Thinkspace Projects presents:
FANDI ANGGA SAPUTRA
‘UNEN-UNEN’
(Gallery I)
Thinkspace Projects presents Fandi Angaa Saputra’s UNEN-UNEN.
Exploring proverbs that have become a guide for the next generation, Fandi Angga Saputra’s solo exhibition was inspired by words imparted by his elders. Proverbs are well-known sentences containing wisdom, truth, and traditional principles—embedded in a metaphorical and memorable form passed down from one generation to the next.
The exhibition title, Unen-Unenthe Javanese word for proverbs stemming from the word “unen” meaning sounds-reflects on how Fandi frequently recalls the precious advice given by his father and elders, given his responsibility now to provide, lead, and set an example as the head of his own family. He often encounters life situations that resonate with unen-unen he has heard before in his younger days, helping him make important life decisions that affect himself and his family. To a certain extent, the exhibition also acts as a tribute to Fandi’s late father, someone who he now felt would have been a person who understood the ups and downs of his current position.
Drawing on this reflection of proverbs, Fandi incorporates the influence of nature, specifically flora and fauna, which inspire all subjects in his paintings. Fandi distorts or invents imaginary creatures in his work to represent how a child’s mind can perceive nature as magical. He invites the audience to guess what living things they see in his works. This way, his works are a dynamic space for the audience to imagine and lose their focus—to become a child again for a moment. Child-like characters with larger heads than their bodies symbolize people who faced difficult problems early in childhood. They embody people forced to grow up psychologically faster their bodies cannot catch up. Their childhood is taken away, and the void left is replaced by responsibilities for themselves and their families.
Through Unen-Unen, Fandi strives to remind us to remember the words that have been said to us by our predecessors, wiser people whose words are worth their weight in gold.
“What advice has always been there to remind us to be better in this life?”
Complete Show Statement:
Adigang Adigung Adiguna
– (Arrogance from strength, power, intellect)
Humans should not brag and rely only on the advantages they have.
From the earliest stages of our lives, through the winding paths of adulthood, we find ourselves surrounded by the echoes of advice. Regardless of our age, wisdom imparted by those who came before us remains an integral part of our growth. These words sometimes come in the form of proverbs, acting as vessels for a community to preserve its cultural legacy and values. Fandi Angga Saputra’s solo exhibition this time carries a lot of influence from words imparted by his elders, exploring proverbs that have become a guide for the next generation.
Proverbs are well-known sentences containing wisdom, truth, and traditional principles—embedded in a metaphorical and memorable form passed down from one generation to the next.1 In Javanese proverbs are called “unen-unen”, which comes from the word “unen” meaning sounds. Unen can also be interpreted as a saying or speech, where the word indicates the importance of the person who utters it. Proverbs can find their way into everyday conversation, through stories told by our elders or instruction given by them.2 Just like how we are more likely to remember words spoken by those close to us, proverbs can be memorized subconsciously through the conversations we remember.
The exhibition title, Unen-Unen, reflects how Fandi frequently recalls the precious advice given by his father and elders, given his responsibility now to provide, lead, and set an example as the head of his own family. Now, he often encounters life situations that resonate with unen-unen he has heard before in his younger days, helping him make important life decisions that affect himself and his family. To a certain extent, the exhibition also acted as a tribute to Fandi’s late father, someone who he now felt would have been a person who understood the ups and downs of his current position.
Fandi spent most of his childhood in Lampung, a province in the Southern tip of Sumatra. Sumatra itself is a large island west of Java, divided by the Sunda Strait. It is common to encounter Javanese names of villages or people here, as Lampung was the first transmigration destination before Indonesian independence. Java was known as one of the most populous islands in the archipelago during the colonial era, which is why the Dutch East Indies Colonial Government attempted to resolve the problem of overpopulation by bringing the first transmigrants from Java to Lampung in 1905.3 Despite being displaced from their homeland, the Javanese transmigrants still carry their traditions within them. The same can be said for Fandi. He was not raised on Javanese soil, but his family instilled in him the traditional customs and way of life that he still values to this day.
Growing up in a modest family with a father who worked as a palm tree tapper, being surrounded by nature has always been a part of Fandi’s childhood. Behind his house is a vast farming field, followed by large, lush trees that form the forest. Elements of nature, specifically flora and fauna, inspire all subjects in his paintings. In his artistic exploration, Fandi sees how human relationships are similar to symbiosis in nature, particularly how each interaction can have a good or sometimes bad influence.
Fandi distorts or invents imaginary creatures in his work to represent how a child’s mind can perceive nature as magical. He invites the audience to guess what living things they see in his works. This way, his works are a dynamic space for the audience to imagine and lose their focus—to become a child again for a moment. Child-like characters with larger heads than their bodies symbolize people who faced difficult problems early in childhood. They embody people forced to grow up psychologically faster their bodies cannot catch up. Their childhood is taken away, and the void left is replaced by responsibilities for themselves and their families.
The title of the new series of works in this exhibition took inspiration from Javanese proverbs that he felt resonated with him, something he uses in facing various life situations. In Reap the Drops of Virtue (2023) Fandi depicts a character that waits patiently in harvesting a fictional tree sap as a reference to the proverb Sabar subur, which means that if one is willing to be patient, then they will be rewarded at the end of the struggle.
In Warmth in the Pocket (2023), a group of characters is cozying up inside the mouth of a bird-like creature. This work embodies the proverb Mangan ora mangan sing penting kumpul—roughly translated to “whether we eat or not what matters is that we get together”—conveys how Javanese people often prioritize gatherings even when there is no food available. Javanese people prefer to value togetherness and interpersonal relations above all else, which makes the society more egalitarian, democratic, and inclusive.4
Through Unen-Unen, Fandi strives to remind us to remember the words that have been said to us by our predecessors, wiser people whose words are worth their weight in gold. What advice has always been there to remind us to be better in this life?
REF
1 Mieder, W., (2004), Proverbs: A Handbook, Westport, CT: Greenwood.
2 Barone, F., (2021), Knowledge is power: Anthropology of proverbs, Human Relations Area Files – Cultural information for education and research.
3 Oktavia, V., (2018), Jejak Kampung Jawa di Tanah Sumatera, Kompas.id, Retrieved September 4, 2023
4 Siwi, C., & Eviandaru, M., (2014) ‘International Conference of Revisited Asian Society’, Proceeding International Conference of Revisited Asian Society, 21-24 July 2014, pp.328.
Artist Bio:
Fandi Angga Saputra (born 1996) lives and works in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. After graduating from the Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta (Fine Arts major in 2020), Fandi started drawing as a hobby and tried several styles before focusing on painting. His painting also has been exhibited in Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and The Philippines. The surrealist paintings of Fandi are deeply inspired by his childhood memories in a village, where he liked to play outside and enjoy nature. As time went by, the increase in industrial development, lack of green space, modern life, and the destruction of nature made those memories fade. Working in acrylic on canvas with a fresh color palette, Fandi is fascinated by the beauty of the natural world. Fandi hopes his paintings recall and clarify memories like these, conjuring a love for nature. Because once we love nature, we will want to protect it too.