Priyaris Munandar: An Artist Brings into Being and Creates
A few days after graduating from junior high school in 1996, Priyaris Munandar decided to decorate a part of his neck with tattoos. They depicted elephants holding hands (or trunks?) Perhaps these elephants were a kind of fantasy imagined by this young man in hopes of receiving blessings from the God Ganesha, the symbol of intellectualism and beauty in the Hindu tradition. We know of course, that for centuries now the history and culture of Java has always been close to that of Hinduism. Naturally Priyaris' parents were shocked at those elephant tattoos. But what could anyone do? Those tattoos were a kind of symbol of defiance for this young artist towards the expectations of his father and mother who wanted their son to go to SMTI (Industrial Technology High School) in Yogyakarta. By attending this school -- along with the connections that had been built up by his father -- Priyaris could quickly finish school and become a civil servant, with privileged means, in the Archaeo...