ALMOST ALL THE ATTENTION GIVEN TO INDONESIAN
ART BOTH INSIDE and outside the country has focused either on folk
art or classical ancient art .Archaeology and anthropology have dominated
this emphasis. From 1950 to 1990 some eighty exhibitions of Indonesian
art were held outside Indonesian mainly in Europe and the United States
and to a lesser extent in Australia and Japan. All of these were exhibits
of ethnographic or ancient art; of these, twenty-seven alone dealt
with traditional textiles. The few exceptions have been very small
shows of some modern artists such as Affandi and Popo Iskandar and
displays of Balinese paintings and sculpture. There. has never been
in the United States a major exhibition of Indonesian modern art in
museums or commercial galleries. The only book in English that deals
with Indonesian modem artists was that written by Claire Holt and
published in 1967; it is now out of print.
The overwhelming interest in Indonesian art has been on the traditional,
the exotic, the sacred and the ancient. Tourism, world market demand
and the extraordinary beauty of traditional objects accounts for much
of this interest. However, this great imbalance tends to distort outside
views of Indonesia's progress and its considerable role in world affairs.
Extraordinary economic, political and social changes have taken place
in Indonesia, particularly over the last three decades; these forces
are reflected in its arts and literature. It is felt that it is now
time for Indonesia to portray itself to the contemporary world in
something other than its folk traditions.
In contrast to most countries in Asia, non-traditional art in Indonesia
has a relatively long history dating back to the late nineteenth century.
Up to about 1920 this art largely consisted of landscape painting,
still life and portraiture; as such it was, however, a break from
traditional artisanship and a precursor of a new art movement. It
was represented by its founders, including such artists as Raden Saleh
(1814-1880), A. S. Subroto (1878-1941), Mas Pringadie (c. 187S-c.
1936) and Wakidi (1889?-c. 1960). Beginning in 1922 with the advent
of the Taman Siswa progressive school movement and reaction to the
consequences of colonialism and social change, non-traditional art
emerged in Indonesia. The principal leader and artist of this movement
was Soedjojono; others included such well-known Indonesian 'painters
as Agus Djaja, Basuki Abduflah, Otto Djaja and Affandi. The period
after 1947 was a dramatic turning point for a new generation of Indonesian
artists that had experienced nationalism, war, the Japanese occupation,
revolution against the Dutch and finally independence. This art reflected
an individual struggle both with local society and the changing world
outside; it resulted in an exploration of aesthetics, subjects and
techniques far different from those of the past. The past. As such
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