Bahasa Regenerative force
Senior Indonesian artist Tisna Sanjaya was a founding member of the 1980s Bandung-based art movement Jeprut—a Sundanese word for a unique regenerative force. During Suharto's reign, Sanjaya staged performance-based 'happenings' of a strategically improvised and abstract nature. To shield the Jeprut artists from Government censure, works were performed and concluded quickly, existing only as ephemeral experience. Adopting the mantra 'say it (even if bitter) and then pray it', Sanjaya's recent work can be understood as art activism, publicly broadcast to local and global effect in the post-Reformasi era.
Sanjaya's installation, Seni penjernih dialog (Art as purifying dialogue) takes the form of an Indonesian boat, the kora-kora, historically used as a trading vessel but today popularly recognised as a fairground ride. In an improvised performance, the artist leads participants through a series of public discussions on a range of critical issues. These are recorded and installed as a continuation of the work: a cross-cultural dialogue striving for greater religious, cultural, social and transnational understanding.
Art as purifying dialogue introduces the democratic process into the gallery space, offering a social contract through which to speak one's mind, to be heard and to engage responsibly as a global citizen. Sanjaya suggests his work is 'an optimistic symbol of hope facing changes in the world'. With the artist's determination to 'find balance for humanity's voice, a polite local ethic and spiritual value in the form of art', Sanjaya provides the spark for a regeneration of energies in Indonesia's contemporary era.
