L'identité de Surabaya dans la peinture moderne

Riadi Ngasiran, Journaliste à Surabaya L'identité de Surabaya dans la peinture moderne The history of painting in Surabaya shows some lasting patterns that are more related to the city's role as a cosmopolitan market since before WWII, rather than to its function as a creative centre. However, Surabaya's social and political history is such that an urban conscience developed, which translated into strong feelings of identity among the city's inhabitants : this identity was both real through their involvement with the city's debates and idealized by way of reconstructing a past of fighting the Allies, starting from November 1945. Artists have contributed to upholding this image by glorifying great deeds that have been renewed by the recent commitment to Reformasi. Meanwhile, painting integrates proletarian conditions through an empathetic participation in the suffering of the people, or more serenely, through a longing for the atmosphere of the city's old district.Ngasiran Riadi. L'identité de Surabaya dans la peinture moderne. In: Archipel, volume 71, 2006. Autour de la peinture à Java. Volume II. pp. 145-176