In a dark room light by the dim glow of a lantern, an old bed with a white mosquito net is displayed as a central point. Beside the bed, a pandanus mat and a small table were arranged like a simple workspace, as if someone had just sat there not too long ago. It’s apparent from the coffee that’s only been drunk a little, an opened box of kinang showing its undisturbed contents, painting tools, and an unfinished picture of resin brackets.
The installation artwork is a form of representation of the memory of Sriwati Masmundari, a woman who, until the end of her life, was diligent in painting damar brackets. The composition of Masmundari’s drawings looks close to the wayang beber style, only the painting pattern uses an innocent or naive style. The theme that was worked on was also not far from the life of the people of the era, such as watching ketoprak and traveling.
When entering the space of “Masmundari Memoria” in the Roots <> Routes Exhibition, Biennale Jogja XVI Equator #6 2021, the first thing that comes to mind apart from the bygone era and traditional impressions, is the thought of the power of art institutions to “create” artists.
If we come out of the showroom and see the pottery makers, batik makers, and other art workers who are closer to the traditional form. Our minds will see them as craftsmen or laborers. We won’t see the concept of “artistry” at all from the works they’ve produced. This, whether we realize it or not, is related to the social classification that occurs in our society.
When this simple review was drafted, I was reminded of Sanento Yuliman’s discussion of “Two Fine Arts”. In the essay, Sanento divides the face of art into two groups, the upper art, and the lower art. The upper art “…is an art form which, in its birth and growth, was largely influenced by the information and consumption factors.” This, according to him, is related to the growth of the upper and middle layers of our society in the big cities.
While the lower art “… corresponds to the weak economy and low standard of living, practiced by the underprivileged and the uneducated (in the formal, modern way).” This art form relates to the tradition which production, distribution, and consumption take place in the lower and the middle social layer (middle-low) in big cities, especially in small towns and villages, even though there are products with a rather vast spread, even reaching the middle-upper in large cities, and even export.
Before entering the gallery and representative exhibition spaces, traditional artists, such as Masmundari, always placed themselves and work at the base of communities. Living from selling his work with a mechanical rhythm. Their working traditions have adapted to poverty and socio-cultural links that continue to demand innovation.
The process experienced a turning point when in 1987, Masmundari held an exhibition at Bentara Budaya Jakarta. Just as in the archives displayed in the “Masmundari Memoria” room, the article “Towards the Court of Indonesian Fine Arts” describes Masmundari’s journey to reach the peak of popularity, until his works have become sought after by collectors.
From there, it is clear that art institutions play an important role in reaching the upper social class. It plays a role in elevating the value and exclusivity of artistic goods so that they become symbols of strength and then have prestige values—something that is only needed by a social class whose economic considerations are no longer tied by concerns on how to fill their stomachs.
Like two sides of a coin, after these traditional goods access the upper area controlled by industry and materialization. The attitude of the people who produce these objects also changes. These items are now available solely for sale. Regretfully, Sanento said:
(They) don’t know how to make new things, they continue to make old stuff that is no longer of any use, and without the slightest control over the market. In frustration, they expect help from outsiders, and from upper parties, to market their work—to save their endangered “identity”.
Ironic indeed, when a physical identity becomes the pride of an ethnic group or community. The goods’ production now depends on the outside world’s demands, while they don’t even need the goods. They only see the products with the eyes of a foreign tourist. They have no valuable ties to the goods, except for mere exoticism.
In the archive “The Art of Damar Kurung as a Living Foundation”, Damar Kurung Masmundari was originally made with food coloring for bread on the media of used paper. Like other lower art artists, Masmundari continues to live in financial problems and has never escaped the trap of poverty. For the sake of their survival needs, the artists must work with anything they have that’s available; waste (paper, cans, plastic, etc.).
The response to reusing discarded materials is more resonant among the lower arts circles than the upper arts, even though such discourse is widely discussed in magnificent art spaces. In their position, the lower-class arts are also prone to become objects of ingenuity by traders, the government, industrial development, even upper-class artists, and the art institutions themselves.
The emergence of educated artists and art practitioners have monopolized exclusively the task of generating idea and creation. On several occasions, we can often see upper artists and art practitioners who use lower artists in the process of their artworks. Here, the lower artists often took the role of object materials, workers, or even laborers. When the artwork is put up in a gallery, these upper artists with all their reputations will talk at length (on the art) and feel “responsible” over their “ordered” art.
In the end, seeing the spread of openness of art views, the time has come to use the chance to reach artworks that are more partial to the lower social layer. Because only then can “art as work enjoyment” be enjoyed by every social level of society.
