Puan Maharani Encourages Progress Of National Artwork

Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, spoke with art actors in Yogyakarta, Sunday (7/7/2024). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, hopes that the Indonesian people can continue to be proud and support the progress of national works of art after visiting exhibitions, festivals, and the annual contemporary art market in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), known as ARTJOG.

He said his visit to the 2024 ARTJOG which was held at the Jogja National Museum, Yogyakarta, was a form of appreciation and support for the artwork of the artists.

"My family and I are also art connoisseurs, so I like to see and enjoy art exhibitions and festivals. Moreover, ARTJOG is a fairly large fine art exhibition," said Puan, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, July 7.

At the exhibition, he admitted that he was amazed by the work of a number of artists, one of which was the work of Agus Suwage and Titarubi which featured interactive installation works with various dimensions and the media.

Agus displayed human ear objects as a symbol of the 'tolerant' sense of hearing in a social space that was considered full of noise. Meanwhile, Titarubi grows various types of rice accompanied by recordings of prayers, sayings, and praise from indigenous groups of people who can be heard in several rooms.

Some of the works of other artists that Puan saw, including those of Rangga Purbaya, Agus Suwage, Eko Prawoto, Haris Purnomo, and young artist Ramadhan Ali Fatkhur. He also took the time to see the works of 36 child and adolescent artists aged 6-15 years in the ARTJOG Kids area.

He assessed that the ARTJOG exhibition was present not only to show artwork, but also to social movements to help others where the program was named Artcare Indonesia. In the Artcare area, all the proceeds from the sale of works of art in the area will be donated to parties in need, both artists and the wider community.

"This is a very useful art exhibition. Apart from being spoiled by beautiful and charming works. Our hearts are also touched by the social events they make," he said.

The 2024 ARTJOG will be held from June 28 to September 1 with the theme Forecast by the curatorial team which means something we imagine will happen in the future, which is close to and far away.

In this year's ARTJOG, there are works of 48 individual adult artists as well as groups from within and outside the country that are displayed. There are also 70 works created by 36 child and adolescent artists who display fresh and filterless perspective works about the world around society.