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CP
Open Biennale: Bringing Jakarta to The World
Carla Bianpoen
DEWI
Many works brimming with meanings are displayed in the art exhibition
with an international scale. Every work has its own characteristic and
uniqueness.
When Djie Tjianan, the art lover who is also the producer of Video Ezy
and the owner of Cinekom, together with Jim Supangkat, the renowned critic
and curator, came up with the idea about the CP Open Biennale, they did
not think that the event would be hugely successful. But that was exactly
what happened: The event, which was held for the first time in Indonesia,
was able to bring around 2000 people to attend its opening night at the
National Gallery in Jakarta, in the beginning of last September. Well-known
speakers from abroad were willing to come to Indonesia and fulfill CP"s
request to speak in the symposium. The famous Chinese artist living in
New York, Gu Wenda, also came on his own to create his installation work.
Other avant-garde artists such as Fang Li Jun and Yue Minjun, besides
sending in their painting, also came to Jakarta and spoke at the event
of the artists" talk, speaking about their paintings.
What was most interesting had been the phenomenon of how the public was
drawn to the exhibition at the National Gallery. People were coming in
during lunch breaks or after office hours. They also came during the exhibition
tours on Saturdays, at the art events for the children on Sundays, or
at the artists" talk on Monday night.
The exhibition, curated by Jim Supangkat, Rizki A Zaelani, and Asmudjo
Irianto, was apparently different from other biennales usually held in
Indonesia or abroad. The CP Open Biennale wished to widen the platform
of the international art with the principles of democracy and plurality;
aspects of localness, therefore, could be present as long as they met
certain conditions. Thus present were various works made of "uncommon"
materials such as bamboo, ceramics, and river stones.
That an installation work made of river stones turned out to be the favorite
of almost all visitors"be it art lovers or traders, visitors from
Indonesia or abroad"served as a distinct note. Yani Mariani Sastranegara,
the artist who created the river stones installation titled Endless IV,
could be considered as the star of the CP Open Biennale 2003. Her work
resembled a landscape from outer space and betrayed Yani Mariani"s
search for the truth about the limit of growth, and about the relationship
between life and death, yesterday and tomorrow. Simple materials turned
out to be able to express something profoundly meaningful. It is no wonder,
then, that the work was reviewed at The New York Times in an article about
the CP Open Biennale.
Consider also the work of the Chinese artist Gu Wenda. 191 pieces of
braided hair of the Chinese people living outside China were collected
and connected together. Each of the braided hair had the same length and
together they formed a thousand-meter-long braid. Tags with names of the
countries in the world are attached to the braid. The plaited hair was
then put in a big spiraling circle on yellow praying paper. The Thin Line:
A History of Chinese Diaspora was the 22nd work of an art project that
had been going on since 1993 under the title of United Nations. Gu Wenda
believed that the unity among nations could be realized in the world of
art, where the DNA of all nations could be united in his work.
Then there was also the work of Heri Dono, the famous Trojan House. It
was installed in the main exhibition room. The painting version of the
installation work has had the honor to be displayed in the main exhibition
room of the Biennale de Venezia. Also displayed in the CP Open Biennale
was a work of FX Harsono, titled Jarum dalam Mimpiku (Needles in My Dream;
160x 400 cm); the installation work of Astari Rasjid titled The Politics
of Seduction that criticized the consumptive lifestyle; the work of D"On
Fan-I from Taiwan that explored the growth of fetus in the female body.
Sunaryo was present with a giant installation about the war in Iraq; Oscar
Motulloh presented chilling pictures; Ay Tjoe Christine displayed the
Santa/Satan installation that talked about someone who became the victim
of his or her own fanaticism. Dede Eri Supria came with the painting titled
Me, My Hand, My Imagination (250x750 cm), his own self-portrait resembling
a broken urban worker (but was in fact visualized his feelings as an alienated
painter).
Also present was the work of Altje Ully Panjaitan that sought to open
the veil behind the glamorous appearance of mannequins. Chusin Setiadikara
tried to create paintings of male nudes; Ivan Sagito presented an interesting
painting on wooden plank; Dikdik Sayahdikumullah offered his painting
that used charcoal and acrylic. There were also the works of Sekar Jatiningrum,
IGAK Murniasih, S. Teddy, Lucia Hartini, Nindityo Adipurnomo, Mella Jaarsma,
and other familiar names.
There were also artists whose works were displayed for the first time
in an event with such stature. There was, for example, Eddy Sulisyo, a
student of Indonesian Art Institute, who created an interesting painting
titled Confession (200 x 150 cm) using pencils, ink, and oil on canvas.
Mizuho Matsunaga, a Japanese female artist who had just earned her MA
degree in Tokyo, created an installation work made of mosquito nets. She
then hung smiling faces of people from various nations inside the installation.
The pictures of the smiling faces were printed on small pillows attached
to wind chimes. Stories under the Same Sky betrayed Mizuho"s faith
in a happy world. Samsul Arifin created a work in the form of a bed installation,
with a mattress made of 400 small cotton dolls. Kasur Image (Mattress
Image) was the metaphor for all the dreams, the ideas, and thoughts taking
place in bed. Then Dewa Ngakan Md Ardana presented his works on garlic.
Dewa Ngakan Md Ardana was a painter who actually sold garlic day-to-day,
and he was a good example of how a good work could be made out of simple
things. This was also the case with Yuli Prayitno who used daily household
objects for his mix-media work, Instant.
The breakthrough of the CP Open Biennale opened the door to Indonesian
artists to participate in the world art forums. The important idea of
Djie Tjianan and Jim Supangkat, coordinated by CP Foundation General Manager
Naning B. Sugeng, showed the world the existence of Indonesia; and the
ability to hold such a big event cleanly and smoothly.
However, it was also important to note that there were several works
which somehow did not seem to match the prestige of the biennale. Hopefully,
the CP Open Biennale in 2005 would be more selective in choosing the works
so that Jakarta, which had now seized its due place in the map of the
art world, could really stand alongside the art forums in Fukuoka, Gwanju,
Shanghai, or Queensland.
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