Taring Padi and the Art of Resistance

By Kennedy Randall

Within the Majlis of Ibraaz, a large central seating structure is framed by banners illustrating scenes of protest and slogans of resistance born in the Indonesian Reformasi era (Reformation). 

A Majlis is an Arabic term for a ‘sitting place’ that hosts different types of community gatherings. It acts as a place to share news, discuss issues, find resolutions as well as to celebrate one’s community through weddings and entertainment. The work and ideology of Taring Padi, an Indonesian collective of art workers founded in Yogyakarta 1998, is in complete harmony within the space. 

Rakyat Pasti Menang is Taring Padi’s first solo exhibition in London celebrating their nearly three decades-long practice of utilising art and artmaking as a tool for collective action, education, and transformation. The exhibition title, which translates to ‘people united will never be defeated,’ refers to a political chant used throughout their mass public demonstrations. 

"scenes of protest and slogans of resistance born in the Indonesian Reformasi"

In the wake of the 1997 Asian economic collapse, the Reformasi movement revolted against corruption and demanded democracy, leading to the fall of President Suharto’s 32-year authoritarian regime in 1998. The initial members of Taring Padi, which translates as ‘the fang of the rice plant,’ were art students and activists already embedded within the expanding student protest movement and took to the streets. Defined by an era of possibility and resistance, Taring Padi was equipped to create the integral visual tools for marches, occupations, and protests that are currently on view at Ibraaz. 

"Taring Padi translates as ‘the fang of the rice plant'"

In the Majlis are some of Taring Padi’s earliest social realistic works. There is not one ‘author’ of each work, rather each is created collectively around an idea, slogan, and image. Taring Padi’s approach, a counter narrative to western and bourgeois ideas of a singular work of art made by one ‘artistic genius,’ follows a long history of art collectives flourishing in Asia and cultural traditions. For example, Gotong royong is a traditional Indonesian term that means working together to share burdens and achieve common goals, in this case forming for social critique and transformation. 

Each hand on the work brings their own perspective and creativity forming a visual language of protest that often uses humour to ridicule the establishment and the elite. Caricature is a common device used by Taring Padi to strip oppressors and politicians of their power. In Sidang Rakyat (People’s Tribunal) (1999), civilians push three human-animal figures towards their judgement day. The absurdity of a rat and fox in military uniforms, alongside a boar in a suit, is a tactic that draws the viewer in and subsequently confronts them with demands on a sign behind the convicts: ‘anti-capitalism, anti-militarism, and anti-feudalism.’

Adili Suharto dan Para Jendralnya (Bring Suharto and His Generals to Justice) (2000), depicts the former dictator and caricatures of his supporters, bound by ropes tightened by a sea of protestors, demonstrating their strength and the force of collective action. The crowd is tightly composed, invoking both the claustrophobic experience of demonstrations and the oppressive, constricted reality of living under a military dictatorship. 

Always grounded in political struggle, Taring Padi’s visual language is both fluid and tied to the historical moment. The banner Rakyat Pasti Menang was made on site at a protest during the height of the movement in mid-1998. From peasant to politician, the spectrum of Indonesia’s political and social environment is interwoven into this scene of struggle and optimism. The bottom third of the canvas is left empty, ready – in the words of Taring Padi member Alexander Spartono – for ‘collectives or communities that will use this banner in the future to write down their demands.’

Another form of Taring Padi’s participatory practice are Wayang kardus, life-sized cardboard puppets that draw on aesthetics of Javanese popular culture and shadow puppetry. Historically, these were also used in protest, adding to the physical number of bodies on the street, also to protect from the sun and against the military. The wayang kardus included in the exhibition were made at Ibraaz earlier this year, bringing a contemporary and global scope to Taring Padi’s mission. The puppets reference human struggle and monstrosities in a colorful, vibrant style; a historical Brazilian mantra fighting for land reform, a Palestinian cactus struck with bullet holes, and Minab in southern Iran, the site of a devastating school bombing earlier this year. Each could be used in its own specific moment and place across the globe. 

When in the Majlis, if you try to walk around the seating area, you cannot see the banners properly. The habitual routine of a gallery visitor is altered by the amphitheatre-like structure in the centre of the room. This is partially because the banners were made for protest, thus to be activated in the streets and seen from afar. Though more crucially, it links the historical Majlis and the ideology of Taring Padi, fostering solidarity across geography, culture, and time. 

"bound by ropes tightened by a sea of protestors"

While exploring the seating area, the banners can be seen from different perspectives and vantage points. Simultaneously, people are sitting down to relax, chat about the artworks, and even study. A public programme of events taking place in the space further tangibly activates Taring Padi’s mantras of education and gathering. Offering reflection and community engagement within fine art spaces is distinct, challenging ‘white cube’ paradigms or conventional institutional spaces.

Rakyat Pasti Menang is not the first time the space has been used in this way. Last autumn, Ibraaz’s inaugural exhibition, Parliament of Ghosts, saw Ibrahim Mahama reconsider the function of archives and museums, arranging 75 chairs drawn from households across Ghana, creating a parliamentary formation that empowers dialogue and exchange over colonial power. 

Often political and activist art when seen out of context runs the risk of losing its spirit; this is far from the case in Rakyat Pasti Menang. The participatory nature of Taring Padi’s making, alongside the ways the works and seating area activate the communal nature of the Majlis, remind us that solidarity and political change are built through collective action, shared knowledge and connection. Especially in our current troubling political moment, Taring Padi’s nearly thirty-year political commitment and creative intention continues to inspire. Within the Majlis, connections between communities and the possibility of meaningful change feels within reach. 

The exhibition Rakyat Pasti Menang by Taring Padi is currently in its first iteration. It will be updated with additional archival material on September 9, followed by one final re-hang before the exhibition closes on November 22.