Becoming Professional: Feminisms and the Rise of Women-centred Exhibitions in Indonesia

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Notes

1. Miranda Goeltom, ‘Foreword’ in Indonesian Women Artists: The Curtain Opens, ed. Carla Bianpoen (Jakarta: Indonesian Arts Foundation, 2007), 6.

2. Ibid., 6.

3. See Wulandani Dirgantoro, ‘Defining experiences: Feminisms and contemporary art in Indonesia’ (PhD diss., University of Tasmania, 2014). The author argued that feminism was already a distinct discourse in Indonesian visual arts and its traces are evident in the artists’ views on issues such as the body, private space, art-making, medium and memory.

4. Ibid., 280.

5. Ibid., 185.

6. This issue was critically studied in Dirgantoro's dissertation, which addressed the definition, understanding and adaptation of feminist techniques in Indonesian visual art discourse. See also brief discussions of this issue in the following essays: Carla Bianpoen, ‘Introduction’ in Indonesian Women Artists, 22–34; and Saparinah Sadli, ‘Feminism in Indonesia in an International context’, in Women in Indonesia, Gender, Equity and Development, ed. Kathryn Robinson and Sharon Bessell (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2002), 80–91.

7. Saparinah Sadli, Berbeda tetapi Setara (Jakarta: Kompas, 2010). See Sadli, ‘Feminism in Indonesia’, 470–483. Sadli maintained that this decision was made to avoid unnecessary irritation within the academic community.

8. Heidi Arbuckle, ‘Performing Emiria Sunassa: Reframing the Female Subject in Post/colonial Indonesia’ (PhD diss., University of Melbourne, 2011), 81.

9. Cited in Corma Pol, Discourse on the Frame: The Making and Unmaking of Indonesian Women Artists (Amsterdam: Akademische Peers, 1998), 63. The exhibition he was critiquing was by Nuansa Indonesia.

10. Apart from Linda Nochlin's seminal essay, ‘Why have there been no great women artists?’ [1971] in Art and Sexual Politics: Women's Liberation, Women Artists, and Art History, ed. Thomas B. Hess and Elizabeth C. Baker (New York: Collier-Macmillan, 1973 [1971]) 1–43; other notable sources discussing this issue include: Whitney Chadwick, Women, Art and Society (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2007); and Griselda Pollock and Parker Rozsika, Old Mistresses: Women, Art and Ideology (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981).

11. Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Feminist Consciousness from the Middle Ages to Eighteen-Seventy (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 14.

12. Ibid.

13. For example, Setianingsih Purnomo observed that ‘Rakyat kecil’ (common people) was a primary subject matter in the first decade of modern Indonesian art but ‘disappeared’ during the political change from the Old Order to the New Order. See ‘The Voice of Muted People in Modern Indonesian Art’ (Master's thesis, University of Western Sydney, 1995).

14. Ibid. Following the ‘failed’ political ‘coup’ on 30 September 1965, which marked the fall of Sukarno and his Old Order, Suharto assumed control of Jakarta and began a campaign ‘to inflame smouldering class and religious tensions’. The left-winged cultural institute LEKRA was outlawed and the painters it supported were killed, imprisoned, or suppressed. See Claire Holt, Art in Indonesia: Continuities and Change (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1967); and more generally of the political events, Saskia Wieringa, Sexual Politics in Indonesia (Palgrave: ISS, Institute of Social Studies, 2002).

15. Wieringa, Sexual Politics in Indonesia.

16. See, in particular, chapter ‘Concerning our Women’ in Soeharto: My Thoughts, Words, and Deeds: Autobiography as Told to G. Dwipayana and Kamadhan K.H., trans. Sumadi Muti'ah Lestiono (Jakarta: Citra Lamtoro Gung Persada, 1991), 256–260 (my italics).

17. Nira Yuval-Davis, Gender and Nation (London: Sage Publications, 1997), 37.

18. According to Farida, Ardha has ‘disappeared’ from the art world and has not kept in touch with the other artists (interview with the author, Jakarta, January 30, 2013).

19. Kenneth M. George and Mamannoor, A.D. Pirous: Vision, Faith and a Journey in Indonesian Art 1955–2002 (Bandung: Yayasan Serambi Pirous, 2002), 74–5.

20. Ibid.

21. This position was then given to her classmate, Umi Dachlan, who never married, and became the first female lecturer at the art academy.

22. Carla Bianpoen ‘AD Pirous: Islamic Painting Pioneer’, The Jakarta Post, March 17, 2012, unpaginated.

23. It is certainly not the intention of the book to include all women artists, but as indicated in chapter one, the qualitative criteria imposed by the authors on the selection process would necessarily exclude Erna Pirous.

24. Interview with Farida Srihadi (Jakarta, January 30, 2013).

25. Interview with Farida Srihadi (Jakarta, January 30, 2013) and with Heyi Ma'mun (Bandung, December 13, 2012). Both expressed that it was not uncommon for women to suspend their studies due to marriage and motherhood.

26. Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Feminist Consciousness, 11.

27. Susan Blackburn, Women and the State in Modern Indonesia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).

28. Interview with Farida Srihadi.

29. Ibid. Srihadi Sudarsono was born in Solo in 1931 to a priyayi (noble) family, respected for the family's knowledge in kris. See his monograph: Jim Supangkat, Srihadi dan seni rupa [Srihadi and Art in Indonesia] (Jakarta: 1 New Museum, 2012).

30. Interview with Farida Srihadi.

31. Jim Supangkat, Srihadi dan seni rupa, 182–183. It also housed archival documents on Indonesian literature collected by prominent literary critic H. B. Jassin.

32. Between 1968 and 1975, administrative and cultural buildings such as theatres, galleries and a planetarium were erected. Art festivals showing works by artists from Bandung, Jogjakarta and Jakarta were held.

33. See Jim Supangkat, Srihadi dan seni rupa, 182–183.

34. Carla Bianpoen et al., Indonesian Women Artists: The Curtain Opens, 213.

35. See Rudi Isbandi, Perkembangan Seni Lukis di Surabaya Sampai 1975 (Surabaya: Dewan Kesenian Surabaya, 1975). See also my interviews with Nunung W. S. and Sulebar Soekarman (Yogyakarta, December 4, 2012).

36. Interview with Nunung W. S. and Sulebar Soekarman.

37. Ibid.

38. Ibid.

39. See section on Nunung W. S. in Pol, Discourse on the Frame, 18.

40. See original text, S. Sudjojono ‘Seni Loekis di Indonesia sekarang dan jang akan datang’ [The Art of Painting in Indonesia Now and in the Future] in Seni Loekis, Kesenian dan Seniman [Painting, Art and the Artist] (Jogjakarta: Indonesia Sekarang, 1946), 1–9, and translated sections in Claire Holt, Art in Indonesia, 196.

41. Its founding took place spontaneously, with the intention of initially showing two women artists (Nunung W. S. and Titik Sunarti Jabaruddin) by DKJ and TIM. Farida Srihadi, who was then teaching at IKJ, was invited along. The concept of a women's organisation took shape and Kartika Affandi was invited to be their consultant. Sulebar and Srihadi were involved in the discussion and provided support. Interview with Nunung W. S. and Sulebar Soekarman.

42. Ibid. As part of the DKJ effort to document the art developments of Indonesia, a database of artists was slowly being built and Sulebar, who was involved in this project with DKJ, was able to furnish Nunung with a list of over 1,300 artists.

43. Ibid.

44. Sanento Yuliman, ‘Women and the Fine Art in Indonesia’ in Nuansa Indonesia III (Jakarta: Percetakan Gramedia, 1988), 8–11.

45. See catalogue: Nuansa Pameran Seni lukis wanita Indonesia-Malaysia (Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Kesenian Jakarta and Balai Seni Lukis Negara, 1991), unpaginated. Selected text translated by Siobhan Campbell.

46. Similar messages can be found in the 1987 and 1988 Nuansa catalogues, in which Farida wrote of women's struggle to become professional. The 1988 exhibition was reviewed by Astri Wright, who observed that the term ‘professional’ was central in the discussion about Nuansa Indonesia; it was a term that conveyed the connotations of being serious and dedicated to one's practice. See articles, ‘Nuansa Indonesia moves towards professionalism’, Jakarta Post (November 30, 1998): 6 and ‘Nuansa Indonesia enriches local art scene’, Jakarta Post (December 1, 1988): 6.

47. Cited in Pol, Discourse on the Frame, 20. In The Women of Indonesia (1990), as stipulated by the Department of Information: ‘1: Overall development requires maximum participation of men and women in all fields. Therefore, women have the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities as men to fully participate in all development activities. 2: The role of women in development does not mitigate their role in fostering a happy family in general and guiding the young generation in particular, in the development of Indonesia in all aspects of life.’

48. Soeharto, Soeharto, 260. See also Julia I Suryakusuma's critical essay on how the state controlled sexuality using Dharma Wanita as one of its agencies to espouse the gender ideology of ‘State Ibuism’. Julia I Suryakusuma, ‘The State and Sexuality in New Order Indonesia’ in Fantasizing the Feminine in Indonesia, ed. Laurie J. Sears (Durham: Duke University Press, 1996), 92–116.

49. Both Corma Pol (Discourse on the Frame, 1998) and Carla Bianpoen (Indonesian Women Artists, 2007) have variously discussed Nunung's devotion to the Islamic faith—she performed the shalat, and created from her inner experience, and needed the daily acts of worship to activate this source.

50. See section on Nunung W. S. in Pol, Discourse on the Frame, 18–71. Pol referred specifically to the article by Sangpoerwaning, ‘Nunung Wachid Saat: Wanita Pelukis Warna-Warni’, Minggu Pagi 26 (October, 1988): unpaginated.

51. For example, Pol highlighted an interview Nunung conducted with Muhammad Ali (first published in Surabaya Pos, July) in which she spoke about how her career gave her satisfaction but also demanded many sacrifices. Nunung, whose sacrifices would necessarily be different from those of others, spoke about having to participate in exhibitions, marrying a man who really understood her, and choosing to have only one child.

52. Farida Srihadi ‘A few notes’, Nuansa Indonesia III (Jakarta: Percetakan Gramedia, 1988), 1 (my italics).

53. Claire Holt, Art in Indonesia, 246.

54. During her time in Indonesia, Claire Holt (Art in Indonesia, 244) observed a hierarchy of painters in which the highest-ranked were Jakarta's artists (wealthy salon and palace painters) and the lowest-ranked were becak painters.

55. Statement by the Minister of State for the Role of Women, Mrs A. Sulasikin Murpratomo, in Nuansa III (Jakarta: Percetakan Gramedia, 1988), 5 (my italics).

56. Carla Bianpoen et al., Indonesian Women Artists, 22–33.

57. Astri Wright, Soul, Spirit and Mountain: Preoccupations of Contemporary Indonesian Painters (Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press, 1994), 130. The author remarked that some artists did not want to exhibit even with Nuansa because of such classification—another ‘ibu-ibu’ (ladies’) group (‘ibu’ means ‘mother’).

58. Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Feminist Consciousness, 279.