The political in the poetic : an alternative reading of the Jendela Art Group's nascent years (1997-2003)

Abstract

This thesis discusses the hitherto overlooked political significance of the early poetical art of Kelompok Seni Rupa Jendela (KSRJ), or Jendela Art Group, one of Indonesia’s most prominent art collectives during the Reformasi era. I examine how Jendela constructs a poetical art language for their work and uses this visual and aesthetic language to create art which engages emotion, invites reflection and inspires imagination. This is significant, I suggest, as it highlights the artist’s lived experiences, perspectives, and observations of Indonesian society during a time of political transformations and social changes. I combine original research drawn from my fieldwork and artist interviews to examine and interpret a selection of Jendela’s artworks to show the political resonances emerging from the interactions between their poetical art and the political conditions of the time, and show how Jendela’s poetical art works with emotion, intuition, and imagination to articulate political concerns and experiences.

This thesis proposes the ‘the political in the poetic’ as an interpretive device to present an alternative perspective of the group, to demonstrate how they did not shun the socio-political realities of their time but instead made their opinions and deliberations felt through poetic works of art in the thematic chapters of Coretan (Transient Lines), Bayangan Bentuk (Allusion of Form), and Jiwa Ketok (Visible Soul). The political refers to the time and place – Yogyakarta during Reformasi, while the poetic refers to the group’s poetic sensibilities inspired by their Minangkabau culture. In combining the political with the poetic, I present a strategy and overarching framework for discussing and claiming the political resonance of Jendela’s poetic artworks produced during their formative years, while not disclaiming the group’s aesthetic and artistic values.