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WHEELCHAIR ACCESS / LOCKERS Credit Suisse: Innovation In Art Series Lifts provide easy access to galleries. Lockers are available for visitors’ use. FX Harsono: Testimonies 4 March to 9 May 2010 About the Artist

Any discussion of the history of GSRB compatriots — was already profound sense of disillusionment, Driven by his belief that an artist contemporary art in experimenting with new modes of as the events of May 1998 revealed needs to constantly engage with would be incomplete without an art-making which incorporated found that the very ‘people’ he had fought society and its issues, Harsono has examination of FX Harsono’s art objects and conceptual approaches. for through his art were just as consistently navigated the shifting and practice. Harsono’s works are By the 1990s, he had established capable of brutality as the political currents of Indonesia’s socio-political remarkable in that they span four himself as a force in Indonesian regime, and worse — these people realities, deftly re-aligning his practice tumultuous decades in Indonesian contemporary art, creating powerful would turn on each other. With the to most effectively address urgent art and history, and have borne installations with strident social veneer of control under ’s issues in Indonesian society and witness to a multitude of changes commentary. These compelling ‘strongman’ regime removed, the culture. As such, Harsono is widely and upheavals in Indonesian politics, works, which critiqued the regime of fractures in Indonesian society respected by the society, and culture. Throughout power and oppression in Indonesia, revealed themselves more painfully community. His pioneering efforts in this time, Harsono has continued gained critical attention and were than ever, particularly along ethnic the early days of contemporary art’s to question his role as an artist and widely exhibited abroad. lines. It was then that Harsono’s art development have paved the way for his position in society, constantly began to look inwards, as the artist a new generation of artists who look pushing his art and practice to reflect The closing years of the 1990s intensively scrutinised his identity up to him as an icon. Besides his and engage with new social and were marked by a series of societal and place in society. art practice, Harsono also lectures cultural contexts. shockwaves which reverberated on Art and Design, and writes throughout the nation, in particular, To date, Harsono has continued regularly about social issues and the The Indonesian art world first the economic meltdown of the 1997 to raise troubling questions about development of contemporary art. He encountered FX Harsono as a Asian Financial Crisis generated a the position of minorities and the continues to nurture and challenge restless young artist in the 1970s. groundswell of public anger. In 1998, disenfranchised in Indonesia. His the next generation of artists, and One of the founding members this culminated in days of brutal street most recent body of work draws on contributes to art discourse and of the Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru violence and the ’s his family history, in an investigative debate in Indonesia. (GSRB) or New Art Movement in . Indonesian-Chinese journey that reveals the intersection 1975, Harsono — together with his artists like Harsono experienced a of the personal with the political.

ABOVE: FX Harsono, Cogito Ergo Sum, 2003, Digital print, 60 x 73cm each (6 panels), Artist collection. FRONT COVER: FX Harsono, Rewriting The Erased, 2009, Installation and performance video, Artist collection. 1 About the Exhibition

This exhibition pays tribute to FX Harsono and traces the shifts in the artist’s strategies of representation: from the ground-breaking conceptual works that re-defined art making during the Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (GSRB) or New Art Movement of the 1970s; to the politically-charged installations of the 1990s; concluding with the artist’s recent investigations into issues of self, identity and personal history.

Included in this survey are seminal works drawn from the Singapore Art Museum’s permanent collection, as well as from other art institutions and private collections, such as Paling Top (1975) and Voice Without Voice (1994).

Through these various ‘testimonies’, the exhibition offers a glimpse of the political, social and cultural changes that have shaped Indonesian society, and the artist’s constant re-evaluation and re-positioning of his role throughout this recent history.

BELOW: FX Harsono, Voice Without Voice / Sign, 1993 – 4, Silkscreen on canvas (9 panels), wooden stools and stamps, 143.5 x 95.5 cm each panel, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum collection. Local Political and

Cultural Activities Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat (LEKRA, People’s Cultural Organisation) was formed. As the cultural arm of the Indonesian communist party, it insisted on the subordination of art to political aims The first Indonesian Youth Congress of revolutionary ideals. formulated the Sumpah Pemuda (Youth Oath) in 1928 to establish In a response to LEKRA’s dominance unity amongst the people of the in the cultural sphere, the Manifes archipelago, which promoted three Kebudayaan (Cultural Manifesto) national ideals: One Motherland, was issued on Independence Day, One Nation, One Language. August 17, 1963. The Manifesto promoted the philosophy of Regional nationalist organisations as an alternative to such as the Jong and the LEKRA’s Marxist ideals. Jong Ambon were consolidated by nationalist movements such as An abortive coup by the Gerakan the Indonesia Muda and Gerindo First congress on culture held in 30 September (30th of September (Indonesian Movement), which Magelang, 1948, which was chaired Group) allows General Suharto to Suharto forces to transfer was under the leadership of Amir by Wongsonegoro, S.H. Members of consolidate his power, severely executive powers to himself, Syariffudin and . Seniman Muda Indonesia (SIM) and weakening Sukarno’s political using these powers to dissolve Pelukis Rakyat held a joint exhibition influence. Blaming the attempted the Indonesian Communist Party The emergence of Indonesia’s Sutarjo Kartohadikusumo presented during the congress. coup on the Indonesian Communist in 1966. Over the next two years, The formation of the Dutch first nationalist movement, the a petition to the Dutch demanding Party, a bloody anti-communist Suharto would assume the East India Company (VOC) to Budi Utomo, which opposed greater Indonesian autonomy Indonesia achieved independence purge is launched, effectively presidency, consigning Sukarno to administer Java. Dutch colonialism. in 1936. in 1949. marking the end of LEKRA. house arrest. Period 1800 - 1880 1880 - 1920 1920 - 1945 1945 – 1949 1950 – 1965 1966 - 1969 Year

Birth of in (or Indo- Development of the Mooi Indies The establishment of SIM or The establishment of the Akademi Art festival held in conjunction with possibly 1807. European) painters active in (Beautiful Indies) movement Young Indonesian Artists, led Seni Rupa Indonesia (ASRI) in the opening of Taman Southeast Asia. of ‘Self-Orientalism’, which was by S. Sudjonono in Yogyakarta 1950 and a Faculty of Fine Art and Art Centre in Central Java in 1968. Raden Saleh’s tutelage similar to the Amorsolo School to develop an Indonesian style Design in the Institute of under A.A.J. Payen in Bogor of the Philippines. Artists of the of painting. Technology (ITB) in 1959 marked the Lecturers at ASRI introduced Euro- and later C. Kruseman and Mooi Indies painted romanticised beginning of formal art education American art history, theory and A. Schelfhout in Holland and idealised landscapes and in Indonesia. Reis Mulder, one of styles of modern art to students. (1829-1839). rural workers. the lecturers at ITB, is noted for introducing recent trends in Western Founding of Persagi (Oct 1938). art, such as Cubism. Teachers of ASRI and the ITB’s Persagi’s goal is to develop fine Faculty of Fine Art and Design held art among the Indonesian people a large exhibition in 1969, marking through an Indonesian style. a culmination of the increase in momentum toward exhibiting art. First Persagi exhibition in 1938 at the Kolf book shop in . Persagi was disbanded by the Japanese in 1942.

S. Sudjojono’s critical articles published in Seni Loekis, Kesenian dan Seniman, which derided the Mooi Indies movement as shallow, quasi-romantic and erotic, advocating instead a specifically Indonesian style of art. Art Activities

4 5 Local Political and

Cultural Activities The People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) elevates Pancasila (Five Principles) to the status of compulsory moral education for government officials and the youth in 1978. Pancasila was the official philosophy of Indonesia, comprising five nationalist principles:

1. Belief in the one and only God, (in Indonesian, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa).

2. Just and civilised humanity, (in Indonesian, Kemanusiaan Yang Adil dan Beradab).

3. The unity of Indonesia, (in Indonesian, Persatuan Indonesia). President Suharto fuses political parties into a three 4. Democracy guided by the inner wisdom in party system. The National- the unanimity arising out of deliberations ist and Christian parties are amongst representatives, and (in merged into the Indonesian Indonesian, Kerakyatan Yang Dipimpin I n c r e a s i n g s t u d e n t Democratic Party (PDI) and oleh Hikmat Kebijaksanaan, Dalam dissatisfaction with the Muslim parties into the United Permusyawaratan Perwakilan, dan) authority of the Ministry of Development Party (PPP). Education and Culture, which The new three-party system 5. Social justice for the whole of the people organised juried art is dominated by Suharto’s of Indonesia (in Indonesian, Keadilan competitions. party, . Sosial bagi seluruh Rakyat Indonesia) Period 1972-1973 1973 – 1975 1976 – 1978 Year 1970 1974 1975 1977

The Surabaya Group, called Formation of Kelompok 5 The Black December Manifesto Organised by young artists With the support of the Jakarta The second exhibition organised by the Aksera or Akademi Seni (Group of 5), which included was issued as a response to the sympathetic to the Black Art Council, the Gerakan Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru in 1977. Rupa Surabaya (Surabaya Hardi, FX Harsono, B. Munny conservatism and favouritism of December artists, the Seni Rupa Baru (New Art Art Academy) organised an Ardhi, Siti Adiati and Nanik the judges of the 1974 Grand -Nusantara Movement) exhibition was held exhibition with works that Mirna from ASRI. Kelompok Exhibition of Indonesian Painting (Archipelago-Archipelago) at the TIM art centre in 1975. employed a style distinct 5 organised exhibitions that favouring decorative paintings by exhibition questioned the Works employing a diverse to Surabaya. explored new ways of established artists. premise that traditional art range of materials and form thinking and making art in should be the source for the were showcased, including Jakarta, Solo, Semarang The Black December Manifesto development of contemporary installations, assemblages, and Surabaya. called for experimental, anti- Indonesian art. and ready-mades. This lyrical and new ways of thinking exhibition marked the start and making art drawn from the of the New Art Movement’s social and cultural conditions conceptual tendencies. of Indonesia.

Art Activities

6 7 Local Political and Cultural Activities

On 12 May 1998, four students were shot dead at the Trisakti University, sparking public anger with government forces resulting In November 2008, the Indonesian The Petition of Fifty: a statement in unrest. Nine days later, deserted parliament passed an anti- of concern delivered to by his supporters and facing pornography bill proposed by a parliament concerning the widespread civil unrest, President special committee formed to look use of government power, Suharto was forced to resign. into the problem of pornography’s propaganda, a n d presidential reach and its effects upon Indonesian personality cult, in reaction Suharto shuts down Tempo and Indonesia’s first free and fair national society. The passing of the bill raised to the authoritarianism of two other publications for critical elections since 1955 took place passionate discussions within art President Suharto by upper reporting of Habibie’s purchase of The East Asian Financial Crisis in 1999 with almost no disruption and cultural circles, the majority middle class reformists. most of the former East German leads to a devaluation of regional and strong voter turnout. Of the dismayed and angered by the navy. Habibie was appointed Vice currencies, such as the Indonesian 48 parties which contested the seeming tightening of what they All organisations of any kind President by Suharto and later Rupiah and Thai Baht. The economic elections, only 21 won at least viewed as, already draconian laws. had to adopt Pancasila as their assumed Presidency after Suharto chaos prompts several months of one seat, with no party holding Many Indonesian artists created sole basis from 1985. stepped down. civil unrest. a majority. works in response to the bill. Period 1979 - 1987 1989 - 1997 1998 - 2004 2005 onwards Year 1979 1988 1997

The Gerakan Seni Rupa Establishment of the Cemeti Closure of the Senisono Art Gallery Slot in the Box exhibition was Increasing influence of the art market At the 2005 Jakarta Biennale, Agus Baru disbanded as the Gallery in Yogyakarta by for its support of experimental art organised by the Cemeti Gallery in resulting in some artists producing Suwage’s use of nudity in Pink artists who were involved Mella Jaarsma and Nindityo deemed subversive, resulting in 1997 to address issues concerning commercial works following Swing Park prompted protests by went into different artistic Adipurnomo, which supported protests by intellectuals, artists and the Presidential electoral process contemporary trends in China. the Front Pembela Islam, leading to directions. Many of these younger artists who were cultural activists. in Indonesia, which favoured the the closure of the exhibition. artists began to work in keen to explore experimental ruling party. FX Harsono performed Plurality in the use of contemporary advertising and graphic art forms. Destruksi in this exhibition. idioms beyond politically motivated industries. installation and performance art into street art, video art and net-art.

The practices of artists such as FX Harsono underwent distinct changes, illustrating their disillusionment with the failed promises of liberalisation, such as increased freedom of expression.

Art Activities

8 9 Exhibition Map

Singapore Art Museum Level 2

G R Q H

“The development of contemporary art in O L B F Yogyakarta is inseparable from the role of the P I A D E M K ASRI (The Indonesian Art Academy) as an N J C establishment that, up until the mid-1980s, consistently attempted to maintain the elitism A Paling Top ‘75 (The Most Top ’75) J Open Your Mouth of modern art. What the students of ASRI did B Rantai yang Santai (The Relaxed K Kuteropong (Watching The Wound) was to struggle against authoritarian power. Chain) For the sake of this struggle, some had to L Tubuhku Adalah Lahan (My Body As quit the institution before completing their C Voice Without Voice / Sign A Field) academic studies.” D Burned Victims M Thousand Times Pain Today, not all of these artists continue with that E Destruction N Preserving Life, Terminating Life #1 struggle. Perhaps the most consistent and F Republik Indochaos O Preserving Life, Terminating Life #2 productive is FX Harsono, a keen organiser of exhibitions, who has made a significant G The Voices Controlled by the P Needle In My Consciousness Powers contribution to the contemporary art world in Q nDudah Yogyakarta and Jakarta.” H Power and the Oppressed R Rewriting The Erased ~ Sumartono, art historian, in The Role of Power in I Bon Appetit Contemporary Yogyakartan Art, 2001

10 11 From Black December to New Art Movement: The Beginnings of Contemporary Art in Indonesia

The emergence of contemporary administration of ASRI, culminating This gesture openly challenged the exhibition broke new artistic ground art in Indonesia may be traced to in what is now known as the ‘Black judges’ preference for decorative and raised issues beyond the field groups of young artists in Yogyakarta December Affair’. In 1974, on the painting, and the students’ actions of art to address socio-economic and Bandung, who began to occasion of the Grand Exhibition Of were largely welcomed in Jakarta as well as political matters. This experiment with new forms of art Indonesian Painting, a showcase of and Bandung. In response to this continued the directions outlined that challenged the aesthetic and works deemed the ‘best’ exemplars challenge, ASRI suspended its in the earlier Black December theoretical conventions of modern of Indonesian art, 14 artists including students who were signatory to the Manifesto that called for artists to art largely defined by painting and FX Harsono signed and issued Manifesto, with Abbas Alibasyah, the develop socially engaged artistic sculpture. FX Harsono and four other the Black December Manifesto, in then director of ASRI issuing a public practices. The GSRB artists also fellow students from the Indonesian response to the jury’s conservatism denunciation of the students as issued a manifesto, known as the Arts Academy (ASRI) were part and display of favouritism towards destabilising forces and impediments Lima Jurus Gebrakan Gerakan Seni of one such Yogyakarta-based more established artists, such as to Indonesia’s development. Rupa Indonesia (The Five Lines group called Kelompok 5 (Group of Widayat, Abas Alibasyah and AD of Attack of the Indonesian New Five). The Group of Five garnered Pirous. Flowers were also delivered In August 1975, a mere eight months Art Movement). considerable media attention, both to the judges on the last night of after the Black December Affair, the for their prolificity in organising the Grand Exhibition with a ribbon Group of Five and other artists from exhibitions across Indonesia, as attached, which read: Bandung, together with noted art well as their vocal criticisms of critic and lecturer Sanento Yuliman, ASRI’s aesthetic conservatism and Ikut berduka cita atas kematian seni established the Gerakan Seni Rupa institutional dominance. lukis kita Baru (GSRB) or New Art Movement, and organised an exhibition at the One such criticism took the form of (Condolences on the death of Ismail Marzuki Art Centre, Jakarta their involvement in a dispute with the Indonesian painting) (TIM). Works presented in this

12 13 The GSRB Manifesto

1. Elimination of sharp distinctions The problems of society Questioning ASRI’s conservative directions in art theory and practice. It between painting, graphics and are more important than aesthetic conventions, which heavily was for these reasons that the GSRB sculpture such that artists can individual feelings. Concepts favoured painting, the artists of was a watershed in the history of art develop new forms. and ideas are also privileged the GSRB experimented with new in Indonesia. over technique. forms and approaches, such as 2. Abandoning the concept of installation art. In so doing, they The GSRB artists organised two more ‘fine art’, which limits the 4. Art students should not be challenged the imported orthodoxy exhibitions before disbanding in 1979, definition of art to mean only the restricted by the limits imposed of such materials as oil paint and with the artists of the movement art of the elite, and expanding by their teachers. watercolour, finding in commonplace going on to develop their individual the definition of art based materials and objects a wealth of artistic practices. Nonetheless, within on diverse aesthetic values 5. Research into Indonesian art symbolism and meaning that related the short space of time that they such as traditional and ethnic history should be carried out to local experience. For instance, FX were active as a group, they initiated art forms. by Indonesian art historians Harsono’s Paling Top ‘75 and Rantai significant debates in Indonesian art and critics. Universality of yang Santai were made using found practices and discourse, and paved 3. Liberating art from elitist art was rejected, implying objects such as pillows, a toy gun the way for further developments in attitudes. Art as an expression that Indonesian art cannot and even crates he had engaged a Indonesian contemporary art. of an individual’s feelings is be studied from imported carpenter to make; this erasure of rejected and regarded as a foreign books. the artist’s hand from the making manifestation of elitist attitudes. of the work itself heralded new

English translation from Exposing the Wound by Brita L. Miklouho-Maklai.

14 15 Paling Top ‘75 (The Most Top ’75) 1975 Plastic gun, textile, wooden crate, wire mesh 50 x 100 x 157 cm Artist collection

Artists from the Gerakan Seni Rupa In Paling Top ‘75, FX Harsono rejected Technology (ITB) and the Indonesian Paling Top ’75 also confronts social Baru (New Art Movement), such as the notion of the ‘artist’s hand’ — Arts Academy (ASRI) in Yogyakarta, and political reality head-on. The toy FX Harsono, Jim Supangkat, Nanik visible traces such as brushstrokes which defined fine art as painting and gun encased in a wooden crate with Mirna and art critic Sanento Yuliman in a painting — as one of the sculpture personally executed by the wire mesh symbolises the power called for new approaches to the elements which give an artwork its artist in accepted media, such as oil of the military in all facets of life theory and practice of art, beyond significance or aura. As an alternative, paint. Rejecting the need for artists in Indonesia, and the subjugation the limits of painting and sculpture. he appropriated commonplace to actually make their works also of the Indonesian people to this Using objects familiar to everyday objects, such as a purchased toy went against principles espoused power. Under Suharto’s New Order life was a way in which artists from gun and a wooden crate, which he by modern artists like S. Sudjojono, regime, where art was deliberately the New Art Movement produced paid a carpenter to fabricate. The who advocated the idea of jiwa ketok de-politicised, such critical political works that related to local use of ready-made and everyday — the artist’s ‘soul made visible’ on commentary in art was a risky experiences, and challenged existing objects to make artworks challenged the canvas. endeavour and made patently clear artistic conventions dominated by the institutions of art education a belief that art needs to actively the practice of painting. such as the Bandung Institute of engage with society and its politics.

16 17 Rantai yang Santai (The Relaxed Chain) 1975 Installation with cushions and chains 67 x 97 x 56 cm Artist collection

The New Order (1965 – 1998) the Indonesian Communist Party. the oppressive climate that prevailed title suggests, the juxtaposition of established by President Suharto Artists who produced works that during the New Order years. For the cushion (symbolising relaxation) de-politicised art in Indonesia were perceived as being political FX Harsono, it was a powerful and the chain (a metaphor for by oppressing through various or critical of the New Order faced statement on how the military’s imprisonment) begs the question: means those artists deemed to similar consequences. This climate presence was so pervasive in all have we become so accustomed have aligned themselves with of fear was not restricted to artists, facets of Indonesian life, that it even to the suppression of free speech political organisations such as the as all opponents to the authoritarian haunted one’s dreams and moments and expression that we find People’s Cultural Organisation regime were brutally suppressed. of repose. At the same time, as the oppression and injustice comforting (LEKRA), which was influenced by Rantai yang Santai makes visible English translation of the artwork and familiar?

18 19 Challenge and Critique: Art In The New Order Years

Suharto’s New Order years in patronage to define a hierarchy of alternative art forms remained largely in the election process that favoured Indonesia (1965 – 1998) were Indonesian artists. unacceptable. Harsono’s other Suharto’s regime. characterised by an authoritarian stridently critical performances and government, selective but effective FX Harsono continued to challenge installations of ready-made objects, The Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru repression of opposition, and a the authoritarian power of the New assembled with a rough and makeshift (GSRB) may have ceased its artistic politicisation of the military. The Order through his performance and feel, also resisted the commercial activities in 1979 as the individual overall spirit and practices of the installation works. By engaging galleries’ commodification of art as artists sought new directions in their New Order have since been referred with social issues through the use an object. own artistic practices, but its ideas to pejoratively by the acronym KKN of these alternative art forms, he marked a shift in how artists thought, (Korupsi, Kolusi, Nepotisme — presented an oppositional stance to At the same time, contemporary and how they made art. Post-GSRB, corruption, collusion, nepotism). the dominant forms of art-making art in Indonesia gained momentum critical attitudes towards the New Under the New Order, the cultural and the cultural policies of the New with the establishment of the Cemeti Order regime and the institutional sphere was also de-politicised, and Order. In 1987, he participated in an Gallery in 1988 (later renamed the structures of the art world shaped this had a direct impact on the policies exhibition entitled Pasaraya Dunia Cemeti Art House in 1999). Founded by it prevailed. The struggle for the and directions of art institutions and Fantasi (Fantasy World Department by Nindityo Adipurnomo and Mella acceptance of contemporary idioms the art market. Art academies like Store). This exhibition expanded the Jaarsma in Yogyakarta, the Cemeti remained the focus throughout the ASRI for example, remained largely understanding of art by examining Gallery promoted alternative art 1990s, in the face of resistance from conservative and suspicious of the increasing diversity of cultural forms rejected by commercial art institutions that championed the alternative art forms. The art market, production — a trend arising from galleries and official art institutions. primacy of painting and sculpture. It which gained momentum during the rapid urbanisation of Indonesia’s In 1997, Cemeti organised an is in this context that FX Harsono’s the economic boom of the 1990s, cities, accompanied by the flourishing exhibition entitled Slot in the Box practice in the 1990s may be was also largely driven by collectors of popular culture and urban sub- which addressed concerns over the understood as a critical stance, in employed by major corporations cultures. The exhibits, comprising electoral process in Indonesia. As his adoption of alternative forms and the organs of state — the major store-front mannequins and images part of Slot in the Box, FX Harsono of art-making as a vehicle for beneficiaries of Suharto’s economy. that drew heavily from the world presented a performance-installation social critique. By deploying their prodigious of commerce and mass media, titled Destruction, which critiqued wealth, these collectors became constituted yet another challenge the unchallenged power of the New de facto art authorities, using their to art academies like ASRI where Order and the lack of transparency

20 21 Power and the Oppressed 1992 Installation Dimensions variable Artist collection

The chair, whether realised in the highlighted by a coil of barbed wire. stained pieces of cloth are placed political and societal organisations. material form of a throne, or in the The keris pinned on the wall behind on piles of blackened earth arranged The blood also reminds us of linguistic form, such as in the term the chair allude to the privileging systematically in a grid pattern, in the violent repression of political ‘chairman’, can be seen as a symbol of Javanese culture as Indonesia’s supplication to the chair’s occupant. opponents, particularly the anti- of power and authority. In Power and national culture while suppressing The grid-like order brings to mind the communist purge in 1966 that the Oppressed, a lone chair denotes other cultures during Suharto’s central government’s obsession with resulted in the deaths of an estimated authoritarian power, its lofty isolation regime. Symbolic of blood, red- order, in its bureaucratisation of all half a million .

22 23 Voice Without Voice / Sign 1993 – 4 Silkscreen on canvas (9 panels), wooden stools and stamps 143.5 x 95.5 cm each panel Fukuoka Asian Art Museum collection

Voice Without Voice / Sign comprises that accompany public protests, demonstrations for democracy are also a sign of the impossibility or a row of panels, each imprinted which, together with the dramatic also futile; they exist only as gestures futility of political action. Demokrasi with a gesturing hand. Collectively chiaroscuro, lend this work much of frozen on canvas panels, abstracted (democracy) exists only as a series the various gestures spell out, in its forcefulness and urgency. from the potent immediacy of actual of empty gestures; it is represented universal sign language, the letters action. To make this painfully clear, purely as a sign, an abstraction, D-E-M-O-K-R-A-S-I. The row of However, sign language is the the last hand which forms the letter rather than concrete reality. gesturing hands, and in particular the recourse of the mute, and this ‘I’ is bound with rope. While the clenched fists that form the letters ‘e’, work implies that the ‘voice’ of the work spells out uncompromisingly ‘a’ and ‘s’ bring to mind the actions people has been silenced. These the demand for democracy, it is

24 25 The Voices Controlled by the Powers 1994 Installation with wooden masks and cloth Dimensions variable Artist collection

In this installation, wooden masks — a situation familiar to those the corruption of the New Order. In Chinese were made to change their gaze voicelessly at a macabre Indonesians who lived under the addition to contemporary political Chinese names to more Indonesian- centrepiece: their own severed New Order. The Voices Controlled commentary, the work also laments sounding ones. The severed mouths, naked evidence of their by the Powers exemplifies FX the loss of traditional cultures of traditional masks are metaphors for violent mutilation. These traditional Harsono’s belief that art should minority ethnic groups such as the the forced erasure of the diverse masks, or topeng, stand as make visible social problems in Chinese, who were not allowed to cultural practices of different a mournful testament to the situation order to effect social change, and practice their own culture: alongside ethnic groups in Indonesia in the of powerlessness; they symbolise was made in response to the forced other discriminatory laws, Chinese construction of a Javanese-based each and every person who has closure of Tempo magazine in 1994 schools were banned and Indonesian national culture. been left voiceless without recourse for publishing an article exposing

26 27 Destruction 1997 Performance video Artist collection

Destruction was Harsono’s the Presidential elections, and Weye performance placed him at personal Development Party (PPP), and the contribution to Slot in the Box, an Haryanto’s Lip-Service Democracy, risk of arrest. This performance saw Democratic Party of Indonesia (PDI). exhibition organised by the Cemeti which responded to Suharto’s lip- Harsono assuming the role of the Using a chainsaw too powerful for its Gallery. Slot in the Box called together service to democratic ideals in uncontrollably powerful Demon King task, Harsono destroyed the burnt artists from across Indonesia to consistently engineering the victory of Ravana, prime antagonist of the chairs, as a metaphor for Suharto’s engage with the New Order’s his Golkar Party (Golongan Karya). epic Sanskrit poem The Ramayana. brutal exercise of power over the electoral fraud through such diverse Dressed in a business suit, Harsono electoral process. The mangled forms as installation and performance Destruction was performed during set fire to three wayang masks remains of the chairs and masks art; other entries included Yustoni’s the so-called ‘silent week’, a period on chairs, which represented the serve as an installation alongside a Open Your Freezer and Find New prior to elections during which public only three political parties Suharto video of the performance; reminders Clothes for the President, which assembly of more than five people was allowed to contest the elections: his that power should always be kept critiqued the foregone conclusion of declared illegal; as such, Harsono’s own Golkar Party, the Islamist United in check.

28 29 Burned Victims 1998 Performance video Artist collection

Conceptualised as a performance- torsos are suspended in oblong metal riots, during which the rioting mob the downfall of Suharto. In an almost installation, the performance frames, arrangements of regular stormed a shopping mall, sealed off photo-journalistic fashion, the artist component of Burned Victims lines which highlight the agonised its exits and set it on fire. The motives presents to his audience the scorching involved the burning of five wooden contortions of the torsos. Placed for such callous brutality remain image of the victims’ bodies, to torsos, during which a placard was before each torso is a pair of burnt unknown. Whatever the reasons, elicit horror and condemnation of displayed to the audience, bearing footwear, rendering the figures all the hundreds of people who were civil violence. the word kerusuhan, or ‘riot’. In the the more forlorn. This performance- trapped and burnt to death in the work’s installation component, the installation was made in response shopping mall were all victims of a blackened remains of the wooden to a tragic episode of the May 1998 power struggle that culminated in

30 31 Republik Indochaos 1998 Photo-etching on paper (5 panels) 57 x 53 cm each Singapore Art Museum collection

An ironic inversion of the face confirms the status of the work to establish control and maintain the people who lived through the commemorative function of postage as an incisive critique of the violence security. An image of security 1998 riots and experienced the stamps, Republik Indochaos is and destruction of the 1998 riots in personnel beating demonstrators traumatic events first-hand.Republik the result of Harsono the individual Indonesia, which had as its root the with batons is accompanied by the Indochaos is a stark reminder never electing to immortalise scenes of failure of the political establishment. following caption: kekerasan tidak to forget; more importantly, never to violence and death, as opposed to a Images of soldiers taking aim at menyelesaikan masalah (violence repeat the uncontrolled escalation of state inscribing the memory of its own protestors, and buildings and is not a solution). Rather than violence that led to so many deaths. glory. A portrait of Suharto with the motorcycles burning, confront us glorifying national achievements Bahasa Indonesia word LENGSER with the chaos brought upon by through stamps, Harsono has or ‘stepping down’ branded upon his the inability of the government literally enshrined the memories of

32 33 Transitions: From the Subject of Politics to the Politics of the Subject

Towards the end of a tumultuous having a defined target or ‘enemy’ The May 1998 riots also left a bitter his 2003 solo exhibition, Displaced, decade in Indonesia, marked by the to critique in their art. Socially or taste in the mouths of Chinese- were photo-etchings and prints. In Asian Financial Crisis, increasing politically-oriented art thus had to Indonesian artists such as Harsono. contrast to the strident social critique protests and growing dissatisfaction, contend with this new vacuum. At Having previously put aside personal of his earlier work, Harsono’s work President Suharto declared his the same time, there was growing issues in favour of creating a during this period is much more resignation on May 21 1998, disillusionment with the promises of socially-oriented art that fought for enigmatic, often comprising a collage bringing an end to a repressive Reformasi as it became increasingly the masses, the scorching images of fragmented images interspersed political era. Indonesia entered into a evident that more freedom for of violence and brutality targeted at with symbols that appear personal period referred to as Era Reformasi society was not necessarily a good the Chinese community in Jakarta or even arbitrary in nature. For the (Reformation Era), which witnessed thing — Harsono for one, pilloried in 1998 must have left Harsono with first time, Harsono begins to explore greater freedom of expression. the apparent democratisation of a stinging sense of betrayal, and a self-portraiture in his work. These the mass media in a work entitled profound loss of faith in the ideals representations of self take on new Yet for many artists such as Blank Spot On My TV (2003) which and the rakyat (people) for whom he significance in a later series of works, Harsono, this gave rise to its own suggests that now that everyone and had previously fought. where the personal is inextricably tensions as well. After decades anyone has the opportunity to speak, bound with the political. ‘fighting’ against an oppressive a lot of what they have to say is often The direction of Harsono’s work regime, this liberalisation of politics inconsequential, as evidenced by the began to change course, as did and society presented artists with endless sensationalism and drivel in his choice of artistic materials and a new predicament of no longer the mass media. presentation. The majority of works in

34 35 Open Your Mouth 2002 Photo-etching on paper 57 x 219 cm Artist collection

The Reformasi period in Indonesia these new developments, presenting something; after all, Indonesians had in his eyes, nostrils and gaping mouth saw the gradual expansion of civil us with an ambiguous metaphor for been denied the right to free speech suggest that his soul, or inner being, liberties, such as the freedom of a newly liberalised society. It could for so long under New Order — yet has vacated, and all that is left is an speech and dissent, a relaxation of well be that the hands forcing open nothing comes out. What is there empty, hollow shell, reflecting the censorship and the reclamation of the mouth of the person in the print left to say that still makes sense, or hollow victory of finally being able to public spaces. are a symbol of this new openness, which is meaningful? What does the express oneself now. or that the hands belong to the man freedom of speech amount to, if all The imagery of Open Your Mouth himself. Either way, the man depicted which results are sound and fury, can be understood in the light of is — or feels — compelled to say signifying nothing? The blank spaces

36 37 Tubuhku Adalah Lahan (My Body As A Field) 2002 Photo-etching on paper 57 x 126 cm Artist collection

This horizontally-oriented print depicts pointing arrow, a symbol for infinity, with no details in the background to dominated his works. The artist’s body the artist with his arms outstretched, and a symbol resembling a mandala; convey a sense of context. is represented as fertile ground for almost in supplication, with his others are not easily identified. What new significations and multiple, open- head tilted back. Sprouting from they all add up to is ambiguous, as What does this portend? My Body ended interpretations — perhaps the length of his arms are budding is the title of the work. Reinforcing As A Field suggests that the site of itself a metaphor for the new plants, as well as a constellation of this complexity is the fact that the signification has shifted to Harsono’s openness of the Era Reformasi, and symbols. Some of these symbols depicted figure seems to be floating own body, away from the public its uncharted, unfamiliar currents. are familiar: there is a downward- in an indeterminate or liminal space, and political spheres that previously

38 39 Points of Pain

“After Suharto’s regime fell, a culture people I had to fight for through In his recent body of work, Harsono Harsono’s recent works employ of violence bared its claws upon my art. I then felt alienated from the begins to explore issues of his identity the motifs of the needle and the our society. An indifference to the people I had considered to have with increasing intensity. Of Chinese butterfly as representations of pain people’s fate on one hand and a similar vision for change. The descent, he became acquainted and victimisation respectively. He narrow-minded partisanship on nakedness and simple-mindedness with Javanese culture through his also attempts to reconnect with his the other made me feel sickened revealed through their actions, grandmother, and later through the Chinese identity and culture, at the by the situation. This nausea and brought me to the point of asking, policies of the Suharto government same time questioning if it still holds pessimism gave me a strong push ‘who are they, really?’ which sought to unify Indonesia any meaning or significance for him to leave social themes behind. I felt under a single ‘Javanese’ identity. after having had to practise a ‘politics I had lost my orientation on morals, In a change like this, I try to see To this end, measures were taken of denial’ for most of his life, in order to ethics and even nationalism. If they myself over again...” to assimilate the ethnic Chinese feel that he ‘belonged’ to Indonesian were all still being voiced, I felt them community in Indonesia, including society. Triggered by the discovery of as empty slogans with no meaning ~ FX Harsono, 2003 the closure of Chinese schools black and white photographs in his at all. and mandating that the Chinese family home, Harsono’s latest body of adopt Indonesian-sounding names. work documents the exhumation of In the time that followed, I felt that I Throughout his life, Harsono also had Chinese mass graves in the 1950s. It had lost my footing and felt alienated to contend with racial discrimination, is an investigative journey into a dark among my own community. This which ranged from the subtle to the chapter of Indonesia’s history which was the community that I had once spectacularly violent. nonetheless continues to haunt considered as the marginalised present politics.

40 41 Needle In My Consciousness 2003 Screenprint on canvas, digital photo on photo paper 160 x 400 cm Private collection

Marking Harsono’s first exploration sense that one is never truly safe, discrimination against the Chinese presents him in relation to fields of the needle as a metaphor for that at any moment forces beyond in Indonesia, which was a matter of of mostly pure colour, allowing us the expression of unspoken pains, an individual’s control may strike one state policy during the New Order. to focus on the elements in play Needle in My Consciousness was down, in physical and other senses. — himself, the needle and the tale made in response to the bombing For Harsono, this applies not only to The work itself presents a tableau of the needle which carries over of Jakarta’s JW Marriott Hotel. The the rise of violent fundamentalism, but of Harsono in a number of attitudes, from the world of dreams to the needle of pain, in this case, is the other, less visible forms of prejudice each overlaid with one or more waking world. ever-present, nebulous threat posed which pervade society. One such needles, as if piercing him: the repose to the individual by violent currents example, drawn from Harsono’s of death, meditative concentration, within society; the niggling, uneasy personal experience, would be the the Sleeping Buddha. Each panel

42 43 Kuteropong (Watching The Wound) 2007 Diptych, acrylic on canvas 180 x 180 cm each Private collection

From behind his hands, cupped reflect uncertainty about identity and far the personal is from the social or the domain of self-identity and its to resemble a pair of binoculars, shifting positions. the political. contexts of power. Is speaking of the Harsono surveys what lies beyond — victim a personal or social subject? the viewer, or perhaps, the butterfly This work is Harsono’s introspection Harsono thus began to gauge the The difficulty in answering this pierced by a needle and set aflame. of his efforts as an artist, who was issue through reading books, seeking question is hinted at by the doubled The imagery in this diptych conflates mostly preoccupied with social relevant references to ascertain the image of the diptych, which brings to a number of motifs employed by issues. Made when he was intensely proximity and distance between mind the technique of stereography, the artist in his work of the 2000s: questioning his self-identity, these two seemingly paradoxical in which viewing two images at slightly the needle, as an insidious threat attempting to reassure himself that fields. Right before his face, a dead different angles generates the illusion and metaphor for pain; the butterfly, within the ‘personal’ there remains butterfly pierced by a large needle of depth. as victim; fire, as a metaphor for a social dimension, the artist emerges, a metaphor emphasising violence and destruction; and finally, nonetheless continues to harbour the fragility of the victim, the very the erasure of the subject or self, to doubts, questioning how close or how subject that has delivered him to

44 45 Thousand Times Pain 2007 Installation with bees and needles Dimensions variable Artist collection

A recurrent motif in Harsono’s recent forceful violence suggested by the gradual process of attrition. This is insidious in its subtlety. Amassed body of works is that of the needle, charred and dismembered human conveyed through the installation into a grid, where the subtle violence which the artist likens to a tiny ‘point’ figures of earlier works, the pain is, Thousand Times Pain, where a is repeated a thousand times over, of pain. While the pain caused by the nonetheless, palpable. Repeated, thousand bees are pinned to the wall they convey the haplessness of fine point of a needle is slight, subtle these ‘points of pain’ accumulate to with needles. Individually, they appear victims in a potent symphony of when compared to the brutality and slowly wear down their victims by a insignificant; their pain passes us by, subtle agony.

46 47 Bon Appetit 2008 Installation with table, cloth, chairs, tableware, needles and butterflies Dimensions variable Artist collection

In this installation, a table is laid for with butterflies, neatly fastened to to be consumed. While the work earlier works, where the streets and a meal, the cutlery and chinaware the chinaware. Much of Harsono’s appears charming on the surface, public areas were the theatres of meticulously arranged according recent work has employed the it nonetheless hints at unequal violence, and sites of protest and to the table etiquette of the elite, butterfly as a symbol of a victim power relations in society, and the resistance. Now, as Bon Appetit anticipating the arrival of diners — beautiful and vulnerable, and relationship between the powerful suggests, violence and danger have possessing social status and inevitably, destined for destruction or and the powerless. The suggestion subtly infiltrated the home, the most privilege. Startlingly, the bowls and attack. The butterflies inBon Appetit of a domestic or interior setting personal and private of spaces. plates are filled not with food but are forcibly pinned down, about also marks a shift from Harsono’s

48 49 Preserving Life, Preserving Life, Terminating Life #1 Terminating Life #2 2009 2009 Diptych, acrylic and oil on canvas, thread Diptych, acrylic and oil on canvas, thread 200 x 350 cm 200 x 350 cm Artist collection Artist collection

The images in these two canvases War. This juxtaposition poignantly Binding these two disparate is therefore apt that Harsono has are drawn from the same source highlights the preciousness and halves — family life and cause for chosen to bind the two halves of — old albums of black and precariousness of life — the lives celebration on the one hand, murder his canvases with a line of words white photographs that Harsono of those members of the Chinese and death on the other — is a string stitched with red thread — the visual discovered in his family home, and community and Harsono’s family who of words echoing the titles of the motif of the red line simultaneously which subsequently inspired his were lucky to escape the violence, works, stitched into the canvases suggesting lineage and blood ties, as most recent body of work, which and the lives of generations to with red thread. For the Chinese, red well as the continuous line of history, investigates personal — as well as come, as intimated by the marriage thread is associated with occasions all too often stained by bloodshed political — history. portrait of the couple in the first both auspicious and inauspicious. and violence. painting, and the family portrait in the At weddings and other celebrations, In these two paintings, images second painting, where the visibly red clothing is worn as a celebratory of Harsono’s family members are pregnant mother reclines in the gesture; at funerals, pieces of red juxtaposed with images documenting background, and the father hovers thread are given to guests to bring the exhumation of the mass graves protectively over his firstborn in home when they leave the place of of Chinese murdered in the turbulent the foreground. mourning, as a symbol of blessing years after the Second World to ward against unhappy spirits. It

50 51 nDudah 2009 Documentary video 21:20 mins Artist collection

nDudah is Javanese slang that independent nation by force. To 1951, when the latter worked with Fakta Sejarah Tersembunyi Orang means ‘once again taking something defend against these incursions, the the Chinese organisation Chung Tionghoa di Indonesia’ (‘The Chinese apart, or digging something up’. Republic’s administration attempted Hua Tsung Hui in an attempt to In The Political Vortex: Disclosing Harsono heard this word spoken to employ a ‘scorched earth’ strategy, recognise the victims, trace their The Hidden Facts Of History About by the villagers around the town of leaving barren and empty those cities origins and family, and then give their The Chinese In Indonesia’). He Blitar, where he was born, during a which the Dutch would attempt to remains a proper burial in one place, then arranged the outcome of survey he conducted in August 2009. occupy. In the chaos resulting from now named ‘Bong Belung’, (‘Bone the interviews, testimonies and The villagers he met still remember forced evacuation, there were a Grave’). The number of victims found his father’s photographs into a digging up the victims — mostly number of killings and robberies of was 191. documentary video. nDudah is hence ethnic Chinese — of a massacre the ethnic Chinese, which may have a significant work that chronicles that has not been (and may never been exacerbated by the military’s The nDudah video documentary and bears witness to an unspoken be) included in the official history conscription of the inmates of project was conducted by Harsono chapter of Indonesian history, and of Indonesia. Kalisosok penitentiary, who were given by interviewing still-living eye- the problems of the position of the weapons and instructions to empty witnesses, the families of the Chinese diaspora in Indonesia that Harsono’s survey concerned the the city. victims, and survivors of the persist till today. massacre of ethnic Chinese that had massacre. He also consulted a occurred in Blitar and its environs Harsono’s investigations began with a book which chronicled the history from 1947 to 1948, when the Dutch series of black and white photographs of the massacre, titled ‘Tionghoa attempted to retake the newly taken by his photographer-father in dalam Pusaran Politik: Mengungkap

52 53 Rewriting The Erased 2009 Installation and performance video Artist collection

In a darkened room, FX Harsono Chinese descent in Indonesia meant restrictions, and the Chinese seems to question, through this work, sits at a table with paper, ink, and that Harsono, like many others, were once again able to use their if that past still holds any significance a brush. Slowly he begins to write was cut off from his Chinese ‘roots’ original names. for him, or is it, when revisited, simply his name in Chinese, character by and culture through a series of a series of empty and meaningless character. He repeats this, placing government policies aimed at fully During this time, Harsono began to gestures, taking shape as ideographs each sheet of paper with the three assimilating Chinese immigrants into question the seemingly conflicting from a language and culture that Chinese characters on the floor, and Indonesian society. These measures, facets of his identity: Indonesian, Harsono can only half-understand? starts to write on the next sheet, until implemented during Suharto’s New Chinese and Catholic. For most The gestures of the artist are filled the entire floor is papered over with Order regime, included requiring of his life, he had to practise a with both pathos and power, as he his name. all Chinese to change their names ‘politics of denial’ in order to feel attempts to reclaim a past that is to Indonesian-sounding ones, that he belonged somewhere, and at once intensely personal as it is In this poignant and meditative as well as the closure of Chinese this meant the suppression of his politically inflected. performance, the artist seeks to schools, press and organisations. ‘Chinese’ identity. Now that he is remember — reclaim — that which The end of Suharto’s New Order free to reconnect with this forgotten, has been lost or erased. Being of in 1998 witnessed a lifting of these or repressed, aspect of himself, he

54 55 Programmes in conjunction with the exhibition Special Tour: Tides of Change in the art of FX Harsono Meet the Artist: FX Harsono Join Curator, Ms. Tan Siu Li and journey to a pivotal point in Indonesian One of Indonesia’s foremost contemporary artists, FX Harsono will be turning contemporary art history which also marks the beginning of Harsono’s 60 this year. In this talk, he will discuss from the artist’s perspective the major artistic career. Harsono’s work is often charged with a sense of urgency and movements and periods in Indonesian contemporary art, starting from the revolutionary fervour. His work offers a social critique and commentary of the seminal Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (New Art Movement), to the emergence political landscape of Indonesia. This tour surveys the artist’s response to of pluralism today in terms of the diversity of styles and the wide range of political developments in his country. artist initiatives. Date : Fri, 12 Mar 10 Date : Thu, 4 Mar 10 Time : 7:30pm — 8:30pm Time : 7:30pm — 9pm Venue : SAM Lobby Venue : SAM Auditorium Fees : Free. Registration Required. Fees : Free. Registration required. Special Tour: Art as protest — the art of FX Harsono Special Tour: Anecdotes from a friend of FX Harsono Join Curator, Mr. Seng Yu Jin as he examines the role of FX Harsono as a Get up close and personal with a friend of artist FX Harsono — Mr. Hendro social activist. With a belief in the potential of art to address injustices in Wiyanto. Hear stories about the artist and the inspirations behind Harsono’s society, Harsono’s works seek to bring to light the horrors of social injustice iconic works. With personal anecdotes and observations of the artist by and discrimination among other social concerns. Just as the face and method Mr. Wiyanto, learn more about the life story of one of Indonesia’s foremost of oppression and violence has evolved over time, so has the strategies of contemporary artists. representation.

Date : Fri, 5 Mar 10 Date : Fri, 19 Mar 10 Time : 7:30pm — 8:30pm Time : 7:30pm — 8:30pm Venue : SAM Lobby Venue : SAM Lobby Fees : Free. Registration Required. Fees : Free. Registration Required.

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