Arts Beneath the Waves

Teguh Ostenrik creates artwork to preserve coral reefs and marine ecosystem.

- Ester Christine Natalia

Visitors to Artjog 2019 will readily remember a mas-sive art installation titled “Daun Khatulistiwa” (Domus Frosiquilo) that stood out among other artworks, displayed during the one-month art festival in Yogyakarta. The dome-shaped metal sculpture with a 7-meter diameter and 3.5 meters high was decorated with teak leaves. A video of coral reefs was projected on the wall where the art installation was placed along with a recording of a soothing voice reading a description of coral reefs. Entering the dome, visitors felt like they were under the sea. The artwork, which portrayed the importance of preserving plants and reefs that produce oxygen, a vital element of life, was made by 70-year-old artist Respati Teguh Santoso Ostenrik.

Better known as Teguh Ostenrik, the artist often uses recycled materials and earthy tones for his paintings and sculptures. Tegus is also an activist who founded Yayasan Terumbu Rupa, a non-profit foundation that aims to revive coral reefs using underwater art installations called ARTificial Reef, in April 2015.

Once a medical student, Teguh discovered a passion for art after he saw a photographic reproduction of a painting entitled “Isenheim Altarpiece” by the German artist Matthias Grünewald and Nikolaus Hagenauer in a book. The picture fueled his curiosity, inspiring him to go to art centers like Taman Ismail Marzuki and the Goethe Institut in Jakarta rather than attending his medical classes. In 1972, after two years of studying medicine, he made up his mind to pursue his passion and study art in Germany. Without telling his family, he began saving money working as a taxi driver. He finally told his parents about his decision the night before boarding a flight to Germany.