Indonesia and World Tourism News

Young artists present Yogyakarta landmarks

Yogyakarta Province, (The Jakarta Post) The 61 works on display, comprising paintings, sculptures and graphic designs, were produced by 51 artists, mostly young ones.

Entitled Komedi Putar (Merry-Go-Round), the exhibition features works depicting merry-go-rounds and the famous Sekaten night market.

Such examples could be seen through Gintani Nur Apresia Swastika’s Effortless (silkscreen on canvas, fabric collage, 2008) depicting the scenery around one of the city’s old landmarks, the post office building.

Yogyakarta’s noted pedicab inspired Suharmanto to create Indahnya Tadi Malam (The Beauty of Last Night, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2007), which depicts a driver soundly sleeping in his pedicab.

Other city landmarks can be found in Giring Prihatyasono’s Menggendong Tradisi (Carrying Tradition), Solichin’s Menanti Rejeki (Waiting for Reward) and Mulyo Gunarso’s Hidup Semalam (One Night’s Life).

The exhibition’s curator, Mikke Susanto, told The Jakarta Post that Komedi Putar was selected as theme of the exhibition as it is being held concurrently with this year’s Sekaten night market.

The Sekaten night market is held annually in the month of Maulud, according to the Javanese calendar, or Rabi’ul Awwal according to the Islamic calendar (lunar calendar).

The Sekaten itself is a religious celebration held annually by the Yogyakarta Sultanate to celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad, which falls on the 12th day of Rabi’ul Awwal.

Mikke said Komedi Putar was also chosen since the merry-go-round has long been the icon of the night market. Aside from that, he said, a “merry-go-round” also implies that everything, including life, keeps rotating — sometimes up and down.

For the gallery, Mikke said, the theme carries both a poetic and political meaning. It is poetic in the sense that the city has many cultural marks to take note of and preserve.

“Like Sekaten, for example, we can make use of it to show the city’s image, romanticism and attractions,” Mikke said.

In term of politics, he added, through the visual arts exhibited, the gallery aims to open visitors’ eyes and minds to the great potential the city has to offer.

“The task of the artists here is expressing the ideas of beauty through their works of art. Members of the community, including the authorities, are free to make use of them as a new map of the city and do something about it.”
Source: www.thejakartapost.com

Add comment March 31st, 2008

Strong earthquake in Aceh, Indonesia, no tsunami

JAKARTA, March 30 (Xinhua) — A 6.2 magnitude tectonic quake which jolted Indonesia’s Aceh province Sunday morning had no potential to trigger tsunami, an official said.

    ”The quake was not followed by tsunami,” Amran, an official of the Meteorological and Geophysic Station in Jakarta, said Sunday.

    The quake occurred at 00:30 Jakarta time (1730 GMT Saturday) with epicenter at 113 km northwest Sinabang town of Aceh province and at 30 km under sea bed. But there was no report of damage or casualties.

    In 2004, over 170,000 people were dead in Aceh province in northern tip of Sumatra Island after a tsunami triggered by a powerful quake devastated coastal areas of the province and others countries in southeast Asia.

    Indonesia is laid at a vulnerable zone so called “the Pacific Ring of Fire” where two continental plates, stretching from the Western Hemisphere through Japan and Southeast Asia, meet that cause frequent volcanic movements. 

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/

Add comment March 31st, 2008