Sketches, stitches, and negotiations: Unravelling Indonesia’s national history through its visual representations: Difference between revisions

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==About the research==
==About the research==
[[File:SSN-Van-Lith-School-Jakarta.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Van Lith School, Jakarta, ca. 1960s. Scanned and archived by Hyphen— from the collection of Griya Seni Hj. Kustiyah Edhi Sunarso.]]
[[Edhi Sunarso]] may well be the only artist who worked with all regimes, all throughout the time, including after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Suharto_era_in_Indonesia Reformasi]. Artists from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukarno Sukarno]’s era are generally attached, or associated in whatever ways, to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Indonesia Indonesia Communist Party] or its cultural under-bow, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lembaga_Kebudajaan_Rakjat LEKRA]. This means that during [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto Soeharto]’s regime, they would have been either annihilated, silenced, or put in prison, at the very least. Right after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Suharto_era_in_Indonesia Reformasi], artists who worked under the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto Soeharto]: regime would have been skipped from the public reference, as they’d be considered allies to the oppressive and cruel government. So, how could [[Edhi Sunarso|Pak Edhi]] work with all these regimes? While we were chatting with [[Edhi Sunarso|Pak Edhi]], the artisans in his studio were building two state- commissioned monuments. The first was of the nationally acknowledged hero, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diponegoro Diponegoro]; and second, two horses interacting in joy. Both monuments were for the city government of Makassar. Mind you, this was 2014, so almost two decades after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Suharto_era_in_Indonesia Reformasi] and at the fourth president after the military regime was over.
[[Edhi Sunarso]] may well be the only artist who worked with all regimes, all throughout the time, including after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Suharto_era_in_Indonesia Reformasi]. Artists from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukarno Sukarno]’s era are generally attached, or associated in whatever ways, to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Indonesia Indonesia Communist Party] or its cultural under-bow, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lembaga_Kebudajaan_Rakjat LEKRA]. This means that during [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto Soeharto]’s regime, they would have been either annihilated, silenced, or put in prison, at the very least. Right after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Suharto_era_in_Indonesia Reformasi], artists who worked under the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto Soeharto]: regime would have been skipped from the public reference, as they’d be considered allies to the oppressive and cruel government. So, how could [[Edhi Sunarso|Pak Edhi]] work with all these regimes? While we were chatting with [[Edhi Sunarso|Pak Edhi]], the artisans in his studio were building two state- commissioned monuments. The first was of the nationally acknowledged hero, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diponegoro Diponegoro]; and second, two horses interacting in joy. Both monuments were for the city government of Makassar. Mind you, this was 2014, so almost two decades after [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-Suharto_era_in_Indonesia Reformasi] and at the fourth president after the military regime was over.


“I made almost all of the dioramas in Indonesia. I made almost all of the dioramas in Indonesia. Firstly, of course, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Monument_(Indonesia) Monas] [Museum Sejarah Nasional/National History Museum in Monumen Nasional/National Monument, in Jakarta],” [[Edhi Sunarso|Pak Edhi]] began his story. Two hours of conversation was not enough. We kept coming back to Pak Edhi with more and more questions and eventually he allowed us to unpack all of his photo albums and boxes of documents. Naturally, we started organizing them to make sense of things. Everything else slowly follows.
“I made almost all of the dioramas in Indonesia. I made almost all of the dioramas in Indonesia. Firstly, of course, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Monument_(Indonesia) Monas] [Museum Sejarah Nasional/National History Museum in Monumen Nasional/National Monument, in Jakarta],” [[Edhi Sunarso|Pak Edhi]] began his story. Two hours of conversation was not enough. We kept coming back to Pak Edhi with more and more questions and eventually he allowed us to unpack all of his photo albums and boxes of documents. Naturally, we started organizing them to make sense of things. Everything else slowly follows.


[[File:SSN-Jembatan-Merah-Surabaya.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Jembatan Merah, Surabaya, ca. 1960s. Scanned and archived by Hyphen— from the collection of Griya Seni Hj. Kustiyah Edhi Sunarso.]]
==Articulations and public encounters==
==Articulations and public encounters==
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Revision as of 12:26, 3 August 2025

About the research

Van Lith School, Jakarta, ca. 1960s. Scanned and archived by Hyphen— from the collection of Griya Seni Hj. Kustiyah Edhi Sunarso.

Edhi Sunarso may well be the only artist who worked with all regimes, all throughout the time, including after Reformasi. Artists from Sukarno’s era are generally attached, or associated in whatever ways, to the Indonesia Communist Party or its cultural under-bow, LEKRA. This means that during Soeharto’s regime, they would have been either annihilated, silenced, or put in prison, at the very least. Right after Reformasi, artists who worked under the Soeharto: regime would have been skipped from the public reference, as they’d be considered allies to the oppressive and cruel government. So, how could Pak Edhi work with all these regimes? While we were chatting with Pak Edhi, the artisans in his studio were building two state- commissioned monuments. The first was of the nationally acknowledged hero, Diponegoro; and second, two horses interacting in joy. Both monuments were for the city government of Makassar. Mind you, this was 2014, so almost two decades after Reformasi and at the fourth president after the military regime was over.

“I made almost all of the dioramas in Indonesia. I made almost all of the dioramas in Indonesia. Firstly, of course, Monas [Museum Sejarah Nasional/National History Museum in Monumen Nasional/National Monument, in Jakarta],” Pak Edhi began his story. Two hours of conversation was not enough. We kept coming back to Pak Edhi with more and more questions and eventually he allowed us to unpack all of his photo albums and boxes of documents. Naturally, we started organizing them to make sense of things. Everything else slowly follows.

Jembatan Merah, Surabaya, ca. 1960s. Scanned and archived by Hyphen— from the collection of Griya Seni Hj. Kustiyah Edhi Sunarso.

Articulations and public encounters

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Publications

  • 2017 [JOURNAL] Towards figures of dedication, and a flood by Tom Nicholson with Grace Samboh, in Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia Volume 1, Number 1, March 2017, NUS Press Pte Ltd. Online ISSN 2425-0147, Print ISSN 2424-9947. Also accessible online, here.
  • 2020 [MONOGRAPH] Edhi Sunarso: Penggubah Monumen Bangsa (Edhi Sunarso: The nation’s monument-maker), written by Grace Samboh & Ratna Mufida, published by Pusaka Seni Rupa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Jakarta, Indonesia. Also accesible online, here.

Further reading

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