ARTISTIC ENCOUNTERS
muse for many local artists, as are the other ancient relics dotting the countryside such as the Selogriyo, a small 8th-century Hindu temple at the top of Mount Sumbing overlooking stunning rice terraces.
Throughout the last two decades, Amanjiwo has cultivated close ties with the local modern art scene, and has hosted numerous exhibitions in its in-house gallery. One such artist is Java-born, Dutch-new Zealander John van der Sterren, one of the leading landscape and potrait painters in Indonesia and Amanjiwo’s artist-in-residence since 1997. As part of its 20th anniversary, and till the end of April, the resort is hosting a retrospective of van der Sterren’s works, which captures the beauty of the landscape surrounding Amanjiwo. The artist himself gives us a tour of The Sikepan Collection, named after his residence cum studio, Villa Sikepan, located a 6km from the resort, where we later spend a morning sketching in the surrounding countryside. Van der Sterren has hosted countless Amanjiwo guests at home. Perhaps, it’s these intimate experiences that make Aman guests feel at home. During our trip, we meet two other local artists and despite both being serendipitous encounters, they warmly welcome us into their studios for a look at their works. We discover noted Indonesian painter Sony Santosa’s haunting portraits and lifelike Borobudur relief paintings while on our way to a picnic on the banks of the Progo River and stop by the studio of visual artist Deddy Paw, who makes apples the object of his art, on the way back from Pak Bilal’s. White sums its best: “Central Java is very much an organic experience. When I say organic, I mean it’s very raw. It’s not played with too much. It’s not overly touristy, which I think is fabulous for guests coming in, wanting to see the real Indonesia. It’s got a lot of beautiful history to it.”