Selasar Sunaryo Art Space and Bale Project
by Nina Hidayat

Mock-up of monumental sculpture ‘Parameswara’ (2003-2004), a commissioned piece for Indonesia’s National Sport Week in Palembang, South Sumatra. Image courtesy of Selasar Sunaryo Art Space and Bale Project.

Exhibition poster at the entrance of Ekuilibrium, the gold inspired by Rita Widagdo’s current golden hair. Image courtesy of Selasar Sunaryo Art Space and Bale Project.

Rita’s public artworks are on display literally across the Indonesian archipelago, from the farthest western part of the country, Aceh, to the northernmost part, Papua. In 1989, she created one of her many ‘Monumental Sculptures’, a large-scale commissioned work in Lhokseumawe, Aceh. Over 20 years later in 2003, she would create one of her most renowned works, ‘Parameswara’, a metal sculpture shaped like massive flower petals soaring up into the sky. The pivotal work was officiated a year later at the opening of Indonesia’s National Sport Week in Palembang, South Sumatra. The most impressive quality of the work is that it is at the same time solid – made of metal – and light. The artist herself imagines it as a collection of “curved lines in the sky.” It is timely to learn about ‘Parameswara’, in light of this year’s National Sport Week in Papua, which took significant effort to organise amidst the pandemic. Given the situation, no large-scale artwork was commissioned to mark the occasion.

In the capital city of Jakarta, Rita’s works are often part of government and private offices and public facilities. Her works are present at the Supreme Court and Indonesian National Bank. They can also be found at Atma Jaya, one of the country’s oldest Catholic universities. Her work was also on the walls of the legendary theatre building at the city’s first modern art and cultural centre Taman Ismail Marzuki before it was renovated in 2019.

Installation view of ‘Ekuilibrium’. Image courtesy of Selasar Sunaryo Art Space and Bale Project.

The exhibition at Selasar Sunaryo, held 16 years after Rita’s last solo at Galeri Nasional Indonesia, displays 10 sculptures, 8 reliefs, 13 mock-up sculptures, as well as notes and archives. Given the artist’s unceasing productivity over the last five decades, it is only apt that the exhibition includes a map that showcases Rita’s displayed works across Indonesia.

The exhibition spans across two areas within the art space, featuring a six-minute profile video of the artist, as well as interview videos with art practitioners. They include space owner and former student Sunaryo, senior artist A.D. Pirous, and sculpture artist Joko Avianto. The title ‘Equilibrium’ represents Rita’s professional roles as both a productive artist and an educator who has taught renowned figures such as sculpture artist Nyoman Nuarta and critic, curator and sculptor Jim Supangkat.

Visually, equilibrium takes form in the solid metal bent and sculpted into delicate and airy shapes. This quality is described in the exhibition guide as “three-dimensional lines” that form “independent shapes, not bound to its backgrounds or any two-dimensional platforms.” The exploration to sculpt this form started in ‘Joy’, and was later perfected in ‘Accord’ (1997) and ‘Enthusiasm’ (1998).

Mock-up of relief commissioned by JB Tower, Jakarta (2019-2020). Image courtesy of Selasar Sunaryo Art Space and Bale Project.

The final part of the exhibition is a time-lapse video shown in a curved nook within the gallery, showing the meticulous installation process of a sculpture work on the wall of a lobby within JB Tower in Jakarta between 2019 and 2020. On the other side of the room is a grid, manually drawn by hand, that indicates the exact measurements of each part of the artwork, and how to install them. The room is a fitting finale to the popular weekly exhibition tour led by exhibition curator Nurdian Ichsan. At the end of the tour I took, the participants spontaneously clapped in appreciation.

Personally, my appreciation comes from seeing delicate lines and shapes present in Rita’s sculptures, juxtaposed with their creation and installation processes that take a lot of physical work, precise craftsmanship, and a solid team of experienced manpower. To me, this is also equilibrium: delicate final results, following many hours of challenging processes. It is unsurprising then, to hear that most, if not all of Rita’s craftsmen have been working with her for many years. Their names are deservingly credited at the end of the exhibition guide, alongside the creative team.

“To me, this is also equilibrium: delicate final results, following many hours of challenging processes.”

Rita moved permanently to Bandung in 1965, a year after finishing her Meisterschüler study at Staatliche Akademie der Bildende Künste Stuttgart, Germany. It was then that she started teaching Sculpture Art at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB). Born as Rita Wizemann in Rottweil, Germany, she then wedded Widagdo, a professor at ITB, and took up his surname afterwards. Maharani Mancanagara, a fellow artist and General Manager of Bale Project, the sister organisation to Selasar Sunaryo that initiated the exhibition, shared that Rita is still actively working in her workshop situated in the northern part of the city.

Mock-up of hanging sculpture at Cengkareng Airport. Image courtesy of Selasar Sunaryo Art Space and Bale Project.

Maharani is understandably excited that the exhibition could finally open after two years in the making. The exhibition-making started after she posed a daring question to Rita herself when they met at an event. “Would you allow us to make a tribute exhibition for you?” Then began a creative process where Rita was given space to be “independent”. “We tried hard not to disturb her and her working process too much”, says Maharani. “This exhibition is mostly our interpretation of Ibu Rita’s creative and thought process. We hope it does her justice.”

‘Ekuilibrium: Karya dan Pikiran Rita Widagdo’ is on view until 24 December 2021 at Selasar Sunaryo Art Space, Bandung, Indonesia. The exhibition opens daily from 10am to 5pm, except Mondays. Exhibition materials are accessible on their website and Instagram.