Left-wing Artist Brings Murdered Activist Back to Life
26 September 2013 08:36 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Yogyakarta - Artist Suhardjija Pudjanadi, 74, is a member of the Sanggar Bumi Tarung left-wing artist group affiliated with the People’s Cultural Institute (Lekra). The works of Lekra artists are rich often address themes related to laborers and farmers.
During Soekarno’s ‘Old Order’, Lekra artists received a special place due to militants and revolutionaries yet after the bloody September 30, 1965 massacre, they were forced to endure years filled with tragedy. Lekra members were hunted by the military and banned due to many of its members also being a part of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).
Yet Pudjanadi’s militant attitude did not fade. His painting of a woman named Marsinah entitled ‘Do Not Forget Marsinah’ was exhibited at the National Gallery in Jakarta in 2011.
"I don’t want people to forget Marsinah," Pudjanadi said last week.
Marsinah was a labor activist who was found dead on May 8, 1993 after being missing for three days. Marsinah had been raped and severely abused before she died.
The portrait of Marsinah was a monochromatic piece drawn using coal mixed with Conté as a medium. The eyes of the activist glare with passion, while her long hair hangs loosely over her shoulders on her white shirt after a hard day’s work at the Catur Putra Surya factory in Sidoarjo, East Java.
Pudjanadi said that Marsinah’s face grabbed the attention of the exhibition’s viewers. The overpowering magical feeling of the portrait even caused some of the visitors to flee the exhibition room.
"They ran in fear because they Marsinah seemed to have come back to life," said Pudjanadi.
Pudjanadi continues to create pieces of art up until this day although he has not been as active due to a stroke he suffered a couple of years ago. He is also an active member of Alim, an artist organization in Klaten consisting of artists aged over 50 years old.
SHINTA MAHARANI
