The Fighting in Cibarusah

Hendra did many revolutionary posters. Some of these posters were on his own initiative. But a few others were transformations of a concept obtained from the Indonesian Youth Army, which was located on Jalan Menteng 31, Jakarta. Also from Adam Malik and Chairul Saleh, who would later become Vice Prime Minister III in President Sukarno's government. Hendra also established a group whose mission openly took a stance against the occupation of the colonial forces. This group, founded along with Barli, Sudjana Kerton, Suparto, Abedy, Kustiwa and Turkandi was named the Front Painters . They bravely marched together to the front lines. With weapons in hand and grenades hanging off their belts, these painters spied on and confronted the enemy. They targeted locations around West Java, from Bekasi, Karawang, Bogor, Tasikmalaya to Jakarta. Memories of this struggle were recalled by Hendra in a painting dated 1960, and titled The Fighting in Cibarusah. (Agus Dermawan T.)