The Sculptor Iko

This project is a result of a study of the oeuvre of Sundanese sculptor Iko, who, among other things, worked for the Catholic mission in Java and carved sculptures for a chapel and church in Ganjuran. Designed by Catholic layman Jos Schmutzer, the sculptures are characterised by a fusion in style and symbolism of old Javanese-Hindustani motifs and Christian themes. This is therefore an art form that can be called hybrid. This is also true of other works from Iko’s oeuvre such as the copies of Buddhist-Hindu temple statues and the portrait bust of Queen Wilhelmina that can be admired in the Indian Hall at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague. This ouvre testifies not only to cultural hybridity but partly to shared authorship against the backdrop of colonial dynamics.