exhibition. On the 12 February, one day after the exhib it ion had closed, a five-page letter from the Indones ian Embassy, landed on my desk like an arrow. In th is the Embassy complained bitterly about the "misrepresentations" of the political situation in Indone-sia which appeared in the catalogue. In particular the Embassy disputed that President Suharto had come to power in a military coup, that Indonesia was ruled by a militaristic government, that the Indonesian government had failed to confront the despoliation of the tropical forests, that there was not full freedom of the press and that the countryside was "politicised, militar ised, mechanised and territorialised." The Embassy finished the letter by asking the Museum to withdraw the catalogue from circulat ion "so as to avoid misunderstanding between our two peoples." " I was away from the office at that t ime but my assistant acknowledged the letter and said that the catalogue wou ld be tempo-rarily withd rawn from sale pending my return when I would respond to the ir letter. As the exhib ition had already closed this was no hardship.

We then had to decide what to do: from the point of view of the Museum, Heri Dono had not presented work in Oxford which he would not have shown in Indonesia, although the issues were certainly discussed more frankly in the catalogue than could have been the case there. In doing this we felt that both the artist and the Museum were exercising the right of fair comment and free speech and that we should not accede to any pressure from a foreign government which was only acting true to form. Yet the potent ial prob-lems for Heri Dono and his family within Indones ia which could result from this, were not purely matters of principle ; measures could be taken which at best could prevent him from working outside the country, and it is unlikely that the politicians "whose abuse of power" Dono had described as belying "their sweetness" (comments which the Indo-nesian Embassy had described as "arbitrary and malicious") would take a char itab le view of his artist ic freedom. In the end it was decided that the best course of act ion was masterly inaction: no further letter was sent to the Embassy and this seemed to make everyone happy. The Embassy had its "withdrawal" and Heri Dono's position as art ist rather than political or social commentator was not compromised. Of course the cata-logue was still available to anyone who was interested but it was not openly in circu-lation. In these maneuvers it almost seemed as if Oxford had become a small part of Indonesia .

And that is how the situation remained until the beginning of this year. The political changes within Indonesia have meant that the kris can be put back in its sheath; it is again possib le directly to speak the truth.

Notes 1. Zeno of E\ea was known as one of the Eleatic philosphers. 2. Heri Dono, "The Game," in David Elliott & Gilane Tawadros (ed.) , Heri Dono (London and Oxford: Institute of Visual

Arts and Museum of Modern Art Oxford, 1996), p.18. 3. M. Dwi Marianto, "Mainstreaming of Ngeledek in Indonesian Contemporary Art," AWAS! Recent Art from Indonesia

(Indonesian Arts Society, 1999), pp.17-20. 4. Julie Ewington, "Between the Cracks: Art and Method in Southeast Asia," ART AsioPacific, vol.3, no.4, 1996, pp.57-63.

For this metaphor she credits William Henry Scott the historian of the pre-Hispanic Philippines as the source. 5. R. Kipling, "The Ballad of East and West," 1889. 6. See for example Jim Supangkat, "The Framing of Contemporary Indonesian Art," Art/ink, vol.13, nos.3 and 4,

November-March 1993/ 4, pp.46-50. In particular the section entitled "Modernism in Indonesia: a difference." Malaysian artist and critic Redza Piyadasa also has referred to the prescient multi-ethnic and multi-traditional postmodernlty of Malaysian contemporary art in "Modern Malaysian Art 1945-1991: a Historical Overview" in C. Turner (ed.), Tradition and Change. Contemporary Art a{ Asia and the Pacific (Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1993), pp.58-71.

7. Rizki A. Zaelani, "Contemporary Art in Indonesia: Beware! Aher the Big Change," AWAS! Recent Art from Indonesia, op cit .. pp.85-89.

8. A similarly critical but distantly related attitude towards modernity, identity, truth and power has characterized the work of many European artists during the 1990s.

9. Astri Wright, Soul, Spirit and Mountain. Preoccupations of Contemporary Indonesian Painters (Kuala Lumpur, Oxford University Press, 1994), p.238. This statement was made between 1988 and 1992.

10. Dadang Christanto to Astri Wright, letter 25.05.99, published in A. Wright, "Thoughts from the Crest of a Breaking Wave," AWAS1 Recent Art from Indonesia, op. cit., p.60.

109

11. A. Wright, Soul, Spirit and Mountain. Preoccupations of Contemporary Indonesian Painters, op. cit., p.236. 12. Southeost Asian Art Today (Singapore: Roeder Publications, 1996), p.17. 13. The debt of early modernism to Eastern and other non-Western visual archetypes has long been acknowledged. By

the middle of the 20th century such "influences" had become fully absorbed within the "indigenous" Western

cultures. 14. Programme for Heri Dono, Kudo Binol (Yogyakarta: Alun-Alun Utara, 29 July 1992).

15. Ibid. 16. D. Elliott & G. Tawadros (ed.), "Blooming in Oxford," op. cit., p.13. 17. Heri Dono, "The Game," ibid., pp.18-21.

18. Heri Dono in an interview with Tim Martin, ibid., p.38. 19. Heri Dono, "Blooming in Arms," ibid., p.22. 20. The Times, London, Tuesday, 6 February 1996. 21. Letter from the Indonesian Embassy to David Elliott, 12 February 1996, exhibition archive of the Museum of Modern

Art Oxford.

110

1960~

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1980-87~

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1987-88~

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1990-91~

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1993~

24HR Art - /--tf::,, ·7' 1J~ 1J-l.lH\:~j;fij-tz::,,51- ( :;t-".11 ::,,, ;t-7-~-5 1)7' )(:::-C 7'-7'1 7-~ • 1' > i.,:;· j"::,, 7-

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2000~

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112

Biography

Born: 12 June, 1960, Jakarta, Indonesia Currently lives in Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia

Education (formal and non-formal)

1980-87 Studied at the Indones ia Institute of the Arts (151: lnstitut Seni Indonesia), Yogyakarta, Indonesia

1987-88 Studied wayang kulit with Sukasman in Yogyakarta , Indones ia

1990-91 International Artists Exchange Program (IAAB), Basel, Switzerland

1993 Artist-in-residence at 24HR Art-Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, Australia

1994 Art ist-in-residence at Canberra School of Arts, Canberra, Australia

1995 Artist-in-residence at Museum of Modern Art Oxford with Institu te of International Visual Art, London, U.K.

1996 Artist-in-residence in Townsville, Queensland, Australia

1999 Cyfuniad International Artists Workshop, Wales, U.K. Artist-in-residence at Queensland Art College, Brisbane, Australia Artist-in-residence at Auckland University, Auckland, New Zealand

2000 Artist-in-residence at Vermont Studio Center, Vermont, U.5.A.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

1988 Cemeti Contemporary Art Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia Mitra Budaya Indonesia Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia Bentara Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

1991

"Unknown Dimensions ," Museum fur Volkerkunde, Basel, Switzerland

1993 "The Chair," Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Australia

1996 "Heri Dono: Blooming in Arms," Museum of Modern Art Oxford, U.K.

1998 "Tanah Dari Merapi," Center Culture[ Frarn;a ise (CCF), Yogyakarta, Indonesia

1999 "Mythical Monsters in Contemporary Society," Gajah Gallery, Singapore

19604

6Fl12B V ,-,;/]Jv:$1 ( 1:--+;z.. ::,:v)(:::~:J::tt~

1980 87-'f.

-< :..,1-'I'::, 7-'ji;ffi:k~ (:; 3'7 './-\'7J Jv:$1')(:::cj,,,S!

1987-88.qc

V3-7:; i,;/JJv:$1'1:EfiQ).7-;/J.7-" :..,,:::'7-\"':.., • -71J·, (~~J-.lUZ:Ji!i) ~~-si

1990-91.qc

I\ -t:t Jl.,(!]~f'F*xil!r;t • -7 7 k (IAAB) (/\-if JI.,, 7-1' 7-H:::~/.)O

1993-'f.

24HR Art ,/--!f:..,.j- Jr-1J-JJHt~lil\j-t:t:..,:$1'-(-$i-';,r:..,,:;j--7-t--7

1Jy) ,:::-r:V-j--

r,;smus Huis, Jakarta, Indonesia ulturel Frarn;aise (CCF), Yogyakarta, Indonesia

.

"Virtual Reality," Erasmus Huis, Jakart a, Indonesia "Tirtara," Center Culture ! Fran,aise (CCF), Yogyakarta, Indonesia

2000 "Life as a Cartoon," Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, U.S.A. "Heri Dono: Dancing Demons and Drunken Deities," The Japan Foundation Asia Center, Tokyo, Japan (f "- 1) • F / - l!Jl!:L, t.:2'tl. Q1 :,~· t-1/7' J~, 00!11f-:Q:ilil~'i:7;t-5 L.., *:i/ 0

Selected Group Exhibitions and Performances

1981 "Art on the Environment," Parangtritis Beach, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

1984 4th Biennial of Indonesian Young Artists, TIM (Taman Ismail Marzuki), Jakarta, Indonesia

1985 3rd ASEAN Youth Artists Exhibition, ISI, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

1986 5th Biennial of Indonesian Young Artists, TIM, Jakarta, Indonesia "Experimental Music and Visual Art," Seni Sono Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

1987 "Sandiwa," Kulay-Diwa Art Galler ies, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Manila, The Philippines "Three Indonesian Artists," De Schone Kunsten, Heemstede, The Netherlands

1988 "Wayang Legenda," shadow play, Seni Sono Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia "Hedendaagse lndonesische Kunst," Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara, Delft, The Netherlands

1989 "Wayang Imaginative," performance, Mendut temp le, Central Java, Indonesia Competitive Exhibition of Young Indonesian Artists, Inst itute of Technology Bandung and L'Alliance Francaise, West Java, Indonesia

1990 "Modern Indonesian Art: Three Generations of Change, 1945-1990," Festival of Indonesia 1990, Sewall Gallery, Rice University, Houston; traveled to San Diego, Oakland, Seattle and Honolulu, U.S.A.

1991 "Sama Sama," Centrum Beeldende Kunst Oosterpoort, Groningen, The Netherlands; trave led to Tilburg, The Netherlands, Yogyakarta and Jakarta, Indonesia "Wayang: From Gods to Bart Simpson," University of British Columbi a, Vancouver, Canada "Man and Human Expression," Tropen Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands "Wayang Top," performance, International Culture Camp Desa Apuan, Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia "Destructive Images," performance, Seni Sono Gallery and Malioboro, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

1992 "Sanggar Dewata : Indonesian Art Exhibition," Museum Nyoman Gunarsa, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 7th Asian International Art Exhibition, Gedung Merdeka, Bandung, Indonesia "Kuda Bina I," performance, Alun-Alun Utara, Yogyakarta, Indonesia "New Art from Southeast Asia 1992," Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space Exhibition Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; traveled to Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka; Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima and Kirin Plaza Osaka, Osaka (f ~1il\JM~~t.l'P - *~7':J7'0).::..i-7'-~ JiL **ii 1il\JtJJJJ;~ir-'t";-,51J- , ** l :/ili/lillm~i;Jiitt,:/ili/lill/ ~.1¥;mi.l!.1t~1il\Jtt,~.1¥; A 1J:,7"5-lf*l!lii , *~Ji!fili\lEI)

1993 "Indonesian Modern Art : Indonesian Painting since 1945," The Gate Foundation, De Oude Kerk, Amsterdam, The Netherlands International Festival of Puppetry in the World, Taman Budaya, Yogyakarta, Indonesia 1st Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia 9th Jakarta Biennial of Contemporary Art, TIM, Jakarta, Indonesia

1994 "Adelaide Installations," Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia "Kuda Bina!," performance, 24HR Art-Northern Territory Centre for Contemporary Art, Darwin, Australia The Jakarta International Fine Arts Exhibition 1994, The Indonesian Fine Arts Foundation, Indonesia 9th Asian International Art Exhibition, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan "Realism as an Attitude,"4th Asian Art Show Fukuoka, Fukuoka Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan; traveled to Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo (~41El7' :J7'~1il\J~fa,¥f-\;f Ji -::>d.>NIU tili/lillm~i;f.t&i, tili!lill/ tl!EE-a-~ii\j tt,*Ji;:fili\lEI ) "Super Suburb," 3rd Museum City Tenjin '94, Fukuoka, Japan

(~31El~.i -:J7' L.. 1/71 · ?C:/111'94 [itll1B7'~ J, :/ili/lillm?C:/111-.)!l;, :/ili/lill)

1995 "Visions of Happiness-Ten Asian Contemporary Artists," The Japan Foundation Forum, Tokyo, Japan

(f ~tiliiD:l

1997 "Sounding Sphere," Harima Science Garden City Opening, Hyogo

Prefecture, Japan (f i·l!Hf0)-J:l'f111i~ 1T ;:'.i:,!t, :CRS-J,!'~7 IA 7'-1 /\JL, J_ Ii !In!-cJe:L}~t~rn, A~ ) "lnnensite," Projektgruppe Stoffwechsel, Kassel, Germany

"Permanent Exhibition," NTT Intercommunication Center (ICC), Tokyo,

Japan (f~~lf/lll:if-;J, NTT-f :,,,9-:::i2_.1=?"-:,3:,,,,-t,:,,,9-[ICC], ]lj:Ji;:) "Resurrection ofTopos 3, Collaboration between Artists and Architects,"

Hillside Forum, Tokyo, Japan; traveled to Toyama Shimin Plaza.Toyama

ff~ ;f-,sO)fi~llll3 - ~j;fq*l::lt~lf~O):::i5 ;t,1.,,-:,3:,,, J, t:JL,-!f ff 7-t-51.,., ]lj:Jii:/ 'i'Ll.Jrn!c£7"5-f1', mLl.Jtili

1'Ftl"• 1J7J-- / List of Works

1

11\IJEEt' 19894

7'7 1JJv,:::i5-V ..1,;t,Jl: 46 X 51.5cm

".11·*>V.r:..--Jot00!

The Suppressor

1989 acrylic and col lage on paper

46x51.5cm Collect ion of Dr. Oei Hong Djien, Indones ia

2

flO)~iHU.::7 19944

7'7 1JJv, :::i-5-:)..1, t;:,.,rfy ;;z 150 X 120cm

-et Jv7&I;;z;,(-:,Jv5i··*5>t51c~OO!

Where is My Head?

1994 acrylic and collage on canvas

15ox12ocm Collection of Marc and Esmeralda Bol lansee

3

~itj*l;tll>U J:M' n-Q 19914

149 X 149c m

:/i.i[lli]r:>r~iMWOO!

Artist Gets Obsessed

1991 oil on canvas

149x 149cm Collect ion of Fukuoka Asian Art Museum

4

~*iO) AR i 1£:/J!. -r -Q 20004

*M, 77'11,-75:;z, ~BJ

11

£J't5,jlf~S? 1992-9'-7'71)Jv,::J5-:>.i,M

66X77cm

71'-:,, 7i5'.,,fi · ?-r-•'f'·,-,5 1)-iiml,

Eating Bullets (Makan Pelor)

1992 acrylic and collage on paper

66x77cm

Purchased 1995. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation

12

'le\'cj:,(:::~L, t~ =./l!O)£J't 1992-9'-

7'71)Jv, ::J5-:/.i, tJ'.,,"fT :7.

150 x 150cm

:/:f:/,-,·"\',-,5')-iiml,

Three Pistols in the Back

1992 acrylic and collage on canvas

15ox15ocm

Collection of Gajah Gallery

13

.::.iE!

22

.ffFoi 1998.ij'.

'J 17:,j"' -'E=:$1-, ;!'5t "fS'l"O)!/t i\l-130 x 50 x 40cm, 5-g-

11'*00<

Interrogation

1998 video, monitor, toy-gun

each piece 13ox 5ox4ocm, 5 sets Collection of the art ist

23 -j':,,j--;,,7-(

19991l'-

x:'rA·/, 7y11,-7·:,;z, 'J17'::t, -'E='.$1-, ~~

170X 1 00X 45cm

11'*00<

Inner City

1999 mannequine, fiberglass, video, monitor, electric bulb

17ox10ox45cm Collection of the artist

24

,~~1w~g- i1r~ 1 :,,f'* ;,,7' 20001l'-

k'.71J-:.,,, '71':,, JJIU'J *".J220 x 300cm ( ill-70 x 60cm) , 121* 11'*00<

Wayang Legenda: Indonesia Baru 2000 screen, wayang puppet, bamboo pole

approx. 22ox 300cm (each piece 7ox 60cm). 12 figures

Collection of the artist

25

20001l'-

'J1T::t 11'*00<

Wayang Legenda 2000 video Collection of the artist

10,t-x:.,,;z {• l::'··• I::') 20001l'-1 0J=I 13 B, OO~xiliE£:fr£7,t-:, 1,.i:: Z .. b~

Performance: Lobi Lobi Performance at the Japan Foundation Forum, 13 October 2000

117

195641,;,,:::i7 ( :$11') ~;1::!t o I71//\7:;l;:~ C~rn]) -r~±·1~±~f.

:::i-tJv:;l;:~ (*OO ) T~Uit\1/±~fl&i~ o 19911!cJ:fJ'f .1 7 • ;,,:::i- ;,,:;1;: ~ (1\/:::J? ) c'~¥/fHJLfJ, ffl:(£1a]:;l;:~;1t~~ o 7'")7' ~[!10)!.l!,j-\'.~I.H,f.ff

fa:@e\Jt:filll'l!H,. 1Tradit ions / Tensio nsJ ( 1996.qc) 0)-'f ;l.~ ·°".:iv 1' :$1-'i'>. ~24@-fj-;,, /~'7 •• t:·I;,,j--L,, (1998.qc) 0)7'~/p}JHM:::i~ •;,:,,3 7 -, ;l:tc 8 *O)mf~'/l7'-~~ 1JI;,,j--L,,2000 (2000.qc). t~~~'JI :,,j--

v2001 (2001.qc) /Jc . 7'~/Pi1!llltPJ9~0) j. o 19761!cJ:1J201!cF.i::t -;, 7 ;l. 7,t-F,lrf-\'.~j;jijti;tl;:l.Hf1s~. 1996.qcJ:fJ;l.~ ·;,7 ,t; JvL--,lrf-\'.~j;jijtg

ti:~ 0 !J•t.J. T J:fJ~Fi3X*~t000)ifrJJ!.1t~ffit:r,/l,i:.,,fW;.so1!c1tn•G B * '('>-( ;,,t-:·. 9"00/Jc0)7'--r1 ;l.~f l!l(IJJ::Jftcifrfflft~ffi/!H'.lf:iifil o fO)?J-

Jffc'O)=i'f"F'i'>M4i~tj.1, ' o 19961!ct:tt1 -" 'J • ~-/ J/!H::t ·;, 7 A 7,i--~·,af-\'.

~ffittt:Tlffl1lli.~MHHJ'A,t.: o OO~~j;jijtg~~ll (CIMAM ) ~~ o ;l.~·;,7

,t;JvL--1:Efio

19484'71/ _:,_/. I ~;,,~;,,~;1::/1, 0 ;,;,,f:?/ Irf:k~~i*i7if-( ;,,~fiB-¥ ~ o 7'--r1 ;l.~cl, TO)iMilif. -(;,,71-":;,,7;,,~ . °" .1v1':$1- cl, T, ;le

tc~ffiH~~*cL, Ti;sl!l. o ifr1!c'l=!J'lt tc,lj'!i~cl, Tli 11' ;,,f: .:j-. :--7' · 1J7' 1J A-L-~iifilc f O)'Jl'.~ J ( 1 9971!c l . -r;,, n. :--7' oo.it~f,lirttlffltt~c~/j (1999.qc) I;,: c!f&>-s>o Uc. 17'1/7'0)-'f '.i = ;l.' L--J,ij ( 1995.qc) 'i'>7'')7' 1~

:--71 ·;1? • ~7 1 I = 7' Jv/J c a * 'i'>::t-;l.~7'J7' 1;,: cc'O)OO~e\JIJJJ!.ft ~j;jij,ljt:j;

Photo credit

·:;ft.,,-~.' · 7'T'1 • / Blaise Adilon flg.9

'ti'ilJG Ando Takeshi figs.6, 7, cat.nos.1, 4-6, 8-10, 16. 21, 22, p.79(bottom)

7.1:.., - ·;f';',tD

layung Buworo cat.nos .4-6, 9, 10, 16, 21, 22

A. •) • t,:",I

Heri Dono figs.1, 8, 11, 13-15

ilf*fJtl\ Fujimoto Kenpachi cat.no.7

is-m1¥-1-Furuichi Yasuko fig.to

:¥-vJl,-IJ- • -fr'j :;t / • '7 /r'j I- Jl, Galerie Ivon Lambert fig.12

"i-7' ;,_', . 71:,,7;,,eJJli-\:§lii\li§i Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art / Petri Vertanen cat.no.23

fl* ~ Matsumoto Ryo (1 '7-\':,,f;i,!il,;t; j_ ..,;::i\,U, 1994'r-) figs.2, 3

*fli ;/) Ohashi Tsutomu fig.18

7't::':l->;J-/--!J--\'-:;f-:,, Apinan Poshyananda figs-4 , 5

.tff~tj~ Ueno Norihiro fig. 20, pp.76-78

Ji/UL# Washio Leben cat.no.a

7:;;7:gif

7' :J7'J.lef-1;)11;1,li j@~yl)-;>_ I

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