Sukri Budi Dharma (45) is an artist and art activist with disability who has a principle, namely “if someone wants to progress, s/he must have strong intention and always be open to new knowledge.” He himself has proven that disability is not an obstacle, he has won a number of achievements, such as the first winner of the inclusion theater “unspoken talent night” of Bandung (2017), participated in various painting exhibitions almost every year and together with Nano Warsono were selected as the recipients of the “Connection Through Culture” (CTC) program grant held by the British Council (2021).
“If we have an attitude like a glass that is full and let alone lidded, it will be difficult to be filled with water again,” said Budi at Gallery RJ. Katamsi, Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta,
The man who is fondly called Butong (Budi Tongkat or Budi with a walking stick because he uses a stick to walk) realizes that equality for people with disabilities is still a problem. However, this situation should not be an obstacle for persons with disabilities in acquiring as much knowledge as possible.
"I don't want to always blame external parties, we must also dare to think outside the box," he added, Wednesday (2/6).
Butong calls himself a “multi-functional” artist, he pursues theater, monologue, photography, sound art and painting. He once attended education majoring in painting at the Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ) but he obtained a bachelor's degree in psychology from Gunadarma University Jakarta (1999).
After graduating from college, Butong worked in various companies such as in Medan and Jakarta. But the call of ‘the spirit of the artist’ led him to Yogyakarta. He founded the Difabel and Friends Community, a community open to people with disabilities and not for the arts (2009).
Those who take part in the Difabel Friends and Community activities do not have to have special artistic skills. In this community, everyone learned to build self-confidence, as a result, some people with disabilities dare to work in public institutions.
Eleven years later, Butong founded Jogja Disability Arts (JDA), an organization that aims to create equality in the art world.
“We don’t ask for equality with the maestro but there is accessibility to the intellectual realm,” he said.
At the beginning of its establishment, JDA made a “move” namely establishing a partnership with ISI Yogyakarta to make the campus-owned gallery accessible. An elevator has been installed so that people with disabilities can easily go up to the third floor. Now the gallery, which takes the name of one of the founders of the Indonesian Fine Arts Academy (ASRI), the forerunner of ISI Yogyakarta, is one of the few galleries in Yogyakarta that is becoming more accessible to people with disabilities.
JDA together with R.J. Katamsi Gallery also invited the disabled community to visit the campus student work exhibition, Thursday (27/5). There were a dozen people with disabilities who came, one of them was Daliman from Pundong, Bantul Regency. Daliman who rode a bicycle pedaled by hand spent approximately two hours for travel.
While the people with disabilities were in the R.J. Katamsi Gallery, they were approaching every work hanging on the gallery wall. They tried to understand the works of art that were full of symbolic language. If they did not understand, they did not hesitate to ask.
“What does this mean?” asked Sri Lestari, a wheelchair user.
Sri, who became disabled due to the collapse of the kitchen wall when the earthquake rocked Yogyakarta and Central Java on 27 May 2006, asked about Febri Anugerah’s work entitled “Astha Brata”. The work made of resin depicted a headless Javanese king sitting on a throne surrounded by eight brains. The message is that a Javanese king must be wise in leading as stated in Astha Brata, the eight principles of leadership.
After seeing the exhibition, Butong asked the people with disabilities to provide input on the accessibility of the R.J. Katamsi Gallery. They were talked casually while joking.
“The bathroom is not yet accessible, there is no ramp," said one of them.
On a sunny afternoon, Butong showed the CTC mural project that was almost finished. The mural entitled “Netas/Incubation” is a collaboration between Butong together with the Director cum painter of RJ Katamsi Gallery Nano Warsono in Indonesia and Lisa Tan together with Andrew Bolton from Disability Murals in England. Then each artist from the two countries invited other artists.
Butong and Nano invited six other disabled artists. The artists who had long harbored the desire to draw murals were asked to make drawings according to the theme in a panel which were then sent to Yogyakarta.
“Me and Nano’s job is to put this work together,” said Butong.
All mural images are mounted on an eight-meter-long wall fence on the side of a road, not far from the ISI Yogyakarta Campus in Sewon, Bantul. In accordance with the theme, the artists depicted a new hope after during this time of the covid-19 pandemic, all human beings in the world are “caged” like in an egg.
In the center, there is an image of a tree rooted in a masked globe by Nunggal from Yogyakarta. He hoped the pandemic will end soon and the world will return to normal. Winda K from Bali drew a woman in a wheelchair sharing something with a child. Near the drawing was the inscription, "Want to continue sharing with friends.”
Meanwhile, Yuni from Bengkulu drew a masked woman dancing on the petals of a Arnoldi Rafflesia flower. She advised her friends to keep up the work. Anfiled from Jakarta drew a butterfly that had just emerged from its cocoon. Anfiled sent a message about the desire to be able to go to school again.
Lala from Bandung drew a figure resembling a puppet show character namely Cepot who was trying to get out of the “vortex of chaos”. Anugerah from Yogyakarta drew a drawing of a shop above the clouds, concerned about the rising prices of goods during the pandemic. He was lonely so he wanted to meet his friends soon.
At the bottom, there was a drawing by Kusdono Rastika from Cirebon which depicted two punokawan figures, one wearing a civil servant uniform and the other being a farmer. He advised the government and the community to fight Covid together. At the very bottom, a drawing of a rose that is blooming stuck out. Agus from Madiun who made the drawing hoped that there would be an exhibition (art) soon.
While on the middle wall, at the top, there was a drawing by Nano Warsono. He drew a dove and a wallet with a rainbow background, which symbolized the cooperation between Indonesia and Britain.
After seeing the photo of mural “Netas/Incubation”, one of the leading street artists, Andrew Lumban Gaol “AntiTank” expressed his admiration. Andrew is known for his critical works of posters posted in public spaces.
“Marvelous!” The drawings are detailed, like puppets," he said.
If you want to see this mural, please come to Pelem Gurih Village, not far from the ISI Yogyakarta Campus.
"This work can also be watched online on YouTube," said Butong.
For online content, Butong made three video recordings, namely about the material of the work, behind the scenes, and the theme song of this work. Especially for the theme song will be made by the Netra artists.
As an artist, Butong is not very well known.
Several prominent curators in Yogyakarta do not know his name. Is this also a sign that disabled artists are still underestimated?
Though Butong’s painting has deep meaning. There are works that are influenced by the condition of his disability. For example, the work "Me and Flower" that depicts Butong’s right hand touching the hand of a woman with a flower head. While a cat is standing behind his feet, a dog is urinating on the stick that supports Butong’s body.
“It is a drawing of people, some support and some other don't (towards disability),” he said.
But there are also realistic works, such as drawings of arowana fish, owls and flowers using watercolors on paper. Some of his works are for sale but Butong makes his living as a graphic designer and screen-printing T-shirts.
As an artist, maybe his name has not soared. But Butong has done a lot for humanity, opening a more open and inclusive space for people with disabilities in the art world.
