Jakarta. Artists are distinguished by their alternative perceptions of our modern world. Yet they are mostly ignored and maligned, considered outsiders of mainstream society. Recently in western countries, however, they are gaining appreciation for their abilities by being included in company discussions and think tanks — not to provide solutions, but because they ask important questions.

More vibrant communities can evolve when artist’s ideas become further integrated into the social and economic sectors.

To broaden the dialogue between art and its audiences, while creating opportunities to learn more about the workings of the artists mind, Cata Odata Art Space in Ubud, via its artist in residency program, presents “Bare Journal” Liar. The exhibition, which opened in June, showcases the results of the one-month residency program, which includes not only sketches, paintings, sculptures and installations, but highlights the diaries of the two participating artists and one accompanying art writer. 

“After our first artist in residency program in 2014 the question that arose was how can we inspire deeper levels of connectivity between artists and the community?” says Ratna Odata, co-founder and creative director of Cata Odata, a new artist-run initiative which opened in May 2014. 

“From there the first draft of ‘Bare Journal,’ which accesses the rarely exposed, behind-the-scenes world of the artist’s creative journey, was born.”

“The prerequisite is the participants must record their daily progress through writings or imagery into a personal journal. During the 30-day period of exhibition, however, the journal then becomes public domain, open to the community to read and also to write impressions, messages, or criticism. The residency participants are also encouraged to make regular journal postings on the social media platform, Facebook,” Ratna adds. Themed “Liar” (Wild) this years program features two self-taught artists, Imam Sucahyo from Surabaya, East Java, and Rat Heist, from Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia, along with art writer Mohamad Arifin, also from Surabaya.

For Heist, the concept of “wild” is coherent with his lifestyle as a street artist in Kuala Lumpar, were he often performs graffiti and illegal acts of creative vandalism.

“I enjoyed that the focus was not upon the finished artworks, but the journal instead,” Heist says. “This is an unconventional and fresh concept that will encourage prospects for artist to engage better with their environment, beyond the usual interaction with the audience that occurs during an exhibition and at the opening.”

During the residency Heist created an inspiring series of marine animal sculptures from clay, cement, and found objects. He also exhibited paintings on canvas and timber palings, as well as graffiti upon the art space walls. Illustrations of animals, personal archetypal symbols of knowledge and wisdom, feature alongside his journal offerings. 

In contrast to his wild, urban artist presence Heist’s diaries reveal a highly astute character, sensitive and intelligent, with the courage to reflect on some of his most painful life experiences, including the subject of personal loss. Widely read, amongst his writings he pays homage to famous people such as Oscar Wilde, Pablo Picasso and George Orwell.

For Sucahyo, wild is akin to the powerful artistic urges he experiences, and the infinite creative energy he freely accesses. His quirky sketches and paintings are characterized by raw, naive figures — human and otherwise — which are suggestive of primitive art. These spontaneous and dynamic expressions are loaded with emotion, and often accompanied by text narrating tales about his life. His style of “outsider art” is perfectly suited to the residency’s “Wild” theme. 

“The residency program has given me greater confidence to be able to showcase my imperfect works,” Sucahyo says. “What’s important is that I am successful in expressing my ideas, rather than trying to achieve a finished result.”

Sucahyo’s journaling was characterized by abstract and eclectic, free flowing prose. “I had the freedom to write without boundaries,” he says. “And this was a very liberating for me.” 

One entry touches upon cultural identity and ancient Kejawen mythology that states that everyone is born with an invisible twin. Sucahyo reveals his inner dialog with his twin who is his eternal critic, constantly reminding him of his faults and mistaken ways.

While Arifin is known for his contributions to art projects and catalogs in Surabaya, this program reveals he is gifted with artistic talent as well. Invited on this program to make written comment about the artist’s creative processes, his journals fail to reveal notable insights.

“Textagram #1,2 &3” his clever compositions of photocopied text transformed into collages are, however, aesthetically strong, and are positive contributions to the exhibition. One artwork features an attractive arrangement of geometrical forms, while in another strips of text loosely and randomly attached create interesting visual patterns.

Another highlight of the exhibition is a collection of printed Facebook journal entries, text and photographs, attached to a wall. Social media has given birth to a new and dynamic platform for real time public journaling, and these entries are intriguing and entertaining, while emphasizing the relationship between communication technology and the evolution of popular contemporary culture.

“This event would not be complete without the presence and participation of the audience to leave their mark upon the journals,” says Ratna. ”Hopefully, by the end of this journey, both artists and audiences will gain new insights, and ideas, as well as giving more recognition to the world of art that we celebrate together. That is what’s meaningful for us.”

Art thrives upon inquiry and experimentation, and the vision of Cata Odata, via this progressive program, contributing to the development of contemporary art deserves recognition.

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“Bare Journal” Liar
Through Aug. 7
Cata Odata Art Space, opposite Pura Dalem Temple,
Jalan Raya, Penestanan Klod, Ubud, Bali
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The post Baring All With ‘Bare Journal’ appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.

Political relations between Indonesia and Australia often have to endure stormy seas and recent controversies, including issues of spying along with the execution of Australian drug offenders, have raised tensions between the countries to new heights. Associations forged through art and culture, however, have always been on healthy and growing terms, and the continuation of one event, the Artists Camp, will generate some much-needed good will.

Six Indonesian contemporary artists will venture to Darwin, Northern Territory of Australia, arriving on June 5 to continue the ongoing tradition and the return of the artist’s camp. The camp, which started as a concept with the original director of Museums and Art Galleries in the Northern Territory (MAGNT), Colin Jack Hinton, has a strong and rich tradition of engagement. Hinton had the foresight to realize that even as of 1978 the north of Australia had been interpreted in art and carvings by aboriginal people for thousands of years, however, not by non-aboriginal and Australian artists.

Along with Frank Hodgkinson, a gifted Australian artist, Hinton invited a range of now famous Australian artists to go to the pristinely beautiful and culturally rich Top End of the Northern Territory (NT) to interpret aboriginal culture and the landscape. The Artists Camp, first initiated in 1978 and supported by the MAGNT, required the artists to live in the Kakadu National Park and other parts of the region with the aboriginal people. The goal was to create a body of works on canvas and paper to expand the collections of the museums and galleries in the NT in order to increase the understanding of this largely wild part of northern Australia.

The insight of long-time collector of Indonesian and Aboriginal art and former director and chairman of the Board of MAGNT Colin McDonald developed the concept further when he took Balinese artist Made Budhiana to the NT to participate in the first international Artists Camp, along with Australian and Malaysian artists in 1990. Later that year Budhiana exhibited in the Museum of NT to great success and was invited to the next camp and an artists in residence program the following year. 

“I have always been fascinated by the Northern Territory, its climate and the character of the landscape with its rich reddish-brown colors are very different to Bali,” says Budhiana. “The Aboriginal cave paintings have a powerful and expressive character. Studying the dynamics of the Top End, along with the people and paintings is a great inspiration for my work. The rivers and swamps are rich in flora and fauna and are also very evocative of the heart.”

Coming to terms with the enormous space and isolation of the NT Budhiana’s first series of works in the region was titled Tanah Kosong (Empty Land), which he exhibited in Darwin, and according to McDonald, “Many people then came to realize that exciting art was being made by Indonesians.”

The Artists Camp was, however, discontinued in 1993 and, realising the benefits for both Indonesian and Australian art McDonald was inspired into action.

“In conjunction with Budhiana and the Northern Center for Contemporary Art [NCCA] in Darwin we began to resurrect the vision of the camp in 2011,” McDonald says. In 2012 Budhiana along with fellow Balinese artists Wayan Wirawan, Gede Gunada and Dewa Rata Yoga, along with the support of the then Northern Territory chief minister, the Commonwealth Bank, the Australia Indonesia Institute and the Indonesian Foreign Ministry conducted a successful Artists Camp.  

During July and August the artists spent six weeks in the Top End.

Wayan Wirawan recalls: “We had to endure extreme temperatures unlike anything experienced in Bali.  In the middle of the day the dry heat was above 100 degrees, while at night at our camp down below 7 degrees. Thank God we survived!”  

“I enjoyed living in the desert having to fish and search for food and observing the landscape. Aboriginal culture is deeply associated with the world of spirits and their cosmological view of the universal is similar to the Balinese. We made deep connections with the local people.”

This year’s Artists Camp, beginning in early June for five weeks, includes Budhiana and  Wirawan along with Wayan Sudibia, Made Surimbawa and two women: Ni Nyoman Sani and Javanese artist Suryani.  

Indonesian art journalist Henny Handiyani from Bali Arts Magazine and Surat Kabar Seni will participate as well. An exhibition of the artists’ work will be held in Darwin on Aug. and will be attended by representatives from the sponsors of the camp, while being opened by the NT Chief Minister Adam Gilides and the Indonesian ambassador to Australia, Nadjib Riphat Kesoema.

To compliment the success of the Artists Camp the first Bali Artists Camp was conducted in late 2012 with the support of the Made Budhiana Gallery in Ubud, bringing together artists from Indonesia, Australia, Japan, the Netherlands and the United States, to engage with the culture and landscapes in remote areas of East Bali. The next Bali Artists Camp in 2014 featured Indonesian, Australian and Polish artists who later exhibited a selection of  strong works at the Made Budhiana Gallery in September.

The aim is to interlink the Artists Camp with the Bali Artists Camp. Plans are currently underway for the next Bali Artists Camp to group foreign and Indonesian artist together to forge more creative, cross-cultural friendships within the Balinese natural and cultural environments while increasingly raising the profile of Bali as a unique international arts destination.

The future of Indonesian and Australian art relations will be prosperous and is open to more opportunities considering the great number of Australian artists that visit Bali. And as McDonald reveals, “The vision of the Artists Camp is that in nine years’ time the chief minister of the NT, the Australian prime minister and the Indonesian president will open a touring exhibition at the Australian National Gallery that will include the first retrospective of the Australian Indonesian artists engagement.”

Echoing the words of the Ali Alatas, one of Indonesia’s most respected diplomats, and the longest serving Indonesian foreign minister who in 1995 was awarded the Order of Australia, the country’s highest honor: “Art and culture are the most important means of engagement because; they are enduring.” 

The post Fostering Australia-Indonesia Friendships at the Artists Camp appeared first on The Jakarta Globe.