International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 2

International Journal of Indonesian Studies

Autumn 2015

International Journal of Indonesian Studies
ISSN 2203-4692

Volume 1, Issue 2, Autumn 2015
“Joko Widodo”
(acrylic on 50x70cm canvas, 2014).
Dewi Candraningrum

Page

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When I painted Joko Widodo
The portrait I painted of Joko Widodo in August 2014 was to open the story of resistance toward a
general involved in the 1998 student shootings. I painted two portraitures of Wiji Thukul the previous
month. 1998’s history and the massive sexual attack on Indonesian Chinese women have been
denounced from official records and documents. History is written by the victors, and (her)story is
written on muted walls. The politics of memory, Gesichtspolitik, has never occupied a central place in our
self-understanding of national history. Poetry is a measure, an attempt, an attest, that goes beyond a
genocide memorial—a national monument to victims of past conflict, mass-rape, land-grab and massive
angst under the repressive Authoritarian New Order regime. Hopes for Joko Widodo are dim at present
with the weakening-function of KPK under his patronage. Colors in the portrait are intended to exhibit a
poetic voicelessness. Gesichtspolitik is meant to give voice to those who are being disremembered.
Painting addresses the role of politics in shaping collective memory. They connect the construction of
identity and monuments to justice (Surakarta, 24 February 2015).