Artist Tisna Sanjaya on Destruction and Making a Difference
Jakarta. When trees become timber, paper, tissues and millions of other things, we invite destruction into our households. When we allow factories to release toxic waste into the rivers, we quench our thirst from a cup of death.
The doomsday is well-nigh. Wildfires, sea ice melting in the Arctic, disappearance of islands, and manmade disasters are part of a global mass extinction show involving wildlife and humans.
This is why activists rally to have governments improve their environmental policies and journalists tirelessly write and report to raise awareness.
Many artists speak up too, one of them is Tisna Sanjaya. The 58-year-old artist from Bandung, West Java, combines visual and performing arts to express his concerns over destruction of nature.
"I believe art can make a difference in the world today," Tisna said during a press conference at Erasmus Huis in Jakarta on Sunday (11/09).
The Dutch cultural center is hosting Tisna's exhibition of oil paintings, sketches and installation works titled "Siklus Abu" ("Life Cycle of Ashes").
"Siklus Abu talks about our life cycle. We are made of ashes and to ashes shall we return," Tisna said.
He believes unbridled capitalism will only hasten our departure.
One of the installations, "Oray-Orayan" ("Snake Effigy"), presents a gigantic snake made of cooking woks neatly arranged on a steel frame. Its mouth opens to devour fresh crops, bananas, cassava, corn and sweet potatoes. The snake's tail, made of five-gallon bottles, sucks water from traditional earthen jugs.
"The jugs contain freshwater from 99 wells in Bandung. The artwork portrays what's currently happening in the city," the artist said.
The depletion of underground water supplies forces many households in Bandung to buy fresh water from street sellers. The city, known as "Parahyangan" ("Abode of Gods"), has lost much of its natural beauty.
"My neighborhood in Cigondewah [south of Bandung] used to be leafy and fertile. Now it's become hot and dry. Instead of paddies, garment factories now dominate the landscape. Many of them dump their waste into our river," Tisna complained.
His "Seni Karuhun" ("Art of the Ancestors") is a huge coal painting on the floor, roofed with a black net and white balloons made of plastic bags suspended on bamboo poles.
The painting features three men seemingly trapped under the net; plastic bags are inscribed with a sentence "Seni adalah do'a" ("Art is a prayer").
"With this artwork, we pray to make a difference. We wish nothing but harmony between man and nature," the artist said. Andang Bachtiar, geologist at the National Energy Council, praised the exhibition.
"It's a great exhibition. The artist has captured distress signals of the earth. His works will hopefully raise awareness on these pressing issues," Andang said.
Tisna Sanjaya's works will be on display at Erasmus Huis until Oct. 31.
"Tisna urges us to respect nature. He reminds us this respect is needed to secure our future," Erasmus Huis director Dr. Michael Rauner said.
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