Works of realism maestro Basoeki Abdullah on display at Jakarta museum

Indonesian realism maestro Basoeki Abdullah's archived works have gone on display at the artist's namesake museum in Jakarta. The exhibition titled "Lacak!!!" (Trace) opened on Tuesday and will run until Nov. 22. 

As reported by news agency Antara, the late artist's collection curated for the exhibition features a wide range of works he created throughout his career, including photographs, magazine covers, postcards and advertising art as well as personal files and documents, like his daily journal entries and news articles on him. 

"Basoeki Abdullah was an artist who from early on understood the importance of archiving, so starting at young age he collected his [works]. The exhibition is important for the public to get to know Basoeki Abdullah and his journey," said Restu Gunawan, art director at the Culture and Education Ministry, during the opening ceremony on Tuesday. 

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The collection items come from various sources, including the museum itself, the Dicti Art Laboratory in Yogyakarta, the Jakarta Arts Council (DKJ), the National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia (ANRI) and two mass media companies, Tempo and Kompas.

According to Mikke Suanto, the exhibition's curator, preparations for the exhibition took approximately three months. He added that he had been a keen collector of Basoeki's work since school.

"I have collected his works since I was still at school, where I kept news clippings on Basoeki Abdullah. The exhibition is something I had dreamt of since college," Mikke said. 

Mikke further said that Basoeki was widely covered by the media during his time, adding that there were numerous articles from the 1940s that could not be retrieved. 

The exhibition at the Basoeki Abdullah Museum also attempts to shed light on the personal life of the maestro, who, in addition to painting, also enjoyed to dance and play musical instruments.

"Indeed the activities outside painting are difficult to trace, because non-media archive [materials], such as letters and others, are difficult to find," Mikke said. (liz/kes)

Source: Works of realism maestro Basoeki Abdullah on display at Jakarta museum