Mural Park under the Lempuyangan Flyover
The space under bridges or flyovers in many places might be identical with untidiness, disorder, and crime. Nonetheless, you should not consider the same thing when you come to the area under the Lempuyangan flyover since it becomes an alternative public space amid the scarcity of playground and public space in Yogyakarta. The area under the flyover that is located to the east of Lempuyangan (the oldest railway station in Yogyakarta) functions as a place to construct imagination.
It has been common views that little children accompanied by their parents are sitting relax in the area close to the railway crossbar. They hang around in a narrow, paved area to the north of the rails waiting for the train to pass by and spend the time joyfully. While waiting for the train, fathers of the children will lead their children to imagine the comfort making a tour exploring Java island on a train, while listening to the characteristic sound of the rotating wheels of the train.
Even though it is only an imagination, the children seem to be very happy with this activity. When YogYES visited this place a couple of days ago, a son with his father looked very happy when an executive train passed by. The son asked his father in Javanese language, "Pak kuwi sepur opo?" (What train is that, dad?), and the father seemed to guess the name of the train as an answer. After the train passed by, the son played again and asked, "Pak, mengko ono sepur sing liwat ora?" (Will there be another train passing by, dad?). And the son keeps on waiting for the next train to pass by.
Simple yet valuable; that is the imagination of going on a train. The imagination is able to stimulate happiness and sooth weariness. For some people with very limited budget, it can also refrain from the urge to make a real trip on the train, when the expense for such a strip is quite expensive for them, especially when prices of daily needs are increasing. Such an imagination was portrayed by Apotik Komik arts community; it gave an inspiration in the making of the mural work in 2002.
Samuel Indratma, one of the activists in Apotik Komik told YogYES that the murals were created to make the atmosphere of the area under the flyover more vivid, as well as to introduce the art work that is expected to be appreciated by Yogyakarta community and to take care of the neglected city corners. Samuel said that the use of the area under the flyover implies the shortage of children playground.
Now, if you come to the area under Lempuyangan flyover, you can enjoy beautiful murals created by Apotik Komik. The murals are painted from the south end to the north end of the flyover with all beams being painted colourfully as well. Most of the murals are of fun nuance, in line with the place that functions as an area for children to play with their imagination, even though some of them bring quite serious themes.
Some of the murals are related to trains, looking as if they are going to portray the activities done under the flyover every afternoon. One of them is the mural created by Nano Warsono that is located on the beam close to the railway crossbar. It describes a big person and two persons looking like clowns who are depicted to be travelling on a train. The rails are portrayed as bending with two compartments carrying the clowns. Once, there was a child in his karate uniform wanted his picture to be taken in front of the mural because he liked it so much.
Still related to the train, on the other part of the flyover wall, there is another mural depicting the atmosphere of the railway station. Chain of trains look to be parked in the station with the faces of the passengers appear behind the windows. A stewardess stands besides the trains. On her right side, a man stands still. It seems that the mural invites children to imagine the atmosphere of the railway station with all of its activities.
Another mural still carrying fun, children nuance is found on the wall at the north end of the flyover. The pictures of tens of fish looking like mermaids decorate the wall. The fish are painted white while the background is blue that might describe the blue of the ocean. Close to the mural, there is another mural describing a big watermelon with little creatures. This last mural is located precisely to the south of the railway crossbar.
On the west wall of the flyover, a mural presumably comes in a series. At the south end, there are pictures of eyes looking at a gown, and the eyes change into vicious cells in the next part. Next, there is a description of a baby growing as a strong and robust creature but it looks like being gnawed by diseases. The next part is a picture of a cash register and a product with fruits spread. What interesting is that under each frame there is an inset of a stewardess visualizing the way of utilizing life buoy during an emergency. You can catch the message behind this mural, can't you?
Another side of the flyover also has quite serious murals. The mural enclosed with texts containing certain messages, for example. Another mural paints human faces covered with smoke and "smoke" is written on it; it might want to describe the situation of Jogja with the air pollution. Another mural brings the theme of love with the writing "Tebar Pesona Cinta" that means "Share Love Attraction" and a mural with quite long message translated into 3 languages that is dedicated to those who are not forgiving.
The murals on this flyover do not only function as beautiful decoration, but they also contribute to the people who work around the flyover everyday and they are also appreciated by the community surrounding the flyover. A drinks seller acknowledges that after the existence of the murals, the situation under the flyover gets busier and it directly gives extra income for her. The community around the flyover also like the murals that, according to them, give special nuance. Some people express it that the murals are beneficial in that they erase vandalism in the flyover.
The murals on the flyover make it like a park, a playground for children and a mural park at the same time, since they come with various themes created by different muralists. If you wan to enjoy them, you go eastwards from the Grand Post Office crossroad until to get to Sentul and turn left following the line until you get to the flyover.
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