GREEN TOGAS
The Bandung School and Modern Art in Indonesia in the New Order Period
Anissa Rahadiningtyas

Srihadi Soedarsono. Green Togas. 1971. Oil on canvas. 74 x 102 cm. Courtesy of the artist

Green Togas is one of the few paintings by Srihadi Soedarsono that contains social and political narratives that reveal the atmosphere of repression and fear of the early years of the New Order regime. Painted in 1971, this painting also bears subtle criticism towards the elitist nature of modern art in Indonesia which was also reflected in the art academies, especially in Bandung.

On March 17, 1972, Ekspres magazine published a short excerpt on one of Srihadi Soedarsono’s paintings, Green Togas (1971). The article linked the painting with the shooting incident of a student on the campus of the Institut Teknologi Bandung or ITB on October 6, 1970, by a cadet from the Police Academy. The shooter…