# Indonesian Woodcut Activism (Taring Padi)

> The protest graphics of Taring Padi, the collective founded by students and activists in Yogyakarta in 1998 as Suharto fell, and of the punk and activist woodcut scenes around it. Crowded black-and-white woodcuts (cukil kayu) pit workers, farmers, fishers and students against caricatured generals and corporations, and the same imagery is scaled up into collectively painted cloth banners and cardboard wayang puppets for demonstrations, workshops and carnivals.

- Period: 1998–present
- Where: Southeast Asia
- Origin: Yogyakarta, where art students and activists founded Taring Padi in 1998 as Suharto fell; spread to Jakarta punk communities and to workshops in Indonesia, Europe and Australia
- Branch: Counterculture
- Also known as: Cukil kayu, Taring Padi, Indonesian protest woodcut, Reformasi agitprop
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/taring-padi-woodcut/

## Use it with care

Taring Padi's work is collectively authored for specific struggles: credit the collective and the communities involved, and commission or collaborate rather than imitating its banners for branding. Its caricatures of oppressors can slide into ethnic and religious stereotype (People's Justice was removed from documenta fifteen in 2022 for antisemitic figures), so never caricature people by ethnicity or religion. Wayang figures come from a living Javanese performance tradition; learn the characters before borrowing them.

## How it works

- Cut the image in wood and print it cheaply in black on paper or cloth, so anyone can learn it and reproduce it.
- Agree theme, slogan and focal image together, then let many hands 'fill in' (mengisi) every gap with figures, symbols and carved texture.
- Pack workers, farmers, fishers and students edge to edge against oversized, caricatured generals and corporate giants.
- Carve or paint slogans in Bahasa Indonesia or regional languages in chunky capitals, loaded with wordplay and sarcasm.
- Scale the image up into collectively painted, saturated cloth banners and life-size cardboard puppets (wayang kardus) for marches and carnivals.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [All-over field](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-over-field/) (characteristic)
- [Full bleed](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-bleed/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (defining)
- [Extreme scale contrast](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/extreme-scale-contrast/) (characteristic)
- [Visual tension](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/visual-tension/) (characteristic)
- [Layered information](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/layered-information/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (characteristic)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Monochrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/monochrome/) (characteristic)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Complementary clash](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/complementary-clash/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Distortion & exaggeration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/distortion-and-exaggeration/) (characteristic)
- [Naturalistic depiction](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/naturalistic-depiction/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (defining)
- [Painterly brushwork](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-brushwork/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Folk & sacred symbols](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/folk-and-sacred-symbols/) (characteristic)

### Imagery
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (characteristic)
- [Comic & cartoon](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/comic-and-cartoon/) (characteristic)
- [Painterly illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/painterly-illustration/) (occasional)

### Medium & production
- [Woodblock & linocut](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/woodblock-and-linocut/) (defining)
- [Hand-painted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-painted/) (defining)
- [Textile & craft](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/textile-and-craft/) (occasional)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Agitational & persuasive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/agitational-and-persuasive/) (defining)
- [Communal & popular](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/communal-and-popular/) (defining)
- [Rebellious & subversive](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rebellious-and-subversive/) (defining)
- [Playful & witty](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/playful-and-witty/) (occasional)

Avoids: Generous white space, Isolated object, Ornament-free, Straight photography, Gradients, Gloss & highlights, Luxurious & glamorous, Authoritative & institutional

Palette: #141414, #e9dfc8, #c8282e, #f0b323, #2f8a4a, #2b5fa8

Typefaces: Chunky woodcut capitals carved in Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese, Brush-painted banner lettering

Known for: Taring Padi collective (Yogyakarta, 1998–); Taring Padi, Rakyat Pasti Menang (banner, 1998); Taring Padi, Bara Solidaritas: Sekarang Mereka, Besok Kita (banners, mural and wayang kardus, documenta fifteen, Kassel, 2022); Taring Padi, People's Justice (banner, 2002; removed from documenta fifteen in 2022 for antisemitic caricatures); Marjinal and the Taring Babi punk community, Jakarta (woodcut prints)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Taller de Gráfica Popular](https://stylogeny.com/styles/taller-grafica-popular.md) (1937–1977)
- Influenced by: [Punk & DIY Zine](https://stylogeny.com/styles/punk-diy.md) (1976–1986)
- Influenced by: [Socialist Realist Propaganda Poster](https://stylogeny.com/styles/socialist-realism.md) (1932–1989)
- Alike in its design choices: [Oaxacan Protest Printmaking & Street Graphics (ASARO)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/oaxaca-protest-graphics.md) (2006–present), 73% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Lubok Popular Print](https://stylogeny.com/styles/lubok.md) (1650–1920), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Chilean Estallido Social Graphics (Revuelta Popular of 2019–20)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/chilean-estallido-graphics.md) (2019–2022), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Afrobeat Sleeve Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/afrobeat-sleeve-art.md) (1974–present), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Mexican Popular Graphics (Posada)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mexican-popular-graphics.md) (1880–1917), 64% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Egyptian Revolutionary Street Art (Mohamed Mahmoud Murals)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/egyptian-revolution-street-art.md) (2011–2014), 63% alike

## Real works

- [Tolak teror kekerasan thd kemerdekaan berpikir (catalogued by IISH as '[Print.]')](https://hdl.handle.net/10622/9A3D677D-6088-4D8B-AD27-A98EEC50C994): Lembaga Budaya Kerakyatan Taring Padi (Yogyakarta), ca. 2002, International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam (BG A57/933)
- [Buruh bersatu... (Workers unite), shown in the exhibition 'Unbekannte Schwester, unbekannter Bruder I'](https://www.deutschefotothek.de/documents/obj/87721480): Taring Padi (Yogyakarta); installation photograph by Klaus-Dieter Schumacher, by 2003 (installation photograph, 2003), Deutsche Fotothek, SLUB Dresden (df_hauptkatalog_0756424)
- [Gelar Budaya Kerakyatan (Platform for culture of the people)](https://hdl.handle.net/10622/E312CA95-677A-4143-BAC1-98CAC648179B): Lembaga Budaya Kerakyatan Taring Padi (Yogyakarta), 2000 (event 28 June – 2 July 2000), International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam (BG D29/831)
- [crazy beat : demi perdamaian : omong kosong (set of 4 postcards)](https://hdl.handle.net/10622/CDFCA8DA-AF3C-11E7-92FF-1F43F9F89CCC): Surya Wirawan, 2005, International Institute of Social History (IISH), Amsterdam (BG A65/933)

## Sources

- documenta fifteen, 'Taring Padi' (https://documenta-fifteen.de/en/lumbung-members-artists/taring-padi/)
- ArtAsiaPacific, 'Rakyat Pasti Menang: interview with Taring Padi, part 1' (https://www.artasiapacific.com/people/rakyat-pasti-menang-the-people-united-will-never-be-defeated-interview-with-taring-padi-part-1/)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Indonesian Woodcut Activism (Taring Padi)”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/taring-padi-woodcut/