The "50 Years of Testimony of Om Pasikom" exhibition at Bentara Budaya Jakarta (BBJ) in Jakarta on Tuesday (9/5). The exhibition features 130 works of GM Sudarta from 1967 to 2017.
The front page of Kompas, July 21, 1967, featured a caricature of a figure dressed in a suit bearing the phrases “corruptor, robber, smuggler” on its tummy. The figure’s head was drawn as a fist. The following day, a panzer came to the office of Kompas. Four sturdy men questioned the meaning of the cartoon.
Such a traumatic experience stayed in the mind of cartoonist Gerardus Mayella Sudarta. His idea to draw crimes, which haunted society, triggered misunderstanding from certain groups.
“In fact, the fist was the symbol of the group. Pak Jakob Oetama, as the editor-in-chief at that time, calmly explained the misunderstanding. Meanwhile, I sat in the corner of the newsroom nervously,” said GM Sudarta, known at Kompas as Mas GM.
In another edition, Kompas, Sept. 30, 1986, GM Sudarta featured a sequel of the Oom Pasikom cartoon character. At that time, the economy was difficult and the people were told to “tighten their belts”.
In the first scene, Oom Pasikom unhappily pulls her belt to the right and left. In second scene, smilingly with closed eyes, he pulls his belt further. Then, in the third scene, the tightened belt cuts into his body. “Ouch … where’s my waist?” asks Oom Pasikom.
Because of the caricature, the next day senior editor August Parengkuan was summoned by a New Order minister. “I was summoned and scolded by a minister,” said August on the sidelines of the opening of the GM Sudarta cartoon exhibition “50 Years of Oom Pasikom’s Testimony”, on Tuesday (9/5) in Bentara Budaya Jakarta.
GM Sudarta’s sharp drawing was like a prophecy. From his perspective as a cartoonist, he feels that the world is both funny and saddening. “Like comedy and tragedy with a thin line, we can still laugh at it, at least through pictures,” GM Sudarta said.
Oom Pasikom figure
GM Sudarta’s political caricatures started in 1967. Like other newspapers featuring a unique and critical character that criticizes the social and political condition, Kompas gave birth to Oom Pasikom in 1967.
The name “Pasikom” was created by GM Sudarta with senior editor Adisubrata by repeating the phrase “Si Kompas” repeatedly. “Si Kompas, Si Kompas, Si Kompas” until finally came to “Pasikom”. They added the word “Oom” in front.
“We imagined someone born in the 1930s and independent, impartial and adult. The face of Oom Pasikom was modeled after the face of Pak Adisubrata,” GM Sudarta said.
The character of Oom Pasikom was specific, with a worn-out suit and golf hat. With the golf hat, he wanted to sell himself but failed because he was not rich enough. Yet, he can be everywhere depending on the situation or the role he plays.
The secret in creating a sharp caricature is how we can make people or the ones we are criticizing laugh.
It has been 50 years since GM Sudarta partnered with Oom Pasikom in the journalistic world. For GM Sudarta, Oom Pasikom is like a close friend and a source for advice and information about irregularities as well as a friend to have fun with.
Criticism with smile
GM Sudarta acknowledges that sometimes the cartoon or caricature criticism was not sharp enough. However, principally, the vision of the cartoon was the effort to convey improvement. He called it “shouting in whispers”, that something needs to be fixed, mirroring the opinion of Profesor Yasuo Yoshitomi from Kyoto Seika University.
“The secret in creating a sharp caricature is how we can make people or the ones we are criticizing laugh. One different thing is that a caricature used to get a fast response from the public. But today, there are not many responses,” said GM Sudarta during a discussion with Bentara Budaya curators Efix Mulyadi and Ipong Purnama Sidhi on Tuesday night.
GM Sudarta’s criticism through his drawing generated responses from home and abroad. In 2008-2010, GM Sudarta was invited by the Cartoon Department at Seika Kyoto University as a guest professor in satirical cartoon teaching.
Such trust surprised GM Sudarta, who studied at the Yogyakarta-based Academy of Creative Arts (ASRI) until only the second year. In Japan, students enthusiastically attended his classes even though ultimately they chose manga (Japanese comics) and animation rather than the art of satire or political caricature.
“Only a few old caricaturists in Japan follow Rakuten Kitazawa. So, I think caricature is needed only in messy countries like ours. Had Indonesia been prosperous, perhaps it might not need criticism through caricature,” he said.
August Parengkuan sees GM Sudarta as an icon of Kompas. Without reading books, people can see the history of Indonesia from 1967 until today through his work.
Efix Mulyadi said that during his half-decade of professional work, GM Sudarta had produced more than 3,000 editorial cartoons.
