In Jogjakarta, from the perspective of the arts, more is more. And with the recently concluded Tenth Biennale Jogja Jamming, the city reveals once again its central role in the Republic’s creative imagination.

One of the Biennale’s greatest strengths has been its rootedness. This Biennale for and about Jogja. However, since Jogja has been so central in the Republic’s history it is also an evocative journey through Indonesia’s recent past and there is an impressive sense of time and place.

In an intriguing set of displays at the former Bank Indonesia buildings in the centre of Jogjakarta, the organizers have recreated the world of the 40’s conveying the tumult and excitement of that period as well as the intensity and tragedy of the 60’s.

Evocative names, replete with the revolutionary passion of the era are remembered: Sanggar Bambu, Seniman Indonesia Muda and PIPA (albeit more of a presence in the late 70’s). At the same time, taped recordings of artists dicussing the fervour of the times are played amidst rooms decorated with the traditional teak furniture and fittings of the age.

In doing so we are reminded of the rich traditions and explosive narrative upon which the current art-world stars such as Nyoman Masriadi, Eko Nugroho and Jumaldi Alfi have built their careers because every time an artist in Jogja lifts his or her paint brush they are re-living and re-affirming the experiences of men such as Soedjojono, Affandi and Hendra Gunawan.

This historical aspect of the Biennale is particularly effective since it achieves the stated aim of increasing contemporary artists’ and art lovers’ understanding of the need for documentation. Context is important in art and by doing so, the role that art plays as a treasured memory-bank is similarly enhanced.

With four venues, street art (including an exuberant and multi-coloured Ronald McDonald surfing through the rice-fields), murals, performances and countless other activities, the organisers have sought to re-connect the city and its artists under the rubrIc Public on the Move.

Certainly this aspect has been enormous success and over the past month (the Biennale concluded last Sunday) the city has been buzzing. Opened til at night late each of the venues have been crowded with visitors lending credence to the rubric Jogja Jamming. Of course the staunch pro-rakyat stance is a reflection of the muralist, Samuel Indratma’s role driving this aspect of the Biennale. Moreover with the highly-regarded actor and TV star Butet Kartaredjasa as Director of the Biennale, both humour and seriousness are nicely balanced.

There is a refreshing informality about Indonesian audiences. People walk up to work, even very challenging installations with a ready openness. Whilst this can mean that works are constantly touched and at times tampered with, the net effect is that there’s little distance between the art and the viewer.

I was in Jogjakart in order to deliver a lecture on Southeast Asian art, arriving in the city just days before the closing and catching the Biennale as it peaked. Even though there had been countless events – talks, discussions and presentations, not to mention a heavy afternoon downpour, I was amazed to find that audiences were still lively and engaged presenting tough and insightful questions.

Having completed my presentation I dashed off to see the art. In all truth there was so much to see and enjoy I was pleased I had a few days to work my way through the various venues.

Perhaps the most startling was the newly completed artist-run space, Sangkring in the heart of Nitiprayan, a favoured residential area for students and artists. Built by Putu Sutawijaya and his wife (Malaysian-born Jenny), the two storey building is a superb airy and well-lit addition to Jogja’s limited stock of exhibition spaces and the couple deserve to be congratulated for their commitment to the arts and to the city. At the same time there is talk that the Malaysian group, Matahati may well be showing at Sangkring later in the year.

Amidst the sleek but expansive lines of Sangkring most art would look spectacular however work by the Jendela group’s Handiwirman and Yusra Martunus was especially strong. Handi is continuing his exploration of flesh-coloured resins, creating disturbingly strange forms that make you both queasy and inquisitive at the same juncture. With Yusra the work, a simple envelope fixed on the wall with the letters RUANG (or space) tumbling out is an exercise is elegance as the artist, currently Indonesia’s most accomplished sculpture reveals his mastery of the form.

Sigit Santosa Penghormatan untuk Nurnaningsih is a particularly sensual work from an immaculate painter. The lady presented in the canvas is at the height of her sexual promise, her breasts covered by her exposed arms. It’s a gorgeous image and beautifully executed with a cheeky and suggestive tag-line scrawled across the middle of the canvas, “kalau mau madju, harus berani” – ‘if you want to go forward you’ve got to be brave’.

The mood shifts at the Jogja National Museum. The former art’s school has a distinct agitprop vibe. The external walls are clad with one of Entang Wiharso’s distinct metal silhouette installations. This is made all the more interesting because of its moving parts.

Inside, one comes across a quintessential Moelyono installation – an entire set of rice fields set within a large bare room. The farmer’s implements are hung from the wall – a stark reminder of the agrarian world that still predominates and the poverty and desperation that comes with such a life.

The pro-rakyat themes are picked up by the artist combine Taring Padi, a resolutely anti-commercial group setting the tone. Their room shows off their tremendously powerful wood-cuts and highly politicized art. Their work is breath-taking and energizing – proof that good political art is possible.

But if you’re tired of too much invective, there’s also a ping-pong table and reams of paper for to scribble on!

Meanwhile upstairs in a quiet side-room, there is a video playing of one of the most extra-ordinary performances I’ve ever seen anywhere. Created by a group called Geber Modus Operandi during the Reformasi period, the video captures the chaos of the time with two men boxing, a woman disrobing and a solitary Sisyphian figure – dragging what appears to be a vast and rusting metal. Disorientating and highly theatrical, the video captures the zeitgeist of the late 90’s: the exultation, the fear, the anger and the hopelessness.

Cardboard is the surprise ingredient in the Biennale. Cheap, versatile and re-usable it pops everywhere from Indieguerillas (another artist combine with a more manga cum anime vibe) to Yuli Sulistya’s virtuoso three piece, sci-fi Aliens-type installation where the card has been rendered into an eerie dark green metallic finish.

Alongside the cardboard, fibre-glass is the other frequently used media as artists conjure exotic and vibrantly coloured forms. With Wedhar Riyadi leading the way in this respect with a sculpture titled, Dangerous, Sexy, Scary, Happy.

However, Davy Army Putra’s tale of teenage angst – a boy caught masturbating – is the darkest and most vivid evocation of growing up.

Nadia Bamadhaj’s wall-mounted works are a beuatiful and yet disquieting snapshot of a contemporary woman’s struggle to balance the public with the private – a cervix, a troubled self-portrait caught in half-profile suggest a myriad of possibilities.

Of course not all the work is well-executed. The Eko Nugroho installation looks rushed and poorly conceptualized. The Rudi Mantofani collapsing globe is a little tired. At the same time Ronald Manullang’s portraits of a heavily pregnant Adolf Hitler appear to shock without any underlying reason. The Indonesian fascination with celebrity portraiture has reached its logical conclusion with this banal and worthless work, all the more disappointing since the artist is an extremely accomplished painter.

As I said, only on Jogja. Jogja Jamming…

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Karim Raslan was born in Malaysia in 1963. Educated in both Malaysia and England, he read English and Law at St Johns’ College, Cambridge. Over the past twenty-two years, he has spent his time as a columnist, lawyer and regional analyst. He writes a regular column for The Star, Sin Chew Daily, Sinar Harian, South China Morning Post and Jakarta Globe. He also contributes to other regional and international publications. Karim divides his time between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Follow him on facebook.