JakartaPost-Dec 22, 2024
The abrupt closure of an art exhibition at Jakarta’s National Gallery exploring themes related to former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has sparked concerns about the direction of freedom of expression in the country. The exhibition of the work of Yogyakarta-based artist Yos Suprapto, titled “Awakening: Land for Food Sovereignty”, went viral after it was unexpectedly canceled on its opening day on Thursday. Yos said in a statement that the gallery had initially requested that he exclude five paintings “relating to a figure who was once widely popular among the Indonesian public” from the exhibition. One of the five paintings depicted a farmer handfeeding rice to a man in business attire against a red shadow of a dog, and another depicted a naked man and woman having sex surrounded by rats in front of a building shaped like the Garuda Palace in Nusantara. Yos initially rejected the gallery’s request, saying the paintings were key to the exhibition’s narrative. A few hours before the exhibition’s opening, Yos agreed to cover two of the five paintings with black fabric but insisted that he would rather pack up his paintings and go back to Yogyakarta if he were forced to take the other three paintings down. The gallery ultimately canceled the exhibition without notification, locked the exhibition room and shut its lights off, even though visitors were already queuing outside. The closure sparked public condemnation, with activists drawing parallels to New Order-era authoritarian censorship. “Prohibiting Yos Suprapto’s art because it contained criticism of former president Jokowi is an irresponsible misstep,” Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid said on Friday. “It has sent a message to others that any criticism of the government will not be tolerated. This pattern of repression cannot be allowed,” he said. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/indonesia/2024/12/22/closure-of-national-gallery-exhibition-sparks-censorship-concerns.html.
