Jakarta – A total of 10 groups of painters will draw a mural with the theme of criticism in front of the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo at Bhayangkara Square, Police Headquarters, Jakarta on Saturday (30/10).
They are selected participants who have proposed the concept of the mural image and were curated by the committee team in a competition titled ‘Bhayangkara Mural Festival 2021 – National Police Chief’s Cup’.
“Indeed, the initial participants were 70 participants in total. Then we opened again for critical mural works for 10 slots,” said Head of the Public Information Section (Kabagpenum) Polri Kombes Ahmad Ramadhan when contacted, Friday (29/10).
“Starting from today’s drawings, mas, the sketches have started. Tomorrow it’s just the finishing and ceremonial work with the National Police Chief and the announcement of the winners,” he added.
This competition competes for a total prize of Rp. 90 million. The total prize will be divided into IDR 30 million for the 1st place winner, IDR 15 million for the 2nd place winner, IDR 10 million for the 3rd place winner, and IDR 5 million each for the seven favorite participants.
The National Police claims that the mural festival can be a forum for the public to channel their expressions and issue criticism.
The competition will carry the theme ‘The Role of the Young Generation to Be Creative in Conveying Positive Information in the Time of the Covid-19 Pandemic’. It is hoped that the competition can ignite the spirit of independence, nationalism and optimism in the midst of a pandemic.
“To become a forum for freedom of expression and to channel ideas through works of art, as well as aspirations from the community in dealing with community problems in various sectors,” said the Head of the Public Relations Division of the National Police, Inspector General Argo Yuwono to reporters, Tuesday (19/10).
Prior to this competition, the police had received criticism because they were considered repressive in responding to the emergence of murals with the theme of criticism of the government.
The incident began when the mural Jokowi 404: Not Found in Tangerang went viral on social media. Not long after, the security forces removed the mural. In fact, the police even investigated the mural maker.
After the mural went viral, a number of murals in various areas were also highlighted by the public. More and more artists are criticizing the government through art on the walls.
Listyo said that one of the goals of this mural competition is to provide space for freedom of expression for the community. Therefore, he freed the mural competition participants to express all forms of their views and expressions.
According to Listyo, the Bhayangkara corps is not anti-critic and will accommodate all public input.