an excerpt from 

"Umar - The Mystic Artist of Sundanese Lands"

(in the catalogue of Umar's exhibition at Duta Fine Arts Foundation, Jakarta, Jan.-Feb. 1991)

Near the town of Sumedang, where Umar was born in 1948, there is a small village called Renggong where horses perform as centerpieces during mystic ceremonies for marriages and circumcisions.

These magnificent creatures go into a trance at the behest of the Pawang (a soccerer) and dance elaborately in honor of the goddess Dewi Sri. This tradition has been known for centuries as the "Kuda Renggong."

Mystical Renggong cannot simply be painted at any time by the artist. It is necessary for him to meditate in order to recreate them with the proper respect for the old traditions, even though he uses modern mediums.

Such mystic traditions have certainly inspired Umar. His theme became a kind of spiritual practice for him in which he exorcises these horses by way of the canvas.

Following the origins of the Bandung school of thought, Umar has included for the first time in his exhibitions numerous paintings expressing Sundanese life in the cubist style. Vibrant colors, exciting compositions and horse stories demonstrate how European influences can harmonize with the deep vitality of Indonesian traditional art.