Art as Political Statements: Lekra artists, including Hendra Gunawan

Lekra (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat) was founded in August 1950 as a
direct response to the socio-nationalist Gelanggang (Arena of
Independent Young Artists) movement established a few years earlier.
Associated with the Indonesian Communist Party, it pushed for artists
and writers to follow the doctrine of socialist realism. After the 30
September Movement (1965), along with the banning of the communist
party, the activities of Lekra ended.
Apart from their political association with the party, artists who
were involved with Lekra created art more as political statements
rather than partisan slogans. Many have depicted historical paintings
that remind us of the struggle of the people during the Indonesian
Revolutionary War (1945-1949). A painting by Tatang Ganar offered in
this auction depicts resting guerillas during the Revolutionary War in
Bandung. It shows a human side of the heroism of the militia. Another
painting depicts a field kitchen during the Revolutionary War.
Although unsigned, the manner in which the figures in the scene are
formed, the use of the medium of oils on paper laid on board, and the
brushstrokes of the artist, clearly show that the painting is a work
by the prominent artist Hendra Gunawan, dating to the period of the
War.