A Tale of Three Monuments

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Seventy-eight-year-old Edhi Sunarso can be considered one of the “last of the Mohicans” of that generation of artists active during the Revolution. Well-known landmarks of Jakarta include the Welcome Statue, the Dirgantara or Aviation Statue and the West Irian Liberation Statue—all statues created by Edhi upon the instructions of former President Sukarno. Edhi is a little disappointed that the growth of high-rise buildings in Jakarta has somewhat dwarfed his statues. Recently, he held an exhibition at the Salihara Gallery in Jakarta. Tempo relates the story behind the creation of these public monuments and also includes information about his more personal creations.

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ONE day in 1959 the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, President Sukarno called three well-known Indonesian artists: Trubus, Edhi Sunarso and Henk Ngantung (who was also Governor of Jakarta at the time). “I would like to have a welcome statue to greet the participants of the Asian Games upon their arrival. So, come on, make a sketch. I want it to look like this, see,” said the then President of Indonesia while standing in front of them and rai

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