Artist Jayanto Tan’s homage to deadly 1998 Indonesian riots

An artist who fled from the horrors of political repression in his home country will play tribute in a beautiful artwork that will be displayed in the grounds of one of Sydney’s largest cemetaries.

Jayanto Tan. Picture: Supplied

Thousands of colourful ceramic fortune cookies installed carefully around the roots of a “beautiful” tree, overlooking the Rookwood cemetery — this is the vision of Jayanto Tan, a Sydney artist who fled from political repression in his home country.

Having migrated to Australia alone from Indonesia in 1997, right as a financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, Mr Tan found himself feeling the need to express “identity and love,” especially as the Indonesian riots of May 1998 broke out soon after.

One of his artistic responses to these riots will be displayed in the 12th annual HIDDEN Rookwood Sculpture exhibition, open from September 10 to October 9. Held within the grounds of Rookwood Cemetery, the show will display 60 creative artworks.

Most of his art pays tribute to his loss of identity and the “political abuse” he faced during the Suharto Empire. Picture: Supplied

With Mr Tan’s multicultural background of both Chinese and Indonesia, he thought that his artwork could be an homage to the “discrimination [of] the minority people in Indonesia” during the 1998 riots.

“The thousands of fortune cookies — they’re symbolic of the unspoken protest and history,” Mr Tan said.

Most of his art pays tribute to his loss of identity and the “political abuse” he faced during the Suharto Empire, when “Chinese people [were] not allowed to speak up.”

“Having travelled to Australia alone in pursuit of love and safety, my artistic practice has always drawn on themes related to my lost families and cultural diver[sity].”

Kath Fries, a curator for the 2022 HIDDEN exhibition, attests to Mr Tan’s work, describing it as very “engaging.”

“Jayanto has got a very special talent for speaking to people of all different ages and backgrounds through his artwork,” Ms Fries said. “There’s something so inviting and fascinating with the colourful ceramics that he works with.”

His artwork is an homage to the “discrimination [of] the minority people in Indonesia”during the 1998 riots (AP Photo/David/Longstreath)

“I think this allows people a really interesting space to reflect on their memories.”

Mr Tan wants audiences to take away the message that “differences [are] what make our culture so rich and diverse” and that the world should embrace everyone’s identities.

“I think all of us, and the whole world, has to learn to accept people,” Mr Tan said. “Not to change people.”

“I got stronger with [my experiences] in my own country because I couldn’t be myself — they had to change me.”

All of Mr Tan’s work is his anecdotal expression of hope, loss and displacement. He aims to have viewers feel represented and related.

To learn more about Jayanto Tan or explore more of his artworks, click here.