Muhamad Hariyanto began with his idea, called “the art of touch paints the voice”. His paint components were divided into two, natural and synthetic or acrylic materials.
By
NAWA TUNGGAL
·6 minutes read
KOMPAS/NAWA TUNGGAL
Muhammad Hariyanto
Born with both eyes unable to see, Muhammad Haryanto as a child assumed everybody to be sightless. Later in life, this innocent assumption turned into the basis of his thoughts about equality, including the right to artistic expression for the visually disabled.
The idea of the man commonly called Nanang was welcomed by the Indonesian Visual Art Archive (IVAA). He was given the opportunity by IVAA to make the first exhibition of his 11 paintings. The display, entitled The Art of Touch Paints the Voice, was held in the IVAA building in the middle of 2022. Nanang became a pioneer of paintings by the art of touch for blind survivors.
For Nanang, paintings are likened to letters that are formed to portray the voice. This analogy offers a method for blind survivors to enjoy Nanang’s paintings by touching the beads stuck to canvases. Nanang prefers to refer to the visually disabled as blind survivors -- people surviving their blindness.
The beads form words in Braille letters. Blind survivors will be able to follow the stories painted by Nanang with the words. He has a special way of marking certain paint colors. When visited in Yogyakarta at the end of September 2022, he described the process of creating his paintings or three-dimensional works in the form of wayang (shadow puppets).
A unique term of comparison was used by Nanang when he was allowed to speak at the opening of his first display. He recounted his profession as a masseur. Through his paintings, he claimed to be also massaging, but he was massaging our common awareness. “Disabled survivors still experience discrimination. I want to massage our common awareness to strive for equality and equal rights for disabled survivors,” he said.
Then he reached one of his works that looked like an abstract painting with a stacked color composition that formed a space configuration. There was a row of beads atop of it. He began to touch the beads forming Braille letters that read “Danger of Apathy”, suggesting people who have lost the sense of empathy.
Disabled survivors still experience discrimination. I want to massage our common awareness to strive for equality and equal rights for disabled survivors.
The Braille letters for the next painting read “Never Lose Hope”. It was Nanang’s first painting. At the time, he was encouraged by his close friend to realize his idea to become a blind survivor engaged in painting. His friend encouraged him and gave him the heart to abandon hopelessness.
Other painting titles were Beware of Exploitation, and Be Independent, Not to be Pitied. The words affirm the voices that arise from within Nanang’s heart.
KOMPAS/NAWA TUNGGAL
Muhammad Hariyanto
Motivation
Nanang was born in Yogyakarta on 31 December 1979 as the youngest of three siblings. He went through his childhood without feeling different from people around him. His motivation in life was thus very strong. “As a child, I was also cycling, ramming everything, plunging into a ditch or gutter, laughing along with my friends. I was always happy and felt all the people around me were equal,” he related.
He composed his childhood story into a wayang episode. He acted as the puppeteer himself. The show was presented during his exhibition, The Art of Touch Paints the Voice at IVAA, with the story entitled “Desta Milenial” (Millennial Desta). The blind character Desta is inspired by the figure Destarata in the Mahabharata epic. Nanang in this story is portrayed by little Desta.
He narrated one of its scenes like this. Little Desta is given a lift on Pandu’s bicycle. In a moment, Desta asks to ride in front and Pandu sits behind. The bicycle moves on, but it skids into a brook. Their friends around them are shouting at him, “Desta is blind… Desta is blind… Desta is blind.” Strangely, Desta doesn’t feel he is being mocked. He is also shouting, “Desta is blind” repeatedly.
At home, Desta asks his mother what is meant by Desta is blind. His mother tells him, Desta is not blind. Indeed, Desta cannot see with your eyes, but you can see by hearing, you can do it by touching or smelling with the nose.
“I made this story in order to motivate all blind survivors. They can still see by hearing, touching or smelling,” Nanang pointed out.
Nanang was educated in Sinduadi Integration Elementary School, Sleman, Yogyakarta. In this school, he studied along with other children without feeling he was different. Only as a teenager when he attended a special school at the level of junior high school did he realize that the condition of blindness made him different from people around him. One of his teachers reminded him that he should not forget to carry a stick to guide him while walking.
After graduating from junior high school, Nanang did not further his education due to his family’s economic limitations. He was unemployed between 1995 and 1998.
Nanang later joined Bina Netra Sadewa Social Institution, close to the campus of the Indonesian Arts Institute (ISI) Yogyakarta, in 1998. There, for three years, he studied anatomy and pathology. This knowledge enabled Nanang to enhance his massage abilities.
Nanang began with his idea, called “the art of touch paints the voice”.
Nanang’s desire to paint arose when he was requested to massage Samidjan and his son named Kus Sri Antoro in 2021. Samidjan is a crafter of wayang from plastic waste while Kus is a social-activity motivator related to the issue of people with disabilities.
In the next massage session, Nanang expressed his intention to Samidjan and Kus to craft wayang or at least create artworks. They welcomed what Nanang wished for.
Nanang began with his idea, called “the art of touch paints the voice”. His paint components were divided into two, natural and synthetic or acrylic materials. He labels every acrylic-paint color with the first letter of the color. For paint with natural materials, he needs only to smell them, which are among others turmeric, betel leaves, betel lime, dragon fruit and butterfly pea flowers. Since then, Nanang has made further headway and kept moving. He continues to campaign for “the art of touch paints the voice” among blind survivors. He realizes the idea for the sake of equality and equal rights.
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