Carla Bianpoen, Jakarta
It’s official: As of Jan. 26, the city now has an annual arts event called Jakarta Contemporary.
Its inaugural exhibition officiated by Governor Fauzi Bowo and titled “1,001 Doors: Re-inventing Traditions”, is a testament to the exciting artistic possibilities this art, craft, and design project has offered the 101 participating artists who were asked to respond to the 1,001 doors theme.
Entering the exhibition grounds, the visitor is first struck by a huge installation of wooden pillars pointing to the sky. An interactive work by architect/photographer Yori Antar, the structure embodies visually what the “1001 Doors: Re-inventing Traditions” project is all about. Visitors who enter this space will be allowed to see their shadows dancing in-between the pillars and let their imagination fly unbounded.
A similar playful interpretation, albeit with serious undercurrents, can be seen in Aditya Novali’s installation.
Aditya pushes the boundaries of painting by allowing the visitor to play with rotating aluminum bars in the work titled Unity in Diversity, which belongs to his Mooi InDie series. The visitor game enough to play with the bars will be able to select and ponder over a landscape that he or she wishes for, based on mood, experience and visions.
Other artists have chosen to reminisce about the past, with Sri Astari and Altje Ully exploring memories of their wedding day.
In Every Wall Is A Door, Astari conveys that no matter how hard a problem may look, it will always lead to change and new solutions. Her see-through door evokes the then and now: On one side of the door she has placed a wayang (shadow puppetry) doll dressed in her wedding gown (kebaya) made of rich black lace, and on the other, a puppet wearing an everyday kebaya with a red bag indicating change throughout the years.
In the same line of thought, Altje who hails from Tapanuli (North Sumatra) reminisces about the
ulos hela cloth the brides’ parents give to the groom, to symbolize their eternal tie to the bride. The ulos is also used to cover the man on his deathbed.
While Altje hails this gesture as a token of love, her interpretation in ulos hela featuring a man behind a barred door, reveals the contrary.
Also going down memory lane is Yuli Prayitno, whose work Pamali (Taboo) brings up taboos for girls in his youth. Women could never sit in front of a door, or they would have trouble finding a husband.
Questioning taboos that he thinks have no firm ground, he splits the door the organizing committee gave him in two, leaving one part as a door and creating a chair from the other.
Still walking down memory lane is Tri Asayani with Sang Maestro (The Maestro), a refined and touching work made in memory of her late father, who sold batik to many Japanese customers. Tri, who is also engaged in the trade of batik, says her father opened doors for her into the world of batik.
She explains the work titled Sang Maestro is also inspired by the way the Japanese hang a cloth over the door (called noren). The work consists of layers of fine organdy cloth on which her father’s image has been printed, which hangs through the opened door.
Josephine Komara, better known as Obin, has been reinventing traditional batik motifs since the beginning of her career. The circular frame covered with her batik clothes is a metaphor for a portal that stands between the inside (local culture) and the outside (the modern).
Tita Rubi’s small but beautiful half-open door made of wood, aluminum and lead is a must-see.
Nindityo Adipurnomo tackles the issue of religious tolerance, which he says took a more violent shape than that described in our history books. His interesting and innovative installation titled Post Tolerance Trophy shows a door that has been hacked and set as a ruined shield around buildings of prayer (a church, a temple, a mosque, and a dominating, overpowering loudspeaker).
Thinking of death, Hardiman Radjab’s work features a car door through which the diseased will be ushered for his Last Journey.
Some have left the shape of the door intact. Take the work of Wimo Ambala Bayang, an artist who was touched when he saw traditional theater actors perform in the street to earn a living. He transformed the door into a peephole through which visitors can view these street actors.
Radi Arwinda’s pink-colored door with blue batik motifs and combined with white stripes is sweet and appealing. Wibowo Adi Utama adds coins, acrylic and spray paint to express that time is not money, though others might think the opposite.
Respecta, an online gallery, brings color to their eclectic drawings on their door. Meanwhile Mella Jaarsma leaves her door as it is, but includes a shadow of a figure standing behind the door, which adds a sense of mystique.
In addition to the 101 works that have responded to the traditional doors, about 50 traditional doors are showcased in their original form.
Taking “Re-inventing Traditions” as a theme is challenging artists and all those involved in the creation of contemporary art to delve into their cultural tradition, not to replicate, but to give it new meaning.
The brainchild of Andonowati of the Bandung based Art Sociates and Indra Sukirno of the Jakarta Convention and Exhibition Bureau, who worked together with Rina Sastrawinata Ciputra to make this innovative exhibition possible at the spacious grounds of the Ciputra Marketing Gallery here, all, including curator Asmudjo Jono Irianto, must be commended for this successful beginning.
At the same time, the question arises whether such a success can be repeated in the years to come and whether the Jakarta Contemporary will be able to fulfill its ambitious objective of becoming an art hub and art tourist destination in this region? Time will tell.
Source: Jakarta Post
1001 Doors Exhibition-Jakarta Contemporary Art
February, 11th 2011 | by Harpis Sulaiman
Dalam mobilitas kita setiap harinya, tanpa disadari, kita begitu sering melintasi sebuah bangunan yang bernama pintu. Diperhatikan atau tidak, benda yang satu ini tampil dalam berbagai bentuk dan model. Dalam kehadirannya, pintu dikemas dalam berbagai medium, dari kayu, kaca, hingga besi. Melihat wujudnya, kita sadar betul fungsi pintu. Pintu, sebagai elemen utama dari sebuah konstruksi bangunan, digunakan sebagai jalan masuk dari satu ruang ke ruang lain. Namun, sadarkah kita makna simbolis atau kandungan filosofis dari sebuah kata 'pintu'?
Jawaban atas pertanyaan barusan itulah yang coba diaktualisasikan dalam pameran bertajuk 1001 Doors: Reinterpreting Traditions yang dilangsungkan 26 Januari–6 Februari dan dibuka oleh Gubernur Fauzi Bowo. Tak sekadar bentuk bangunan, pintu juga memiliki makna filosofis yang mendalam. Pintu bisa diartikan sebagai gerbang pergeseran dari satu keadaan ke keadaan lain. Dalam konsep, pintu menjadi pemisah satu dunia atau realitas dengan dunia atau realitas lainnya. Dalam prakteknya, pintu senantiasa menjadi penanda terjadinya transisi, perpindahan, juga harapan.
Bicara kata 'tradisi' yang menjadi bagian tema pameran, koleksi pintu yang dihadirkan kebanyakan merupakan pintu-pintu yang ada dalam khazanah tadisi bangsa kita, misalnya saja pintu-pintu berukir dalam budaya Jawa. Namun begitu, sejumlah seniman instalasi kontemporer yang turut dalam pameran ini juga mencoba mengeksplorasi “pintu” baik dalam tataran fungsional maupun konseptual yang melahirkan pintu dalam wujud baru, kekinian, bahkan absurd. Pintor Sirait tampil dengan karya berjudul “Please Get Me Out of Here” yang menghadirkan pintu dari stainless steel menyerupai pintu pesawat yang ringsek dan bolong. Tak kalah unik, Obin (Josephine Komara) tampil dengan karya berjudul Portal. Dalam karyanya tersebut, Obin membikin sebuah lingkaran besar membentuk lorong yang dibangun dari kain.
Bicara mengenai tradisi yang juga diusung dalam tema kegiatan, yaitu 1001 Doors: Re-interpreting Traditions, dijabarkan sebagai upaya menampilkan secara keseluruhan presentasi dan konsep pintu, baik tradisional, kini, maupun yang akan datang (modern). Pameran ini memberi kesempatan kepada pengunjung untuk melihat keragaman warisan budaya Indonesia sekaligus mengintip masa depan, membandingkan tradisi lewat dan kekinian dalam wujud pintu sebagai alegori yang dibagi dalam 8 tema koleksi: Door to Tradisional Space, Mining the Door, Pintu Waktu, Connecting Door, Emergency Door, Virtual Door, Pintu Mimpi, serta Door, Soul, and Spirituality.
Pameran ini dikuratori oleh Asmudjo Jono Irianto dan melibatkan sekitar 101 seniman individu dan kelompok. Kebanyakan berasal dari berbagai latar belakang disiplin dan generasi, misalnya pelukis, arsitek, perupa, desainer mode, fotografer, hingga artis multimedia. Digelar Ciputra Marketing Gallery di kawasan Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan, dan akan menjadi destinasi baru art&culture di Jakarta, pameran ini merupakan hasil kolaborasi Jakarta Convention & Exhibition Bureau, ArtSociates, dan Ciputra Artpreneurship.
Source: Koran TEMPO
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