Edhi Sunarso

Edhi Sunarso, born Sunarso, (July 2, 1932 – January 4, 2016) was an Indonesian sculptor and public artist known for numerous well-known monuments and landmarks found throughout Jakarta, including the Selamat Datang Monument and Dirgantara statue (Patung Dirgantara), also called the Pancoran Monument, in Pancoran, South Jakarta. He taught sculpture at Yogyakarta State University (formerly IKIP Yogyakarta) and the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta.

He was born on July 2, 1932, in Salatiga, Central Java, Dutch East Indies. Like many Indonesians, he was born with just one name, Sunarso. He took the name Edhi Sunarso, after a fellow fighter who was killed during the Indonesian National Revolution for independence from the Netherlands. In 1942, Sunarso was captured by Dutch forces during a pro-independence mission in Bandung. He was imprisoned in Kebonwaru, Bandung, by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army until 1949.

Sunarso initially began sculpting and practicing art while detained in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army's prison. Upon his release in 1949 (and the independence of Indonesia), Sunarso enrolled in the Indonesian College of Fine Arts (ASRI), now known as the Indonesian Institute of the Arts, Yogyakarta (ISI). He then won a scholarship from UNESCO to attend the Visva Bharati Robindrannat Tagore University in India.

In 1956, Edhi Sunarso was awarded second prize at an international competition in the United Kingdom for his stone sculpture, "The Unknown Political Prisoner." His prize won the attention of Indonesian officials, including President Sukarno. During the 1950s, Sukarno had ordered the destruction of statues and monuments which had been erected by Dutch authorities during the colonial era.

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