Last month I went to the art exhibition of Myuran Sukumaran (who was a member of the well known Bali 9). The exhibition was called - "Another Day in Paradise", and was held at the Campbelltown Arts Centre. This is a collage made up of Myuran's paintings of the Bali 9. All very impressive pieces of art work. He was one very talented man....who unfortunately, did not find his talent until he was in Bali's Kerobakan prison after being convicted of drug trafficking & facing the death penalty.
He was a model prisoner & taught English, computer, graphic design and philosophy classes to other prisoners. In February 2015 Curtin University conferred Sukumaran with an associate degree in Fine Arts. He was executed on 29th April 2015, along with fellow trafficker, Andrew Chan, and 6 other prisoners. The remainder of the Bali 9 are still serving various jail sentences in Indonesia, most being life in prison.
Although I do not condone their actions of drug trafficking, I do think that Indonesia's stance of the death penalty was harsh. Both these men had turned their lives around for the good, and that good was mostly to help others. Indonesia seems to have a very different justice & sentencing system that, to me, seems to be very unbalanced. As an example: An Australian was recently sentenced to 4 years jail over the death of a police officer, yet these drug traffickers were executed. Sorry, but I just don't get that. Anyways, I will hop off my soap box now....
The 9 art works are as follows:
Top L-R - Myuran Sukumaran (self portrait), Andrew Chan, Scott Rush
Middle L-R - Siyi Chen, Michael Czugaj, Matt Norman
Bottom L-R - Martin Stephens, Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Renae Lawrence
I am glad that I made the effort to see this amazing exhibition.
What a wonderful collage, he was so talented, what a waste. I agree with you, whilst never condoning drug trafficking the sentencing system in Indonesia does seem so unbalanced.
Fabulous artwork. I don't condone drug trafficking either but to be executed after years in prison is just sheer cruelty in my opinion. Just the Indonesians flexing their muscles.
He certainly was a very talented man. I must admit that I too shook my head at the 4 year sentence for a death compared to life imprisonment and execution for these drug traffickers. Does that show how little value is placed on life in some instances?
What a story! I am always against the death penalty. Whether through justice or not it is always a killing. Apart from that it does look like a harsh sentence. Beautiful collage to show his works.
