Azmir Azhari Presenting Providentia Dei

Azmir submitted an application to the Kompas Gramedia company and got a reply four months later. Azmir has never met with Jakob Oetama in his life.

Kompas/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Azmir Azhari

Azmir Azhari, a 68-year-old sculptor from Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, put the words providentia Dei on the left side of the bust of Jakob Oetama (1931-2020). Azmir wanted to present the figure of the founder of Kompas daily and, at the same time, give deep significance to what Jakob had often spoken of, providentia Dei or divine providence, the intervention of God.

“Finally, I have become aware of my life also as [relying on] providentia Dei. The prominence of every sculpture I make constitutes the intervention of Allah. If anything goes wrong, it certainly is my flaw,” said Azmir when visited in his lodging after finalizing the details of the bronze bust of Jakob Oetama he had cast in Yogyakarta on Saturday (18/9/2021).

The 1977 graduate of the sculpture department of the Indonesian Fine Arts College (STSRI) ASRI Yogyakarta Faculty of Fine Arts wished to see Pak JO, as Jakob Oetama is called by those close to him, always “alive” through the sculpture and guiding the succeeding generation.

Regarding the “live” model, Azmir related that he had once built a statue of General Sudirman weighing 1.5 tons to be installed in Purbalingga regency, Central Java.

However, it would not budge at all. The crane’s arm was even bent. This happened in 2016.

Purbalingga is the birthplace of Sudirman. The sculpture was to be erected at an already prepared location. It was to be lifted by a crane with a capacity of 6 tons. The statue should have been raised easily the day it arrived. However, it would not budge at all. The crane’s arm was even bent. This happened in 2016.

Suddenly, Azmir’s wife, Asih Prihatiningsih, 63, warned that the lifting of Pak Dirman’s statue should be halted, saying it should be resumed the following day after prayers. Asih seemed to have the intuition that during daytime Pak Dirman was engaged in guerrilla war. As expected, the next morning, after dawn prayers, the statue was successfully lifted and installed.

Azmir believes something is “alive” within a sculpture if it is built seriously and with good intentions. “Through this bust, Pak JO will hopefully be like Pak Dirman, who will keep ‘alive’ among us and continue to accompany his successors,” said Azmir, while recounting his initial interest in creating JO’s image.

Discussion with the next generation

Azmir lives in Jakarta. He watched people in mourning on television following the death of JO on 9 Sept., 2020. Adriel Putra Azrai, 36, his third child of four, started a long discussion about JO. He indicated that JO was a benevolent man who should not be forgotten. He wanted Azmir to sculpt JO’s likeness.

Kompas/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Azmir Azhari

Azmir submitted an application to the Kompas Gramedia company and got a reply four months later. Azmir has never met with JO in his life. His father-in-law happened to have had close ties with JO, so it was not difficult to recognize and delve into the honorable character of JO. He also discussed the matter with the curator of Bentara Budaya Jakarta.

“The first thing to be done in the process of creating a realist sculpture is to identify the real character of the person concerned,” said Azmir, who was assisted by Adriel in gathering the photos and videos depicting Jakob Oetama.

JO’s sculpture will be flanked by that of PK Ojong in the yard of Bentara Budaya Jakarta. JO and PK Ojong were founders of Kompas. “The primary feature I perceive in the facial character of Pak JO indeed gives the impression of warmth from his smile, but his eyes actually hint some cynicism,” noted Azmir.

Azmir described JO as having the nature of a mother who always provided guidance.

The gaze was seen as cynical, according to Azmir, because JO did not want to see falsehood. JO could not remain silent when he saw untruth. Nonetheless, JO also had the strong character of caring for others. Azmir described JO as having the nature of a mother who always provided guidance.

He saw JO’s clothing as always simple. Something was interesting about what he wore. JO always carried a pen. It was slipped into the pocket of his shirt. When the shirt had no pockets, the pen would be slipped between shirt buttons. After scrutinizing the brand of the pen JO had always used, he found it to be a famous and expensive one. Azmir was curious about why JO’s clothing was modest but his pen expensive. Azmir also slipped a pen into the bust of JO. “Pak JO had a simple appearance but he used an expensive pen, indicating that his thoughts were always valuable,” said Azmir, who some time ago moved from his leased house in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, to Pondok Gede, Bekasi, West Java.

Azmir does not own a sculpture studio or house of his own. The family has had to move from one leased house to another as their financial capacity allows.

Kompas/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Azmir Azhari

When they moved from Kebun Jeruk to Pondok Gede, they were helped by somebody to pay the rent. But the house turned out to be in a flood-prone area, prompting them to think of moving again.

Recovering spirits

Azmir has considered the relevance of JO’s povidentia Dei to himself. Everything he has done so far, he believes, has resulted from divine intervention, but it has also involved struggle, racking his brain and hard work.

Through the creation of the sculpture of JO, Azmir’s spirits are being renewed. During the Covid-19 pandemic, statue orders have declined, but Azmir intends to more actively seek commissions for realist sculptures of important figures to be remembered by the next generation.

“Now I’m preparing a realist image of Bu Inggit Garnasih, the woman behind the eminence of Bung Karno [former president Sukarno] during the Dutch colonial era,” said Azmir, who in 2020 built a sculpture of legendary pop singer Didi Kempot and offered it to the Surakarta city government in Central Java.

Besides Inggit Garnasih, Azmir is working on a sculpture of Admiral Tadashi Maeda. Maeda was a top-ranking Naval officer of the Japanese Empire who serves in the Dutch East Indies. In 1945, he made his residence available for the writing of Indonesia’s proclamation of independence.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Azmir Azhari

With his bust of JO and the words providentia Dei, Azmir is now beginning to rise. He intends to present providentia Dei through the best of his ability to create the likenesses of figures worth remembering.

Azmir Azhari

Born: Payakumbuh, West Sumatra, 1 Jan., 1953

Education:

- 1973-1974: Fine Arts Faculty, Painting Art Department, STSRI ASRI Yogyakarta (moved to the sculpture department in 1974).

- 1974-1977: Bachelor’s degree, Fine Arts Faculty, sculpture department, STSRI ASRI Yogyakarta (now the Indonesian Arts Institute Yogyakarta).

Selected work:

- 1975-1976: Diorama of the Kamandaka Legend of Jatijajar Cave in Kebumen, Central Java, with the sculpting team at STSRI ASRI under lecturer Saptoto.

- 1976: Bust of national hero Pierre Tendean in the Satria Mandala Museum Jakarta, with students of STSRI ASRI Yogyakarta under sculpture department head Edhi Sunarso.

- 1990: Image of Gajah Mada’s head sculpted from serpentinite, commissioned by Singaporean collectors.

- 1995: Statue of a Kendo Master from Japan.

- 2013: Bust of Dr. Li Shao Bo for the Zhen Qi Yun Xing Foundation in Lanzhou, Gansu, China.

- 2018: Bust prototype of Hasri Ainun Habibie.

- 2020-present: Prototype of Didiek Prasetyo or Didi Kempot.

- 2021-present: Monument statue designs of Inggit Garnasih and Admiral Tadashi Maeda.

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)