Republik Indochaos

Born in East Java, Indonesia, F X Harsono (1949) is one of the original members of the late 1970s avant-garde group Gerakan Seni Rupa Baru (New Art Movement) whose agenda included a socially conscious art. He graduated from Advance School of Indonesia Art. Using symbols, signs, images, text and objects, Harsono employs the language of the mass media and popular culture to provide entry-points for social commentaries on socio-political conditions in Indonesia. This series of five prints takes the form of a hundred Rupiah postage stamp. In May 1998, a combination of social and economic hardships and political issues, student demonstrations began and were soon followed by bloody riots and violence, as decades of political and ethnic tensions were unleashed. Each print reflects the aggression and violence people faced in the days leading up to the resignation of Suharto (1921-2008), second Prime Minister of Indonesia, and the political and social turmoil which followed after that. Here, across the portrait of Suharto stamped the word, �lengser�, meaning �brought down�, with the fine imprint of the year, �1998� on the left.