Dadang Christanto - Art & Identity

They Give Evidence, 1996-1997 - 16 standing figures holding clothes, terracotta powder, resin, fibreglass and cloth.

"Dadang Christanto (1957) is an Indonesian born artist who sees his role as an art activist. Dadang's professional creative life grows out of his experiences in Indonesia and in Australia, and encompasses the deepest levels of human experience and identity. Often his work is in response to the suffering of Indonesians persecuted for the political and religious beliefs or their ethnicity, primarily during the Suharto regime. Christanto was only eight years old when his father was arrested and soon after killed during this time of civil distress. This has been a strong influence throughout Christanto's artmaking, as he continues to reinforce his identity and experience his native history through his sculpture and performance works. Dadang feels that people who live in a difficult, repressive places, develop a different concept of identity and that individuals who are forced to show only their public, official facade are also in danger of losing their private identity. Now reciding in Australia, Christanto is able to embrace his identity and share his concepts behind this ideo with the artworld."

Heads from the North, 2004 - installation, 66 bronze heads

I'm attracted to Dadang's work personally, as I too like Dadang have Indonesian heritage. Because my family are 7th generation Chinese in Indonesia, the concept of Identity has always been an important concept in my family as our Chinese identity overtime has been lost through the generations in Indonesia. Up until recently, I had always thought of myself as being Indonesian because it is the culture which I identify most with. However, my father told me a couple years ago that we are infact originally Chinese and that we have a 'made-up' surname because Chinese immigrants were made to change their surnames to avoid racially motivated abuse/discrimination in Indonesian society. So really, I am of Chinese, Indonesian and Dutch background, first generation in Australia; an individual who identifies with 4 different cultures! I think the more the merrior, race and identity seem so heavily integrated. When I was young I didn't really understand or appreciate my cultural diversity, but today it's something that I'm very proud of :-)


http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/multicultural_art/artists/construct_ourselves/co_art3_dadang.html