My mother tongue is Bahasa Indonesia but since a tender age I had been introduced to English. Now beside speaking it, I also use English actively in written texts. At my early college years, my bi-lingual ability was started to be used in translating texts.
My current acquaintance with the visual arts world (which is still neither deep nor perfect) started when I was 22 yrs old. That year, I started hanging out with people who understand visual arts, whether those who merely acquired their arts academically, or those who also practiced it as an integral part of their lives.
Not long afterwards, my bi-lingual ability was used to translate texts accompanying or presenting artworks: whether it’s a mere wall-text, curatorial writings in the exhibition catalogue, or articles discussing visual arts in printed Medias.
Visual arts are very interesting because it does not speak in text, but in complex visual forms. Like texts are for a writer, visual art works are medium for the artists to deliver messages. Due to the complexity of the visual forms, sometimes the audience does not acquire the information intended for them. Thus, for me, accompanying texts or curatorial writings is an effort to translate these messages to the audience. Therefore, when I translate an accompanying text or curatorial writings, I often feel like doing a tertiary work: translating a translation.
As is to the literary world, my interest to the visual arts world up to today is still a naive one: the desire to deliver a message as simple as possible, an easier reading on visual arts, so the messages could reach more audiences.
