Many of those beautiful illustrations are displayed in an exhibition at Bentara Budaya in Jakarta. Being the 8th annual exhibition of these works, it displays all of the short stories published in 2010.
In a separate room, published short stories with illustrations are on display. This original layout of the text and illustration is displayed in frames and ordered according to the date of publication, from January to December of 2010.
Since its first exhibition in 2003, Kompas’ involvement in contemporary art can be hailed as a success in introducing literature of a more profound dimension.
“The illustrations stand independently, not just to support the text but to give a deeper meaning to it,” Bentara Budaya executive director Efix Mulyadi told the Post at the exhibition hall.
Efix recalls that the idea to feature illustrations with accompanying short stories came to him in about 2002. At that time, Kompas had been publishing short stories in its art column. However, they were only laid out with simple illustrations.
Then, a notion came to put together literature and illustrations through art forms. “Illustrations don’t always have to be like that [simple pictures based on the short story]. They can stand with literature as equals, not as an integral part of it,” Efix emphasized.
A team at Kompas then worked extensively with contemporary artists and writers and started publishing the new illustrated short stories in the same year. Since then, about 50 illustrated short stories have decorated the newspaper’s Sunday column every year (52 stories in a year).
This move has been hailed as a success in bringing an integration of art and literature to readers.
The images portrayed here may seem rather abstract. This might be because the pictures don’t pick out every element in the text of the story and literally portray them that way. The narration is translated into shapes, colors and/or tones, using symbols to convey the same message as a whole.
“By making the illustration stand independently as a form of literature, not as a part of a story, it gives a whole new meaning to both the narration and the picture,” he added.
Readers react, he continued, to the soul of a story and this emotion is relayed to the lines and colors of the illustration, hence it becomes a place that’s free for the reader’s interpretations.
Since they can now exist on the same level, the narration does not dictate the illustration, but guides one another for any form of understanding.
More than a hundred of Indonesia’s finest names in art and literature – including artists, poets and writers – have submitted their works since 2003.
Although many of the illustrations seem abstract, they are founded in the short stories.
Artists interpret the plots, messages and motives into the strokes of their brushes or the composition of photographs. Most of them only have five days from the time the short story narration is handed to them to create an illustration.
Despite the short time they have, they manage to create art that perfectly illustrates the profound short stories.
Since they first began being published, the people that brought the illustrated short stories have wanted to bring these works to the public with the intention of promoting literary art.
This has been followed up by annual illustrated short story exhibitions since 2003, in which most of the original artworks have been displayed.
This year’s exhibition was held at Bentara Budaya in Jakarta, Bali, Yogyakarta and Solo (Central Java). Kompas also published a book compiling 18 of the best short stories of 2010.
A short story titled Dodolitdodolitdodolibret by Seno Gumira Ajidarma published on Sept. 26, 2010 was hailed the year’s best short story.
The illustrated short story succeeded in enriching literature with visual art. Now it has become a significant place to promote and develop the best of Indonesian art and literature.
Bentara Budaya jakarta
Jl. Palmerah Selatan No.17, Jakarta.
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Visual art inspired by words
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