An antithesis to the Yogyakarta-Bandung debate
By Ian Tee

Fadjar Sidik, 'Space Dynamics', oil on canvas, 100 x 139cm. Image courtesy of Art Agenda, S.E.A.

In 1954, the Yogyakarta artist and critic Trisno Sumardjo wrote a seminal review of an exhibition at the Balai Budaya (Cultural Hall) in Jakarta. Titled 'Bandung is the Slave of the Western Laboratory', he drew a sharp line between the Bandung and Yogyakarta artists, describing art by the former as “artificial”, “bloodless” and victims of Western teachers, whereas works by the latter were celebrated as spontaneous and reflecting the soul of Indonesian experiences. Due to the association of abstract tendencies and formalism with the Bandung school, and a social realist tenor with Yogyakarta, this polemic had a profound impact on the historicisation of Indonesian abstract art.

The episode was a major moment in the discourse of Indonesian modern art, canonised in literature that continues to be referenced today, such as Claire Holt's 'Art in Indonesia' (1967). In her book, she termed this "opposition" the Yogyakarta-Bandung debate. However, there are two problems with the perpetuation of this polemic. Firstly, it oversimplifies the reality of art made from the 1950s to 1960s, at the expense of individuals who did not fit within the binary of the two schools. Secondly, this narrative limits the development of abstraction in Indonesia to one which aligns with the Western canon, that it was a formalist exercise derived through analytical cubism.

Fadjar Sidik’s (1930-2004) shift to an abstract language in the early 1960s provides a striking case study that challenges the two issues mentioned above. He is an under-recognised pioneer of Indonesian abstract painting who fell through the cracks of this Bandung-dominated narrative.

Fadjar Sidik, 'Untitled (Balinese Village), pencil on paper, 21 x 33cm. Collection of Nasirun.

Born in 1930 in Surabaya, Sidik moved to Yogyakarta in 1952 to enrol in Gadjah Mada University’s Faculty of Literature and Pedagogy. It was also at this time that he became attracted to the art scene after meeting Hendra Gunawan. Responding to his calling to be a painter, Sidik left university a year later without finishing his degree and joined Sanggar Pelukis Rakyat (People's Painter Studio) under the mentorship of Hendra Gunawan.

Hendra’s influence on Sidik during these formative years cannot be overstated. The older artist emphasised a sense of social consciousness and encouraged his students to explore their own unique visual language. Sidik’s early drawings and paintings were carefully rendered from observation in a naturalistic manner, depicting scenes from everyday life. This style evolved into increasingly expressive modes, especially evident in sketches that capture the character of his subjects with swift, bold strokes.

Fadjar Sidik, 'Komposisi Bentuk', oil on canvas, 65 x 65cm. Image courtesy of Art Agenda, S.E.A.

However, Sidik's time in Bali from 1957 to 1961 would prove to be a pivotal period in his life, sparking a radical change in his outlook and art. In the artist’s words: “In the 1950s, what shook my feelings was the national revolution and humanism. So I fought vigorously and emotionally to portray people’s lives, and sought Indonesian forms. But in the last 30 years, there has been a new, more powerful dynamic that moved me, it is the melancholy that originates from industrialisation...” This realisation spurred Sidik’s search for new forms.

As urbanisation and tourism transformed Bali’s landscape and the communal life, the artist grew increasingly disillusioned. He found the introduction of mass-manufactured industrial products, such as plastic objects and automobiles, jarring against this natural setting. In response to the social changes around him, Sidik began to look inwards and express emotional impulses through abstract formations. Initially, these compositions had biomorphic forms that grew from clusters of shapes and organic lines. They register a sense of spontaneity with loose brushwork and bleeds of colour.

Instead of replicating a pre-designed object, Sidik wanted to create a new form that reflected his mood and inner thoughts. More importantly, this process was a negotiation of technological development, nature and traditional culture. Abstraction came through the artist’s sensitivity to his changing environment rather than a formalist question or Western theory. This artistic process sets Sidik apart from his Bandung school contemporaries. The resulting body of work ‘Dinamika Keruangan’ (Space Dynamics) became a lifelong exploration for Sidik over the next 40 years.

Fadjar Sidik, 'Metropole', 1996, oil on canvas, 90 x 70cm. Image courtesy of Art Agenda, S.E.A.

Fadjar Sidik, 'Dinamika Keruangan', 1998, oil on canvas, 105.5 x 75cm. Image courtesy of Art Agenda, S.E.A.

Paintings made after the 1970 synthesised the modernist language of abstraction while recalling the aesthetics of traditional art forms. The question of identity was a constant in Sidik’s notion of “expressive design”, which was a social consciousness he carried forward from his interactions with Hendra. Even though the artist claimed to be intuitively arranging forms in space and working from his subconscious, it is clear that he was drawn to Indonesia’s rich cultural heritage. The appearance of script-like marks that recall Islamic calligraphy, as well as the interlocking grids in his ‘Metropole’ series that resemble tikar weavings all show Sidik engaging with tradition. Thick stripes and motifs drawn from woven fabrics are imaginatively reconfigured in his ‘Lurik’ and ‘Fantasi Lurik’ series.

Conceptually, one could say that he was reimagining the expressive possibility of these crafts in light of modernisation. Abstraction is not simply a reduction from observed reality or formal play, but a critical device to put across ideas about the changing social environment. Sidik was also weaving profound connections between abstract painting, textile art and Islamic geometry through fundamental design principles and simple shapes.

Fadjar Sidik, 'Untitled (Lurik)', marker on paper, 27 x 37cm. Collection of Nasirun.

Fadjar Sidik, 'Sangkala', oil on canvas, 90.5 x 70cm. Image courtesy of Art Agenda, S.E.A.

In 2017, the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) inaugurated a gallery named in honour of Sidik on the occasion of the academy’s 67th anniversary. At present, he is best remembered for his career as an educator. He was the Head of Painting department between 1967 and 1983, before serving as Assistant Rector from 1984 to 1992. S.M. Subroto, who enrolled in 1962, remarked that the faculty “became alive” under Sidik’s leadership. He brought to the classroom not only his bold personality but also experiences from his interactions with senior artists, such as Hendra, Affandi and Sudjojono.

However, it is precisely Sidik’s role as an anomaly in the history of Indonesian abstraction that is his greatest legacy. He provided an antithesis to the Yogyakarta-Bandung debate that polarised populist nationalism and Western modernity. In the words of curator Suwarno Wisetrotomo, Sidik was “a gray area that contradicted the general narrative”. He was a part of the Yogyakarta school and yet his works defied expectations, shifting from expressive representation to a purely abstract idiom while staying true to social values inherited from the sanggar.