Basuki Resobowo

Basuki Resobowo was an Indonesian painter who was born in Palembang, West Sumatra, in 1916. He showed interest in the visual arts from a young age, but was sent to Jakarta to become a teacher. He studied design and worked as a surveyor while producing sketches and book covers. He also joined the social organization Indonesia Muda and participated in the nationalist movement. He only acted in one film, Kedok Ketawa, in 1941, but remained close to the film industry as a set designer and later as a production designer for Perfini, a film company founded by Usmar Ismail. He also became a prominent painter, working with other artists such as Trisno Sumardjo and Oesman Effandi. He was influenced by expressionism and social realism, and often depicted the struggles of the Indonesian people. He was also the head of the visual arts department of the Institute for the People's Culture, a cultural organization that promoted progressive and anti-colonial values. However, his leftist leanings made him a target of the anti-communist purge that followed the 1965 coup. He went into exile in the 1960s, first to China, then to Vietnam, and finally to the Netherlands. He settled in Amsterdam, where he continued to write extensively on art and culture until his death in 1999. He left behind two children and a legacy of artistic achievements.