiloto, seorang sastrawan, wartawan senior, serta penulis serial televisi “Keluarga Cemara” wafat pada usia 70 tahun di kediamannya, sekitar pukul 17.38 WIB, Jumat.
Jenazah Arswendo nantinya akan dipindah ke Gereja Matius, Bintaro, untuk penyelenggaraan Misa Requiem pada Sabtu pukul 10.00 WIB. Setelahnya, jasad Arswendo akan dikebumikan di pemakaman San Diego Hills, Karawang.***
Siska Nirmala Sabtu, 20 Jul 2019, Pikiran Rakyat
Also look at the short story Mrs Geni in December (Bu Geni di Bulan Desember) by Arswendo Atmowiloto published in the national daily newspaper Kompas on 20 May 2012
The Art of Liberation & The Liberation of Art
THE ART OF LIBERATION
THE LIBERATION OF ART
The art of liberation is an approach to expression that is grounded in an awareness of the need for the liberation of the definition of art. The forms taken by this expression prioritize declaration and the spirit of exploration, grounded in an aesthetic of liberation.
The liberation of art is the endeavor to change the definition of art. It is conscious of the principle that art is an indicator of plurality, which is grounded in a variety of frames of references. The definition of art that is recognized and in force currently is shackled to: painting, sculpture and graphic design, that is, art that is locked to one frame of reference, namely, that of art as “High Art”.
(I) Observing:
The definition of art as encompassing expression in only three fields, namely painting, sculpture and graphic design is devoid of a conceptual framework.
(II) Considering:
The definition of the Indonesian term seni rupa is based on a direct translation of the term “fine arts,” descending from a Latin definition from the Renaissance of la belle arti del disegno.
(III) Concluding:
It is not fully understood that this definition of art is rooted in the principles of artes liberales (Liberal Arts) from the frame of reference of “High Art” elaborated during the Renaissance in the sixteenth century, an outlook that believes in the existence of only one (high) culture and the one type of art which it has produced.
(IV) Declaring:
That art is an expression of plurality. That culture has a variety of frames of reference.
(V) Declaring:
The current definition of art is the result of adaptation devoid of conceptual thinking, lacking consideration of the acculturation of aesthetics.
This formulation of the definition of art is trapped. The definition of art with a “High Art” frame of reference has become completely impoverished and specific. This formulation does not see the surrounding reality where a variety of expressions of art based on other frames of reference are found.
Throughout the history of Indonesian art, this groundless and contorted definition has held sway. On the other hand, art grounded in ethnic cultures, popular art from everyday life, crafts and design (art with other frames of reference outside the old definition) stand as phenomena which never gets any attention.
This is an ironic curiosity.
(VI) Paying Attention To:
The only expression of art which is in accord with that definition of art is the only one used by Indonesian Modern Art, part of World Modern Art (derived from artes liberales) in its connection to the principle that “art is universal”.
Due to the inaccurate formulation of its definition, Indonesian Modern Art is also trapped in a narrow circle. Once again there has been adaptation without conceptual thought or aesthetic consideration. Artists and critics of Indonesian Modern Art have in truth become blind and regard modern art – painting, sculpture and graphic design – as the one and only expression of art. Outside this, art does not exist. This attitude has become popular and is seen in the expression: “… is not painting”.
This is not fanaticism for a particular idea, rather a strongly held attitude which is baseless. The reality is truly: confusion. The absence of critical attention to this contorted definition is a sign of this confusion. In fact, there is no awareness of any definition at all. The activities of modern art itself proceed in a fragmented way with painting as the most popular of these.
(VII) Declaring:
Modern Indonesian Artists have made an idiomatic error, using the language of Modern Art but without an aesthetic understanding. They base their artistic activity entirely on incomplete fragments of the history of Modern Art, a belief in the history of art and only one understanding of aesthetics.
Modern Indonesian artists have become consumerist. They regard a variety of concepts of style within these fragments of the History of Modern Art as a source which has to be made sacred and embraced unconditionally. A contorted imitation of lifestyle also happens. A romantic lifestyle has turned into epigonic eccentricity. Internally exploratory individualism has been replaced by megalomaniac egotism.
This advanced erroneous adaptation has led critics and modern artists into a preoccupation with matching expressions of modern art with a “dictionary” of art history. Modern artists truly do not practice a tradition of exploration.
(VIII) Declaring:
Thinking about art in Indonesia is headed for bankruptcy.
Indonesian Modern Art, the only art consistent with the definition, is experiencing a deep stagnation. It is fixed on the early styles of Modern Art. It has stopped exploring, is incapable of reflecting inwardly in search of the basis for other developments.
Art based on other frames of reference has been expunged from thinking about art. The contorted definition of art has relegated this to obscurity. Art with a background in ethnic cultures has without exception been framed as belonging to the past. Graphic design as the product of technological and industrial progress is thought of as crude art regarded only for its surface beauty. Popular art which deals with everyday life is regarded as the product of mass culture and as devoid of value.
(IX) Proclaiming:
What is needed is the liberation of art. A framework of expression that prioritizes the dismantling of a misguided tradition of art. A framework of expression that is rational and which prioritizes expression based on an aesthetics of liberation.
(X) Proclaiming:
What is needed is a redefinition of art, the liberation of art from the confines of a definition rooted in artes liberales, to search for a new definition capable of embracing every expression of art.
(XI) Proclaiming:
What is needed is the liberation of our thought world from a completely single perspective believing in only one frame of reference which begets one art, only one global community in a cultural form that is complete and integrated.
Jakarta, May 2 1987
(*) 1987 Manifesto of the New Art Movement is partly based on the work of the Digital Archive of Contemporary Indonesian Art and available in the original at Manifesto Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru 1987. It represents the manifesto used by the New Art Movement for the Fantasy World Supermarket: Project 1 (Pasaraya Dunia Fantasi: Proyek 1) exhibition in 1987.
Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru at the Digital Archive of Indonesian Contemporary Art.