First Published Indonesian Expat 206

Today I find myself in Jogjakarta in central Java; My quest? To ferret out some of the vibrant street art that this city is famous for. Most visitors to this, Indonesia’s cultural hub head straight for the attractions that ‘Jogja’ is famous for, the Batik markets, the numerous art galleries, the dancers at the Sultan's palace or any one of the prolific music venues that abound.

I, on the other hand have have an altogether different agenda.

Over the last decade I have become obsessed with the concept and execution of artists plying their craft in that most public of galleries – the street.

Graffiti can ‘litter’ most urban landscapes and sometimes even I have to agree that ‘tagging’ and random swirls on the sides of buildings can be a bit of blight but look a little deeper and in amid the clutter there will be one or two absolute gems that smack of artistic genius.

“Public’ art has been with us since early homo sapiens first learned to pick up an instrument with which to draw and began illustrating daily life on the walls of caves and shelters which today, thousands of years later we refer to as primitive rock art.

Those early cave dwellers, as time went on began to use various coloured pigments to brighten their creations that often covered the cliff faces around their homesteads.

This early ‘graffiti’ has given modern anthropologists an insight into life, as it was in Neolithic times given there was no written word, only pictures depicting great hunting expeditions, ceremonies or great battles with neighboring tribes.

Ever since I began taking an interest in the craft of street art I have amassed thousands of photographs from thirty odd cities around the globe where stencils and spray cans are the common currency amongst the urban street artists.

Here in Jogjakarta the ‘public’ walls are a perfect vehicle for political expression and consequently, huge murals spring up overnight that are all too often seen by the authorities as being seditious.  By day council workers set out with scrubbing brush and bucket and remove the piece only for another to appear in its place in the dead of night.

The political themes cover corruption, human rights and injustice in general with satirical images of the county’s leading politicians portrayed in the most unflattering of lights.

Under Suharto, images like these published in journals such as Tempo would get the magazine shut down in a flash but how do you ban a building covered in slogans and images condemning the government?

In this age of mass social media it still amazes me that street art continues to flourish and creates urban guerrilla heroes like space invader, Banksy, Alice and a host of other artists who travel the world applying their own stamp to the urban landscape.

Right here in Jogjakarta I came across a wee gem stenciled at ankle level on a side lane in the Kraton district of the city. Bending down to examine it closer and get a photograph, I saw…yes... Alice was here.

I have come across her work (I presume it’s a she as the works are always signed ‘Alice’) in obscure laneways in such cities as Vancouver, Seattle, Paris New York, London and Melbourne.

The statement," have spray can will travel," certainly applies to her.

The French based, Space Invader creates his pieces using small multi - coloured mosaic tiles, crafted into unusual shapes. His favourite tactic is to display Pac Man figures at the entrance to underground stations that seem to chase commuters up or down the escalators.

Why he has come to be so well known is that many of his pieces are in some of the most inaccessible places possible high on the side of buildings in Paris and one can only ask oneself, ‘how on f#*% did he get up there?”

The mysterious and now infinitely famous Banksy has now become the darling of the art world. His fabulous creations 'go up' in the last slow hours of morning and within minutes of the sun coming up will have attracted huge crowds and is sure to make for an amusing article in newspapers around the globe.

Street art or graffiti, call it what you will, will always be with us, be it a gang tagging out their territory or an artist whose work cannot get shown in a gallery and then suddenly, it simply appears as if by magic where thousands see it every day on their morning commute.

For me, I will simply follow the can’s nozzle where I can, photographing the creations before those pesky council workers arrive with their brushes and buckets.

All Photographs copyright Paul v Walters & E.J.Lenahan