Reading these words by contemporary Indonesian artist Jumaldi Alfi (1972) illustrates the importance of presenting Southeast-Asian art to respond to a Western domination on our culture. The exhibition Mooi Indie – Beautiful Indies features five contemporary artists and artworks by the collective Tromarama (founded 2004). It is the first presentation in Australia, showing a larger selection of the foremost important Indonesian contemporary artists.
When it comes to the East Asia, modern art discussions are primary interested in archeology and anthropology, therefore, it is our principle duty to enlarge the common scientific interest of these two fields. We have to emphasize contemporary Indonesian art with its political messages, deeply enrooted meanings, and most important, with its historical development. The generation of artists that came to maturity during the period of upheaval and reform that occurred in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the subsequent fall of the Suharto regime and the transition of democracy in Indonesia, take part in the international art discourse. In doing so, they built their own cultural heritage, using traditional media like batik, reliefs, textiles and embroidery, whilst they formulate a universal readable contemporary language in Indonesian art. Mooi Indie, the Dutch term for Beautiful Indies, was originally the title of eleven reproductions of the watercolor paintings by the Dutch artist Fredericus Jacobus van Rossum du Chattel (1856-1917), showing merely harmonious scenes of East Indies.
Since the Dutch ships arrived in the late sixteenth century to control the Indonesian archipelago, until the declaration of independence in 1945, the local art scene had to overcome aggravated circumstances. After Sindu Sudjojono (1913-1986, the speaker of Indonesian visual arts before and during independence) derided and degraded the painters, who only depict pretty and beautiful things about Indies, the term Mooi Indie became famous. Today the Dutch expression is identified with the genre painting, which captures romantic depictions of the Indies, landscape scenes, showing volcanoes, mountains, river valleys and villages immerging in golden sunshine. Today they are amongst the most expensive artworks in auction, representing Indonesian modernism. As a matter of fact you could also see this Mooi Indie movement as a ”cultural colonization“ of Indonesia. Even the art history has been partly written by the colonizers. Whilst most Mooi Indie painters were Dutch colonialists in the 1930s and 40s, the local art scene changed dramatically. In search of identity, the formal art education of Indonesian art developed during the `50s. Two decades later the importance and gravity to restore one self’s culture led modern Indonesian artists to the trend to explore primitive and traditional art. A diversity of creations and an increase of activity followed. The downfall of the Suharto government in 1998, gave contemporary artists the opportunity to express a new dynamic Asian modernism. As a result, the number of artists, art collectors and galleries rose simultaneously. If we observe the journey of Indonesian art from the colonial era to its present development, we can conclude that modern Indonesian art is a reflection of the struggle of local artists to achieve freedom, not only from colonialism, but also from Western domination.
The Mooi Indie – Beautiful Indies show presents five different contemporary artists and artworks by the collective Tromarama. Although each of the presenting artists has an individual point of view, they all combine in their passion for modern Indonesian art and culture.
Featured artists: Jumaldi Alfi, Eko Nugroho, Wedhar Riyadi, Arin Dwihartanto Sunaryo, Tromorama, and Entang Wiharso.
Image: © Tromarama
Courtesy of the artist and ARNDT
