Dua Gadis Usai Sembahyang (80x65 cm), a piece by Bali-based watercolorist Huang Fong, captures the exotic side of Bali, the island that has became a muse for so many artists. (JP/I Wayan Juniartha)

Ubud's Neka Art Museum will turn into a hallowed hall of cultural diversity this month as hundreds of Asian painters display their works in the Asian Water Colour Confederation (AWC)'s 19th exhibition.

Co-organized by the AWC, the Indonesian Watercolor Society (IWS) and the Neka Art Museum (NAM), the exhibition will see as many as 140 artists participate from ten organizations around the globe.

The participating organizations include, the China Confederation of Watercolorists with ten artists; the Hong Kong Union of Visual Artists with 15 artists, the IWS with 31 artists; the Korean Watercolor Development Group with 24 artists; the Golden Group Myanmar with one artist; Thailand's Six Point Group with six artists; the Singapore Watercolor Society with five artists; the Taiwan Watercolor Group with three artists; the Malaysia Watercolor Group with eight artists; and The International Watercolor Group of Japan with eight artists.

"There are also seventeen invited artists and twelve additional Indonesian participants," NAM's founder Suteja Neka told The Jakarta Post.

Works of invited artists include pieces from famed Malaysian painter, Chang Fee Ming and Bali's own maestro, the late I Gusti Nyoman Lempad.

Noted art critic Agus Dermawan T said the presence of watercolor works from Indonesia's past artists, such as Lempad, Abdullah Suriosubroto, Siauw Tik Kwie and Liem Tjoe Ing, was a good thing for the exhibit as it would provide an eye-opening historical reference.

"The works will show how the art of watercolor painting has gained ground in Indonesia since the early 20th century. It means, this art form has been here for 100 years," he said.

Neka's face beamed with joy during the exhibit's opening ceremony last Saturday. Despite a heavy downpour that engulfed Ubud that afternoon, the museum's open hall was packed with participating artists, invited guests and art connoisseurs.

The Logos in Nature (58 x 42 cm), a watercolor work by Korean watercolorist and AWC’s secretary general Bung-Lyol Lee, is a colorful abstraction of the dynamic forces of nature. (JP/I Wayan Juniartha)

 

"It is an important exhibition because it will provide the Balinese and Indonesian artists with a rare opportunity to view and examine the works of artists from various regions in Asia," he said.

"Such an opportunity, hopefully, will expand their horizon of thoughts and creativity and stimulate them to explore new themes and create better artworks."

Many nations in Asia -- Japan and China in particular --, Neka added, had a long tradition of watercolor paintings.

"Unfortunately, in the realm of contemporary fine arts, watercolor is a marginalized medium and an international art event dedicated solely to watercolor paintings is a rarity nowadays. That's the reason why this exhibit is an important art event."

The works displayed in the exhibit truly capture the richness of Asia's watercolor realm. Diverse styles, distinctive themes, and different aesthetic explorations presented in the works reflect the unique social and psychological dynamics of each region, and of each individual artist.

Works that reflect the perennial longing for open space and majestic beauty of the natural world hang side by side with modern contemplation on the genesis of life or on the evil nature of politics. Simple still-life images of flowers and fruits, virgin forests and tranquil villages stand quietly next to soaring skyscrapers that dominate Hong Kong's skyline.

"It (the exhibit) is a feast for the eyes ... we can see how several painters, from different regions, treat a similar theme, let say 'nature', with different styles and techniques and, amazingly, all of them produced equally captivating pieces," Ubud's senior painter, Nyoman Suradnya, said.

The exhibit, therefore, is as much a visual testimony of the regions' contemporary existence as it is an aesthetic yearning for the regions' long-gone innocence.

To some extent, the exhibit is also proof that despite the domination of other new mediums, such as acrylic and oil, watercolor, a 4,000 year-old medium, will always have its own nich* of strong supporters among the present and future painters.

Agus Dermawan T praised watercolor as " a royal heritage of fine art" before quoting the words of the chairman of IWS, JB Iwan Sulistyo: "Watercolor contains an unrivaled nuance of beauty, which shall never be achieved by other mediums."

The 19th Exhibition of the Asian Watercolor Confederation
Nov. 8-30, 2008
Neka Art Museum
Jalan Raya Sanggingan, Ubud
www.museumneka.com