Artivism as a collective and collaborative movement stems from restoring artistic activities to generate direct social intervention in communities.
By
Idi Subandy Ibrahim
·6 minutes read
Literary critic H.B. Jassin once said that artists embodied the internal power of a nation. In them (poets, authors, painters, sculptors, composers, and other creators) were the accumulation and formation of either the internal wealth or poverty of a nation. Artists were also transmitters of this internal power through their creative work, in the form of poems, stories, plays, paintings, sculptures, songs, and others.
His statement, made more than seven decades ago, is still manifested today. The sharpness of their senses and the sensitivity of their conscience allow artists to provide a testimony of the life issues they experience. Testimony and understanding of reality generate self-expression and creativity for some artists, which then encourage social solidarity and engagement.
We have been witness to a tremendous escalation in environmental damage in the last three decades.
The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) have told us about the extent of the damage to watersheds, the rate of forest destruction, critically endangered lands, and various environmental damage. The ecological crisis continues to threaten the safety of human life and biodiversity in Indonesia.
The ecological disasters before our eyes have encouraged some artists to engage directly in environmental issues and fight against various practices of ecocide, or destruction of habitats or the natural environment by human activity, through their works.
Artivism, which combines art and activism, has appeared spontaneously in the vocabulary of contemporary social movements. Artivism as a collective and collaborative movement stems from restoring artistic activities to generate direct social intervention in communities.
Some believe this will reduce the creative independence of artists, but others see it as an opportunity for artivists to be directly involved in social change.
In eco-artivism, art as activism for restoring the environment, artists become witnesses and cultural actors in their respective communities. Artists’ concern for nature shows how our shared space and future are being threatened.
The emotions manifested in their artwork echo not only nature’s cries of pain, but also the artist\'s prophetic apprehension about decadent lifestyles and environmental degradation.
Take for example, the environmental art project “Imah Budaya Cigondewah” (Cigondewah cultural home) by artist Tisna Sanjaya of Bandung. It is his response to the development of an area that does not heed environmental preservation and is instead practicing what the artist deems to be "the process of destroying the environment, human values and local culture that serve as a buffer zone".
The idea for the project emerged from the agitation the artist felt at finding that the water in the river, which used to flow "full of love", had become "full of toxic waste". It is his response to the conversion of rural agricultural lands into a concrete forest for industry, as well as the capitalization and commodification of living spaces that marginalized local communities from the natural environment.
The idea for the project emerged from the agitation the artist felt at finding that the water in the river, which used to flow "full of love", had become "full of toxic waste"
A similar project has been launched by multimedia artist Setu Legi of Yogyakarta to rise up in "artistic confrontation" against the root causes of environmental disasters, in collaboration with Taring Padi, a so-called radical art group. Legi uses paintings, sculptures, murals, stencils, screenprints, photographs, and audio media as well as installations, some made from natural materials like soil.
Legi\'s work highlights the political-economic triggers of cultural marginalization and environmental destruction, caused by the indiscriminate clearing of land for plantations and mines that involve multinational companies and domestic powers, at both the local and national levels.
For Legi, digital media, which can spread art among the public and engender public intimacy, is actually part of the environmental crisis. It produces electronic waste (e-waste) in addition to the material impacts of the physical infrastructure used to store digital data, such as cables, hardware, electrical outlets and buildings. Legi mentions that another environmental problem of the digital age was the abundance of voices and images that cause cultural and mental pollution (Jurriëns, 2018).
The use of art as an environmental movement is reminiscent of an event in June 2016, when Greenpeace persuaded prominent composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi to play on a specially constructed “iceberg” located 100 meters from a melting glacier as part of a campaign to save the Arctic. Einaudi turned 8 million voices into his composition, “Elegy for the Arctic”, which was specially composed to give voice to protect one part of the world we love.
A similar movement was also carried out by the late spiritualist, architect and humanist, Y.B. Mangunwijaya. He decided to stay and manage the Code River settlement out of his deep concern about the reality of life endured by the marginalized community. Romo Mangun\'s works, as well as personality, depicted his broad devotion to the environment and life.
The artist\'s only “weapon” for battling the ecological threats is symbolic language, both visual and textual. From their artworks, to a certain extent, we are able to view the complex and intertwined sociocultural, political, and ecological relationships and conflicts as the artists’ personal testimonies and understanding. Their conscience and feelings are reflected in a language of expression that sees individual apprehension become social concern.
With their rich language, artists allow natural and material objects to speak. In their eyes, forests, trees, seas, waves, winds, water, and mountains may scream or moan.
Romo Mangun\'s works, as well as personality, depicted his broad devotion to the environment and life.
Poet Rendra wrote: Aku mendengar suara / Jerit hewan yang terluka / Ada orang memanah rembulan / Ada anak burung terjatuh dari sarangnya / Orang-orang harus dibangunkan / Kesaksian harus diberikan / Agar kehidupan bisa terjaga.
[I heard a cry / the cries of a wounded animal / someone hit the moon with an arrow / a chick falls from its nest / people must be awakened / testimony must be given / so life can be protected]
For Rendra, poets are the guardians of the natural, a spiritual balance for the operation of secular institutions. Artists deal with members of living communities, and thus cannot be separated from the problems of that community.
Perhaps this also applies to writer Seno Gumira Ajidarma. His short story “Macan” was also inspired by the cries of animals hurt by cattle theft that infringes upon common sense, was it not? Here, the author represents the voice of the voiceless. Poets represent the emanation that shrieks from the people\'s neglected souls, don’t they?
“True artists feel deeper and instill more refinement to the purity of life values and become the inherent enemies of despotism, injustice, falsehood and impropriety. This is reflected in their creations, although only in the forms of wailing and weeping. Broadly speaking, they are warriors of justice, truth and honesty.” That is what H.B. Jassin described more than seven decades ago in Pengarang Indonesia dan Dunianya [Indonesian creators and their world].
IDI SUBANDY IBRAHIM is a Culture, Media, and Communications Researcher