From Purgation to Remembrance: Memorialising the May 1998 Violence in Post-Authoritarian Indonesian Visual Art

W. Dirgantoro
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Abstract

Introduction In Yogyakarta, on 18 October 1998, Chinese Indonesian artist FX Harsono performed Korban (Burned Victims) as part of his solo exhibition at Cemeti Art House. In a disused construction site near the gallery, Harsono planted nine torso-shaped wooden sculptures attached to steel poles. Harsono explained to the audience that he wanted to show the processes behind his works and, specifically, how his works dealt with ‘the current happenings in Jakarta’. He then brought out five picket signs and proceeded to tell the audience about the challenges in finding out the truth about what happened during the riots of May 1998. As the artist began his speech, he pulled out the signs one by one, punctuating his narrative on every second sentence until four signs were placed opposite the torsos. Written on these signs were the words Rusuh (Riot), Kerusuhan (Rioting), Dibuat rusuh (The riot was made up), and Rekayasa agar rusuh (The riot was manipulated). The artist then burned the signs one by one with a torch gun before proceeding to burn the torsos. When most of the picket signs had turned into ashes, Harsono then pulled out the last sign, which stated, Siapa yang bertanggung jawab? (Who was responsible?) (fig. 1). He then walked, with his knees bent, along the line of the burning torsos and slowly lowered himself to the ground carrying the sign, while stating, ‘we lowered ourselves until we nearly crawled on the ground to ask this question, but we will never know who was responsible for this’. The burned sculptures were then displayed as part of his solo exhibition in the gallery space (fig. 2). This article starts with Harsono’s evocative work as it highlights a turning point in his artistic imperative to document and memorialise instances of antiChinese violence in Indonesia. In Harsono’s performance installation, the artist depicted the most recent incidence: the riots of 12–14 May 1998 in Medan, Jakarta, Solo, and a few other cities. At the end of the authoritarian New Order regime
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从净化到记忆:纪念1998年5月印尼后威权主义视觉艺术中的暴力
1998年10月18日,日惹,华裔印尼艺术家FX Harsono在Cemeti Art House的个展中表演了《Korban》(被烧伤的受害者)。在画廊附近一个废弃的建筑工地上,哈索诺种植了9个躯干形状的木制雕塑,它们连接在钢杆上。Harsono向观众解释说,他想展示他作品背后的过程,特别是他的作品如何处理“雅加达当前发生的事情”。随后,他拿出了5个警戒线标志,并向听众讲述了在查明1998年5月骚乱中发生的事情的真相时所面临的挑战。当艺术家开始他的演讲时,他一个接一个地拿出标志,每隔两句就打断他的叙述,直到四个标志被放置在躯干对面。这些牌子上写着:Rusuh(暴乱),Kerusuhan(暴乱),Dibuat Rusuh(暴乱是编造的),Rekayasa agar Rusuh(暴乱是操纵的)。艺术家随后用火炬枪一个一个地烧了这些标志,然后继续烧躯干。当大部分警戒线的牌子都化为灰烬时,哈索诺拿出最后一块牌子,上面写着:Siapa yang bertanggung jawab?(谁该为此负责?)(图1)。然后,他弯着膝盖,沿着燃烧的躯干线走着,慢慢地把自己放下来,手里拿着牌子,同时说:“我们把自己放下来,直到我们几乎爬到地上,才问这个问题,但我们永远不会知道谁该为此负责。”随后,这些被烧毁的雕塑作为他个人展览的一部分在画廊空间展出(图2)。本文从哈索诺令人回味的作品开始,因为它突出了他记录和纪念印度尼西亚反华暴力事件的艺术必要性的转折点。在哈索诺的行为装置中,艺术家描绘了最近的事件:1998年5月12日至14日在棉兰、雅加达、梭罗和其他一些城市发生的骚乱。在专制的新秩序政权末期
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