Hey, doc, there's an Affandi in my ward

[Dennis L. Fiddle]

[Image]

19970517

Hey, doc, there's an Affandi in my ward

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No, the patient's not hallucinating. In fact, the Affandi is just one of 200
paintings on view at siloam gleneagles. parvathi n

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acquisition policy[/sh] ART FOR health and healing -- this is the germ of an
idea being explored in a simple way at Siloam Gleneagles Hospital at Lippo
Caravacci. Soothing music is generally regarded as having a healthy and
calming influence, so why not art?

It's hard to walk into this hospital, located about an hour's drive from the
heart of Jakarta, and not be aware of art. On display are not just the token
still life or faded landscape print, but about 200 large and colourful
paintings. Some are owned by the hospital itself, others are on loan from
the Lippo Art Foundation, the Museum Universitas Pelita Harapan and the
Lippo Group. Johannes Oentoro, president of Siloam Gleneagles Hospital,
explained that the idea of incorporating art into the hospital began with
its construction about two years ago. Inspiration came too from the Arthur
Lim Eye Clinic at the Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore, which is full of
paintings of a very high quality.

Both Mr Oentoro and James Riady, deputy chairman of the Lippo Group, share a
deep love for art, and they saw numerous benefits arising from real works of
art hanging in the hospital.

It was seen as a way of supporting and encouraging Indonesian art and
artists. Most important, in Mr Oentoro's opinion, it would benefit the
patients, perhaps help in their healing process in an emotional or
psychological way. And of course create a less sterile, more artistic
ambience for the doctors and staff.

The artwork was acquired largely by Mr Oentoro himself and Mr Riady from the
four major Indonesian art centres of Jakarta, Bali, Bandung and Yogyakarta.
Paintings that were moderately priced and thematically peaceful were
selected; essentially they were made as "emotional purchases" rather than as
investments.

When it comes to specifics regarding insurance and valuation of the
collection as well as security, Mr Oentoro is reticent. He says these are
angles to be examined in depth, with critical decisions taken, at a later
date. An educated guess would put many of the collection's individual
paintings at under 20 million rupiah (depending on when they were acquired),
with names like Affandi costing well over that amount.

Among the artists cited by Mr Oentoro as being very special to him is Awiki,
an artist who paints despite severe odds, such as having progressively
impaired vision. Awiki's paintings are huge: Fishermen's Boats and
Fishermen's Activities each measure 148 x 288.5cm.

The hospital has a continuing acquisition policy, with room for as many as
500-600 paintings. The focus will continue to be Indonesian artists or
foreign artists painting Indonesian themes. But the collection also has some
examples of Western art, most of them gifts. The Rembrandt etching in the
hospital's chapel is from Mr Riady's personal collection.

There is also an exquisitely preserved Brussels tapestry after Raphael
entitled Fiery Serpents from the end-1500s. Woven in wool silk, the incident
it illustrates is Biblical and refers to the time in the Old Testament when
God sent down serpents to punish those who spoke against Him and Moses.
Eventually there was repentance and forgivenes. A bronze serpent was created
and mounted high on a pole; anyone bitten by a serpent who saw this would be
saved.

With its theme of healing, the tapestry belongs perfectly within the
hospital space. There is also a subliminal connection between the motif of
the serpent on the pole and the serpent staff of the healer.

A popular theme, again appropriate in the context of the hospital, is that
of the "mother and child", many examples of which are hung near the
maternity or neo-natal ICU wards. Interestingly, even within this one
figurative sub-category, there is a wide variety of interpretations.
Sutikno's Mother And Child 1 and 2 are idealised depictions while Mother And
Child by Iswanto is more expressionist.

The oldest paintings in the hospital date from the "Beautiful Indies" period
of Indonesian art, when foreign artists who painted in Indonesia depicted it
as an idyllic and beautiful country. Flamboyant Near A Country Road painted
by Ernest Dezentje (1884-1971), is an example both of the genre and the
artist's own preference -- the beautiful flamboyant tree was a favourite
subject.

Woman In Sleep is by Liu Kang, who was born in China and eventually settled
down in Singapore. In the 1940s and '50s he travelled to Indonesia which
became an important source of inspiration. T HE collection has contemporary
works as well as important paintings from the formative periods of
Indonesian art. Affandi, born around 1907 and considered one of the fathers
of modern Indonesian art, comes immediately to mind. His oeuvre was vast,
including nudes, self portraits and the daily life of the common man, all
rendered with empathy. The Affandi in the hospital collection entitled
Portrait Of A Man is typical of his work. Another Affandi was recently
acquired by Mr Oentoro at a Christie's auction.

"The strength of the collection is that apart from older artists, there are
really interesting younger artists," says Amir Sidharta, curator at the
Museum Universitas Pelitan Harapan.

At the hospital, Mr Sidharta picks the upbeat work of Ugo Untoro, Thanks To
The Sun, as one of his favourites. The viewer is invited to decipher the
symbolic meanings and juxtapositions within the painting -- amorphous
shapes, a pot of flowers, a man on horseback, a row of trees.

Suminto is another artist who explores symbolism in paintings such as
Seeking For Tranquility and The Anxieties Of Yours, Mine, And Also Of My
Storks. The visual imagery would appear to have been derived from, or at
least influenced by, the Indonesian symbol of the gunungan -- an example of
how traditional elements are reinterpreted in the modern Indonesian context.
The gunungan from the wayang kulit has a triangular shape with a large tree
of life painted on it, and serves as a sort of cosmic mountain.

Among the few abstracts are the works of Edi Sunaryo and Ardianto Pranata,
both of whom deal with geometric forms. Ardianto's paintings such as Fish
and Games In A Square render geometric designs in an organic rather than
mechanical fashion. The paintings are not abstruse for the titles offer
passageways into them. Games In A Square could be read as a spectator sport
in a packed stadium, or as a board game; the fun is in the interpretation.

Central to the collection is the belief that the paintings should provide
some therapeutic value to patients receptive to such artistic stimuli. It is
thus understandable that paintings which were violent or disturbing were
deemed unsuitable and not acquired. The resultant collection is one that
veers towards mere prettiness as its worst, and towards a powerful, calm or
deeply emotional experience at its best.

In future, if all goes well, research will be done to ascertain how patients
respond to various types of paintings. This might highlight where potential
sources of healing lie, which could lead to changes in the makeup of the
collection.

The sick today are often aesthetically deprived; art needs patrons -- to
bring art and healing together is a creative way of helping the community, a
venture in which everyone benefits.
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dfi...@mn.uswest.net (Dennis L. Fiddle)
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