A founding member of the Indonesian artist-activist collective Taring Padi (Fangs of the Rice Plant), Muhamad ‘Ucup’ Yusuf’s works centre around Indonesian society and politics. Concerned about social justice and the rights of minority and marginal communities, Ucup, born in 1975, and other members of Taring Padi have consistently cultivated a grassroots-centred social consciousness in their work. Their distinct brand of protest art seeks to draw awareness to the livelihood of particular social communities whilst criticizing structures of inequality.‘Tak Kunjung Padam’ chronicles the efforts of the victims of the Porong mudslide disaster in East Java, Indonesia. Several slogans are prominently etched in the print, calling for justice and for basic rights to be returned to the victims. In the background is a dark silhouette of a cityscape where grotesque and shadowy figures can be seen engaging in acts of corruption. In contrast, the foreground teems with the activities of the villagers as they attempt to rebuild their community and village.
