Painting for Peace

KOMPAS/ZULKARNAINI

Ariva Safura

In 2005, when the Aceh peace agreement was signed, Ariva Safura, 28, was still 12 years old. Realizing that peace is a cross-generational legacy, Ariva now actively campaigns for peace. She conveys her message through painting.

The latest painting of Ariva entitled Letter of Hope was displayed in a program to commemorate the 17 years of peace in Aceh at the Office of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Aceh, on Saturday (13/8/2022).

The hand painting of Ariva depicts two open eyes. An adult woman is in the eyeball on the right and a boy is on the left. Under the eyes are Javanese-Arabic words expressing the voices of victims of conflict.

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Letter of Hope illustrates the feelings of Aceh conflict victims. Aceh has been at peace for 17 years, but their voices are barely heard by the government. They remain traumatized, living in poverty with no apparent right to reparations.

Ariva indicated that Aceh conflict victims had the potential to become subaltern people, a marginal group whose voices are not recorded in history. Therefore, with her Letter of Hope, Ariva wanted to echo the victims’ voices in order to reach the ears of the government elite.

The victims’ accounts gave her the energy to paint Letter of Hope.

It took two months to research the concept before the painting itself was completed. Before painting, Ariva met with the victims, listening to their stories and dreams. The victims’ accounts gave her the energy to paint Letter of Hope. “I painted it a week ahead of the program. It took longer to research than to paint it,” said Ariva.

On the occasion, apart from paintings, over a dozen handwritten letters from families of the victims were also presented. Several victims attending the event made their testimonials regarding Aceh’s 17 years of peace.

“Introvert”

Ariva was born in 1993 in Meureudu, a small town in Pidie Jaya regency. When the Aceh conflict was intense, Ariva was an elementary school student in Meureudu. Like the other regions in Aceh, Meureudu also belonged to the red zone, which was prone to conflict.

KOMPAS/ZULKARNAINI

Ariva Safura

Little Ariva was already no stranger to the sounds of exchanges of gunfire. At night, she and other residents slept on the floors to avoid stray bullets.

When she was very young, her father and mother separated. This condition affected her personality, making her an introvert. Ariva chose to paint as an expression of her emotion. Her dedicated practice paved the way for her to

become a painter. “I can shift my anxieties into paintings. I enjoy freedom by painting,” said the mother of two.

In 2015, after finishing her study at the Law Faculty, Syiah Kuala University, Banda Aceh, Ariva got married. Her husband, Muhammad Zaki, was a graduate of the Jakarta Arts Institute with a flair for painting. From Zaki she learned about human anatomy in painting. From then on, Ariva was seriously engaged in painting.

While managing a café business in Banda Aceh, Ariva kept painting. One day, she got an offer to paint a woman for the cover of a novel telling the story of the Aceh conflict. The title was Bidadari Hitam (Black Angel). Before painting, she dug into the novel’s account. Although a fiction, the story was one commonly found among Acehnese women during the period of conflict, ranging from harassment to rape.

Bidadari Hitam encouraged her to go on painting with the theme of realism. Ariva felt that realist paintings could serve as a medium to put across marginal voices. In 2016, she held a solo exhibition for 16 days with the theme of antiviolence against women.

Ariva was more determined to make her painting career a means of advocacy for violence victims and campaigning for peace.

Ariva gained a great deal of support from rights activists and women activists, among others from Shadia Marhaban, a woman activist involved in Aceh’s peacemaking efforts. Ariva was more determined to make her painting career a means of advocacy for violence victims and campaigning for peace.

She later joined the Human Rights School of Kontras, Aceh. She further broadened her knowledge of peace, women’s affairs and human rights.

Ariva, who had once been introverted, became confident in speaking at public forums.

Ariva did not want the advocacy of women’s issues and peace to be limited to paintings. She intended to invite inspiring women in Aceh to speak. In 2020, Ariva initiated a Women Speaking Forum, a program for chatting with woman figures aired in social media.

In the following year, Ariva’s creation appeared at the national level. She participated in a display at Museum Macan (Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara) in Jakarta. Ariva presented an art installation entitled Dancing Shadow, in the form of a pair of statues made from two tube television sets. Each screen of the modified television had a panel of interactive paintings that could rotate.

KOMPAS/ZULKARNAINI

Ariva Safura

Two main stories of women as victims of Aceh conflict were shown by the art installation. The first was about a traumatized woman who had a fear of knives, after having witnessed her husband killed with a knife; the other was about traumatized women triggered by dangdut pop music, after having been harassed with dangdut music accompaniment.

After this exhibition, Ariva felt severely depressed. She had to consult a psychologist as she was suffering post-traumatic stress. The stories of Aceh conflict violence victims had traumatized her, too. “I can only imagine how those direct victims are undergoing deeper and longer traumas, but they have never been rehabilitated,” said Ariva.

For Ariva, however bitter the past events might be, they have to be exposed to the public so that the victims can secure their rights.

Letter of Hope is Ariva’s newest work about Aceh conflict victims. For Ariva, however bitter the past events might be, they have to be exposed to the public so that the victims can secure their rights. “For the victims, peace without justice is like a bad check,” added Ariva.

While struggling for victims’ rights, Ariva wants the younger generation to be conversant with the history of Aceh so as to be prepared to get involved in campaigning for peace.

Ariva Safura

Born: Pidie Jaya, 18 October 1993

Education:

- State Islamic Elementary School, Meureudu

- State Junior High School 18, Banda Aceh

- State Senior High School 8, Banda Aceh

- Faculty of Law, Syiah Kuala University

Activities:

- Painting

- Business management

- Founder, Women Speaking Forum

Husband: Muhammad Zaki

Children:

- Muhammad Arif Adam

- Muhammad Sulaiman Zafa

This article was translated by Aris Prawira.