Surabaya artist receives medal of honour from French government

Agus “Koecink” Sukamto, an artist from Surabaya, received Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government. It is a medal of honour from the French Ministry of Culture, currently led by Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin.

As reported by Kumparan, the medal was awarded directly to Agus at the office of the French Honorary Consulate by Counselor for Cooperation of the French Embassy in Indonesia Stéphane Dovert, who also serves as director of Institut Français d’Indonésie (IFI).

"This medal of honour is proof of Agus Koecink's commitment, who is an artist, teacher, writer and exhibition curator, for more than ten years in supporting cultural and artistic exchanges between Indonesia and France," said Dovert in a written statement received by Berita Anak Surabaya on 8 December.

In 2010, Agus was selected to participate in a mobility programme for Indonesian cultural actors to France. It was the beginning of the collaboration with France that lasted for years

At the time of his residency in Muséum d’histoire naturelle de Rouen, Agus’ artistic activities got the attention of the museum director, Sébastien Minchin. He was entrusted with designing the Asian space or Salle d’Asie in the museum for the ethnographic collection from Asia.

Rouen Museum also invited Agus for a collaboration to display an ethnographic collection which was combined with his artistic design with the support of artist Jenny Lee, his wife.

"Rouen Museum created the 'Gallery of Continents', a room with collections from each continent. Agus and Jenny’s task is to showcase collections from the Asian continent. They are both given complete freedom to choose a museum collection that has never been displayed before, the background of ethnographic wealth and the objects that will be exhibited. Together, they worked on the presentation text and designed the scenography," said Dovert.

Agus Koecink's work allowed ethnographic objects from the Asian continent to find their voices again, have dialogue with collections from other continents and meet the public. Through various workshops during his residency, Agus introduced Indonesian art to France.

Since returning from his residency in France, Agus has held several exhibitions of French-themed works, including “By-Oleh from France” (2010), “Paris et moi” (2012), “Rouen je t'aime” (2014) with Jenny Lee, supported by IFI Surabaya.