Arum Tresnaningtyas Dayuputri

Arum Tresnaningtyas Dayuputri was born in Surakarta, Central Java. After an early career as a photojournalist with Kompas Daily in Jakarta, she has since pursued an interest in fine arts. Arum has worked with different residency programs around Indonesia, including with the Cemeti Institute for Art and Society in Yogykarta. Arum is currently working on a Master of Fine Arts degree at the Institute of Technology in Bandung, West Java. Arum speaks to Brian Arnold about her shift from Journalism to a more expansive practice.

First of all, can you tell us how you got interested in photography?

I was interested in photography when I was in college, and I joined a photography club on my campus. My motivation was very simple, I wanted to make new friends, and it seemed like photography was fun. Learn to see things around through the camera.

Your education is in photojournalism? How did you get interested in journalism specifically?

My father was a journalist and encouraged me to study it in college. Most of my friends in my photography club also were interested in the world of journalism and and thought of careers in the field After graduating, there was open recruitment from a national newspaper. A friend encouraged me to apply, and surprisingly I was accepted. Honestly, I was never that interested in being a photojournalist. But gradually, while I was working in the newspaper, I started to enjoy this profession.

After about 4 years of this I got bored. I felt like a machine for shooting pictures to market the next morning’s newspaper. I got hectic traveling around town to cover events. I feel stuck and my pictures got boring. I quit my job and decided to freelance, but that didn’t last long. I thought studying photojournalism in the Philippines might help.

“This photo work is about a journey, a struggle, a passion, a tradition, and a love. Dangdut is not just music that invites rocking with cute singers, but more than that. Dangdut is a tradition of the Indonesian people, especially in Pantura.”

How did your project Goddess Pantura, the work about dangdut, come about?

This project is one of my final assignments while studying at Ateneo de Manila University. I have an interest in music, and thought dangdut  would be an interesting way to study and identify Indonesian culture, something distinctly Indonesian. Dangdutis all over Java and the rest of Indonesia, and yet is also still remains an indigenous form in an increasingly globalized world.

I eventually focused my attention on a unique subgenre,  Pantura dangdut, music that developed on the north coast of Java. Dangdut is usually in the spotlight because of the sexy singers and rocking. This photo work is about a journey, a struggle, a passion, a tradition, and a love. Dangdut is not just music that invites rocking with cute singers, but more than that. Dangdut is a tradition of the Indonesian people, especially in Pantura.

Celebrations of weddings, circumcisions and harvest are often celebrated with dangdut music. In a way you can say the imagery evens references back to Hindu Java, as the goddess described in the lexicon is so similar the goddess of the South Seas, and the subject matter for the front woman is often her own stardom.

How did you first go about showing and distributing this work?

For a couple of years, I had a good relationship with this dangdut group. I’d often take part in their tours to take pictures just as a part of the crew. I’d help with the whole production, taking pictures and selling  music DVDs, or collecting money ticket, etc. 

After time I knew it was important to share these photographs with some kind of exhibition. I decided to make a traveling exhibition with the musicians, was able to bring it to several cities. The first time I showed these pictures was as a self-produced, 16-page tabloid newspaper. I printed five thousand copies, and gave them away at five different shows.. Apart from that, I also made several different posters and pasted them around the stage and the hosting community.

At some point it seems your focus shifted from journalism to fine art. How did this come about?

I feel bored with my visuals. I wanted to try to learn a new visual approach, new possibilities that I had never done before. And I saw that in fine art. I prefer to learn about creating work to that is both creatively ambitious and entrepreneurial. Working in fine arts I have more room to play. Working without limits, and striving for new ways to think about photography.

How has your work in journalism informed your creative practice today?

I feel very fortunate to have a journalistic background. It helps with research on my projects.. I still often use journalistic techniques in creating a network.

From the earlier work about dangdut to the more recent projects on selfies, Islamic fashion, and weddings, much of your work addresses women and their position in society. How do these fit together in your mind?

I don’t know if I have an answer, hehe ​​.. Probably simply because I am a woman. I unconsciously made photo projects that deal with myself in the women I meet and admire. 

Can you tell us a little about your creative practice? How do you put together a body of work?

Usually, ideas begin spontaneously or respond to a particular theme. From a rough idea, I usually try to find as much information as possible. Then I saved the info and stored it for later processing. During the deposition process, I usually look for visual references for my work. Inspiration can be from anywhere, from books, the internet, movies, music, etc. Next, I tried to imagine and make a sketch of the work. Then doing various experiments to find the right method.

 Over the years, you’ve worked with several different artist-run spaces around Java – Cemeti, MES 56, and Omnispace. How did you get interested in working with these kinds of organizations?

I am very comfortable working collectively. I need support and like to  provide support for friends. My creative process is also greatly influenced by where I live, and I’ve looked to spend time in several artists in run spaces around Java – including  Cemeti, Mes 56, and Jatiwangi. In each of these experiences,  I've met t new people and seen new things. That's what became addictive for me, finding new things. In Omnispace, I help run an artist cooperative space, and space in which all of us can use as a shared exhibition and discussion space. We also provide artists with studio space.

Do you have any current projects you are working on?

I have been working a lot with the indigenous people of Ciptagelar, a group native in the Halimun-Salak Mountains, West Java. They believe in a rice culture; rice is respected and considered sacred. The relationship between rice and humans is symbiotic, each giving life to the other. They think that rice is like a human, with spirit and a soul as well, with an important and precarious life-cycle, the physical body fascinating. They do many rituals during planting and harvesting. I'm doing some photographs that study their philosophy towards rice and some of the rituals by which they live.

Goddes of Pantura is available via Unobtainium Books