Irennius Bongky

Bongky was a drug addict and arrested several times throughout his trafficking career. His life spiralled out of control, to the point that he ended up spending almost 4 years (in total) in prison for drug distribution. After spending some time in prison he was able to turn his selling skills to art. Read below the hard story of Bongky in prison.

Unfortunately, when Bongky was 5 years old, his parents split up and he had to suffer the consequences of a broken family. As a result, Bongky never really knew his parents and was raised by his grandparents, but they died while he was still in university. He had no choice but to live on his own while still studying at the Institute of the Arts (ISI) Yogyakarta. In the end he dropped out of school because of his drugs problems.

Bongky was a very troubled teenager. Encour- aged by friends, he began experimenting with drugs and ended up selling marihuana himself. Bongky started dealing when attending ISI in Yogyakarta. His illegal activities eventually caught up with him when he was arrested for the first time in October 1999. Bongky has been making art since childhood and in prison, he taught

himself drawing skills. He had no more than a pen and some cardboard from boxes lying around in prison. He was motivated because it was the only thing he could do to kill some time. He was also able to make art out of the garbage lying around in prison. The last time he went to prison was in 2010, after that he swore to himself to never touch drugs again.

After finishing his sentence Bongky tried to find a job, however, that turned to be an impossible task, so he ended up working as an independent artist. The special thing about Bongky is that he is a self-taught artist after a difficult period in life. He has been fascinated by the Indonesian artists Yustoni Voluntero, Ugo Untoro, and S Teddy Darmawan. They have been a vital source of in- spiration and encouragement.

He met many people in prison and was interested in the stories of his fellow prisoners and shared in their joy and especially suffering. His artistic style is characterised by prison life. His artworks are spontaneous drawings of imaginary people, including people he knows from the village, his surroundings. Also, famous people inspire him, mostly local people. Events occurred in his environment are sources of inspiration. The message he wants to convey with his art is simple, he just tries to be true in life, he is what he is and does not pretend to be someone else. For his artworks, he is looking for people with specific characteristics or people who are religiously inspired. His skill is that he can convey their feelings to his artworks in a very artistic way.

Born in 1979, Bongky lives and works in Jogja. He sells his products exclusively at ViaVia. He used to sell dolls but he mainly focuses on drawing, mural, painting, pulp sculptures, and t- shirts. He works in a sustainable way with leftover paper and cardboard for drawing or pulp to make a doll. He also breathes new life into waste.

The real name of Bongky is Irennius Pungky. He exhib- ited in Australia with members of Taring Padi and ex- hibited twice at ViaVia (enlightenment 1 and enlighten- ment 2). Meanwhile, Bongky found a job at Décor Asia, a company that specializes in furniture and decoration. Bongky is also a member of Taring Padi. For Bongky, Taring Padi is very interesting because foreign artists are coming to Taring Padi for exchange programs,

workshop technic graphic and cardboard cut.

Take a look at our Fair Trade Shop and admire his re- markable artistic work.

Instagram: @irenniusbonky_234