It was a beautiful afternoon in Jogja. The people are celebrating the Art Fair clossing party that December 31st 1974, and getting ready to close the year. The respectable jury has choose the winner of the best painting and are ready to handout the awards. The judges: Umar Kayam, Sudjoko, Popo Iskandar, Fajar Sidik, Alex Papadimi, Kusnandi, and Affandi. The winners: Widayat, Abas Alibasa, Aming Prayitno (ASRI Yogya), and one winner from Jakarta, and one from Bandung. All was good that day.
Nothing prepares them for the events coming in next. A bunch of students, (the winner's students to be precised), decided to protest the winnings. They basically said, you guys are old - Thus only choses the winners based on your preference of decorative paintings and those whom you are familiar with. To be dramatic, they send out a big flower arrangement with black ribbons, a statement letter with 5 bullet-points, and signature from 14 students in various diciplines.
Here it is: (translation taken from IVAA-Archive)
Black December 1974 Statement
Considering that over the past several years, art and cultural activities are done without any clear cultural strategy, we draw the conclusion producers of arts and culture are not in the smallest sense aware of the discourse regarding the most basic human problems in our culture. This signals that some time has passed since a spiritual erosion took place, which is currently destroying the development of art and culture.
It is for this reason that we feel it necessary, that in this black December in 1974, we state our opinions about the tendency that is manifesting itself in the forms of contemporary Indonesian paintings.
1. That the diversity of Indonesian painting is a reality that may not be denied, nonetheless this diversity does not in itself show healthy development.
2. That in order to guarantee sustainable cultural development, painters are beckoned to provide spiritual directions that are based on the values of humanity, and are oriented to the realities of social life and political-economic culture.
3. That creativity is the destiny of painters that goes through whatever means possible in
order to arrive at new perspectives for Indonesian painting.
4. That therefore the identity of Indonesian painting has an immediate and clear existence.
5. That what creates a dead-end for the development of Indonesian painting to this day is old and over-used concepts, that are still held on to by the establishment, arts and cultural producers and established artists.
For the sake of our painting, it is now time to bestow an honor upon that establishment, which is the honor for the cultural retiree.
"Are you planning on destroying the national culture?" That's the headline of one of the newspaper that cover this event. That is also the question that the ASRI's officials asked Hardi and friends two days after the statement was released. Five ASRI students: Hardi, B. Munni Ardhi, Harsono, Sitti Adiyati and Ris Purwana were given the boot by the campus after the interogation. Regardless of many attempts to start a dialogue, the students failed to defend themselves. It is their own teachers that they mock with this Black December statement. Widayat, a lecturer in ASRI and one of the winner, was quoted by one newspaper saying "those people are savages [the people behind Black December - red]". Sukarman, one of the officials in ASRI at that time, also confirmed to TEMPO that it is Abas Alibasa - another winner - who instructed for those students to be de-activated from all campus activities.
The thing is, these students did not act on rebelious nature alone. On a discussion regarding the event, Drs. Sudarmaji - ASRI lecturer - state that Indonesia is entering its 5th period in the Art Scene - the slaughtering period. Muryoto Hartoyo said that it is unfortunate that the exhibition only includes four cities: Jakarta, Bandung, Yogya and Surabaya. There's also lack of direction and mentoring system, thus only giving access to the established artist. "The impresionist, expresionist, surrealist and others did not earn a place and are not represented. All winners are decorative paintings," he added.
These students represents those without representation. The flower is a symbol of their grief of the death in creativity amongst Indonesia's art scene at the moment. And they pay the price. But later on, this leads the way to more great things in Hardi's life....