THE UNIQUENESS OF SURABAYA'S VISUAL

ART

Visual Art 1By Marcella 6A, Aldo 6B, Michelle 6B, and Kevin Jett 6C

INTRODUCTION

We visited two places to find out about Surabaya’s Visual Art -Balai Pemuda and a gift shop called Gae Koen Thok. We categorized Surabaya’s visual art into the following catergories -

Logos

Clothing

Paintings

Handcrafts

Statues

LOGOS

One form of visual art is a logo. A logo is used to represent the identity of organizations, schools, companies, and government agencies. Many of the logos found in Surabaya use the icons Sura and Baya (shark and crocodile) and the Tugu Pahlawan monument. This makes them unique because these two things are only found in Surabaya.

LOGO 1&2

LOGO 3&4

LOGO 5&6

LOGO 7&8

PAINTINGS

Mr. M Sochieb

MR. M SOCHIEB

One of the greatest painters in Surabaya is Mr. M. Sochieb. The themes of his paintings are unique because he showed the spirit and bravery of Surabaya citizen when they fought against the Dutch colonialist during the war on 10 November 1945. In 1965 he started his first exhibition. Every time he has an exhibition, he starts it on 10 November to coincide with the date of the war.

This painting shows Surabaya’s youth climbing Yamato Hotel ( now Majapahit Hotel) and tearing down blue flag of the Dutch.

Mr. Sochieb uses this painting to show that war without strategy is a waste and can cause unnecessary death. The soldiers ambushed the enemy and seized the fortress.

In this painting Mr. Sochieb wanted to show that the war has cost human lives, causing destruction, misery and death.

CLOTHINGThe kinds of clothes we will look at to analyse Surabaya’s visual

art are Udeng , T-Shirt, and kebaya (traditional dress)

T-SHIRT (MODERN) This is a sample of modern T-Shirt that we found in Gae Koen Thok. The design uses cartoon characters that represent the ingredients of ‘rujak cingur’, which is a traditional salad from Surabaya. It makes this t-shirt unique because all of the ingredients are drawn in cartoon and they add smiley faces in each of the cartoon they draw. Captions also adds meaning.

UDENG (TRADITIONAL) This unique hat originated from

Surabaya and is called ‘ Udeng’. It shows Surabaya’s identity because of the color, design, and motif. The characteristics : • It has the typical triangle behind the

hat which make it unique and different from other traditional hats such as Jogjakarta’s and Surakarta’s hats.

• It uses only one color• It is used in formal ceremonies

which are held by Surabaya’s government.

KEBAYAThis is the traditional clothes worn by the girls of Surabaya. It is simple sarong unique to Surabaya, with Batik on the bottom and Kebaya on top. The top they wear is made of colorful cotton fabric and decorated by handmade lace. The batik motif is taken from original motifs of Surabaya such as the ‘Sawunggaling Motif’ (rooster). It is also influenced by Madura’s batik which has flowers and bird motifs.

HANDCRAFTS (SOUVENIRS)

KEY CHAINSThese key chains are souvenirs promoting Surabaya. They use many symbols of Surabaya and historical events, such as ‘Semanggi’ leaves, the old Surabaya’s logo, and the speech of Bung Tomo (one of Surabaya’s heroes). These are unique and make people remember the importance of historical building, events, and symbols of Surabaya.

SOUVENIRS (MODERN) This is a sample of souvenirs

that to promote Surabaya. It is a mug that uses motifs such as the Suro and Boyo symbols to promote Surabaya in a uniques way. People usually buy it to remember their trip to Surabaya.

WOOD HANDCRAFT

This is one of the famous wooden handcraft in Surabaya. Thesestarted to become famous around 1.5 years ago. This craft has influenced Jogja’s craft. This is unique, showing Surabaya’s citizens carrying out their daily activities.

STATUES

Tugu Pahlawan, jalesvev jayamahe, Suro dan Boyo , Joko Dolok

TUGU PAHLAWANTugu Pahlawan is a famous monumental statue that represents the history of Surabaya. It shows how the youth of Surabaya defended their city from a Dutch attack on 10th November 1945. Recently this Surabaya’s icon was used as a batik motif. People usually go to the Tugu Pahlawan Monument to find out more about Surabaya ‘s history.

JALESVEVA_JAYAMAHE

The Jaleveva Jayamahe monument is in the port of Tanjung Perak, Surabaya. It symbolizes the motto - "In the sea we are glorious”. This giving credence to Indonesia’s maritime army that protect the ocean territory of Indonesia. The monument is 30.6 meters high and was designed by Nyoman Nuarta, a famous artists from Bali. That is why this statue is unique.

SURO DAN BOYO

This is a very famous statue that defines Surabaya. This symbol has been changed 3 times over the years. Is is made from brick, rock and cement. You can find this in front of Surabaya’s Zoo.. This statue is unique because it make people remember the legend of Surabaya.

JOKO DOLOGA STATUE OF BUDDHA

FROM THE 13TH CENTURY.

Joko Dolog is a Buddhist statue built in 1289 to honor the death of King Kertanegara. It is believed to be carried to Surabaya 300 years ago. In front of the statue there is a big stone with Javanese literature containing the inscription of Joko Dolog. It is found on Taman Aspari Street. This is unique because of its historical values.

SEMANGGI BATIK SURABAYA

This is a unique batik from Surabaya. The motif used are Semanggi leaves and the famous icon of Suro and Boyo fighting. It doesn't use many colors like Madura’s batik , only using one theme of bright colors.

BATIK MANGROVEThis is a special batik motif-based on mangroves hence called "Batik Mangrove“. The colors that been used are bright, like orange, yellow, red, purple and brown. Batik mangrove has a specific designs with the motif of flora and fauna that live in the mangrove ecosystem. These include leaves, flowers, fruits, as well as animals like fish, crabs and shrimp. Each motif of mangrove comes with different name. 

A characteristic of this type of visual art is the use of a small motif and it’s repeated to form a pattern.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SURABAYA'S VISUAL

ART

ANALYZING - LALA

We didn't’t find a lot of information specific to Surabaya’s visual art. We found out that Surabaya’s visual arts uses specific elements of art, such as one theme of color , lines and shapes, especially wavy, straight and rectangular. Today Surabaya visual art uses icons such as the Tugu Pahlawan monument as a symbol and surrounded by Semanggi leaves which originally represented Surabaya.

There are contemporary painting of Surabaya’s icon such as the Suro and Boyo statue, Tugu Pahlawan, Semanggi leaves, with the paintings mostly being abstract. Most of Surabaya’s visual art we found in many art galleries are influenced by other’s city culture, such as Jogjakarta and Madura. Overall, the importance of Surabaya’s visual art is to define and show the identity of Surabaya. The number of visual art in Surabaya is limited that is why we need to help promote visual art as an important part of Surabaya's culture and heritage.

ANALYZING-ALDO

Surabaya’s visual art is important because it really shows the culture of Surabaya and it can represent Surabaya to other communities. We from out during our excursion some new Surabaya traditions related to visual art.. For example ‘Udeng and Semanggi’. The importance of Surabaya’s visual art is that it can attract people to come to Surabaya to see the uniqueness visual art in Surabaya that are different from other cities. This will therefore help with tourism and help our economy.

ANALYZING-MICHELLE

Surabaya’s visual art is important because preserving our visual art can prevent other cities taking our visual art and artists and to preserve our unique cultural identity. We should create more visual art because it can attract many tourists and visitors to come to Surabaya so they can remember the beauty of Surabaya and to help with commerce.

ANALYZING - KEVIN

Surabaya’s visual art is important to me. It is important to attract people’s attention to love Surabaya city and know that Surabaya is rich in cultural tradition. Surabaya’s visual art is different from other city because of the materials that are used. We also use many different unique symbols such as the Suro and Boyo .

C O N C L U S I O N

Surabaya has visual art, though the forms of visual art up to now are not as many as Bali or Jogjakarta. Through visual art, we can help promote Surabaya so our city can be defined easily and be unique from other cities. Another importance of Surabaya’s visual art is to have what we call a ‘city identity’, which allows us to be proud of Surabaya. People can modify the forms of visual art not only to make it better but also to create new symbols that represent Surabaya’s identity. This can make people who live or visit Surabaya remember that Surabaya is the city of Heroes, a stronghold for maritime activity including both trade and the Indonesian Navy. Through visual art we can show that we are a unique city with a strong cultural heritage. In the future we need to be more proactive in promoting Surabaya to the rest of the world through visual art.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Anonymous.” Joko dolog.” Online Available

http://www.eastjava.com/tourism/surabaya/joko-dolog.html

Djoko Kristiano.” Handy Craft.” Online Available

http://www.demotix.com/news/862089/miniature-handy-craft-display-surabaya#media-862081

M.Sochieb.” Paintings M. Sochieb.” Online Available

http://jawatimuran.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/peristiwa-10-november-1945-dalam-lukisan-karya-sochieb/

Anonymous.”Batik Manggrove.” Online unavailable

 http://produsenbatik.com/batik-mangrove.html