TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As many as 11 Bandung artists used a broom as their main inspiration in an art exhibition titled "Subject Matter: A Locus of Collectivism" at Art I in Kemayoran, Jakarta, to be held from June 29 to July 13. These artists include Agung Prabowo, Antonio Sebastian Sinaga, Aurora Benita, Bonggal Hutagalung, Cinanti Astria Johansyah, Kupi Arif, Leonardiansyah Allenda, Patriot Mukmin, Sekarputri Sidhiwati, Tisa Granicia, and Endira F. Julianda.

A total of 25 masterpieces are currently portraying how a broom can cross over the boundaries of space, culture, and the mind. Cinanti Astria Johansyah, for example, used the broom as a symbol of an African-American marriage ritual in her watercolor painting entitled Jumping Over the Broom.

Antonio Sebastian Sinaga decided to use a more commercial mystical approach and used the broom as a magical witch’s vehicle named Dream. He portrayed to photographs and an art installation of a broom on the wall to convey his idea.

Meanwhile, Patriot Mukmin displayed an oil painting he called Presence of Mind. This unique painting presented an optical illusion that will reveal different images if viewed from three different perspectives.

Curator Asmudjo Jono Irianto says this exhibition is a combination or collection of the works of 11 artists based on the keyword "broom". Artists simply use the broom as the object of their creations and were free to convey their own interpretation of the meaning behind this object.

EVIETA FADJAR