How much inspiration is the US President elect Barack Obama here?
These two paintings displayed at the Taman Sari Artist Community stand at Braga Fest last week can probably become a testimony to how inspirational and popular he is here.
Back in October last year when he was a presidential candidate, six senior painters/artists at Bandung's Taman Sari Artist Community began working on their paintings of Obama. Each of these artists pictured Obama in different styles, such as realist, caricatural, abstract, and expressionist.
When asked of the reason for their project, Basuki Bawono, one of the artists, said that they were inspired to paint Obama because he was currently a popular figure and one that had a very close relationship with Indonesia. Obama, as many of us know, lived and went to elementary school in Indonesia from 1967 (when he was six years old) up until 1971. Bawono also said their paintings were meant to show support to the presidential candidate.
With his inauguration only a few days away, we really hope that Obama can deliver what he promised in his campaign: Change! We really have a lot of hope in him not only to bring about change for the better for the American people, but also for the people of the world, especially those who are currently living under oppression, fear, and poverty.
