Preface by Chris Wee
 

 In 1980, a few art students from the Dullah School of Art in Bali asked

 me some basic questions about art; for example, what to paint, what to

 follow in the modern movement, what is Modernism, where Indonesian art

 is going and many others. As a tourist, I certainly did not know the answers;

 I only knew that I loved art very much. I promised the students that I would

 seek useful answers from older, more mature artists who might know more.

 In 1982, I went to Yogyakarta with one of Dullah's students, Pujianto to ask

 Affandi some serious questions. At the end of Pak Affandi's interviews,

 he asked me to talk to western artists who had worked in Indonesia, who

 knew a lot about art, had access to many books and who might help.

 Donald Friend agreed to be interviewed in Sydney that year. He helped

 generously with his answers for one hour per day for five days, till I ran

 out of questions. Only the big answers appear here.

 Then there was a gap of some eighteen years, when I was struggling to

 make a living in the non-art world. In 1997, I was diagnosed with NPC cancer,

 and just when one thought one's art-interview days were over, the cancer was

 treated and cured. No such luck for Pujianto, who had died leaving a wife and

 family. The need for more answers to art questions still remained with me.

 In 2000, when clearing up a failed plastics factory in Kuching, Borneo, I met

 Jason Monet, an experienced professional artist, who resided in Bali and had

 heard about the Donald Friend interview. After meeting Jason, I felt the urge

 to ask questions of someone who had some art answers. 

 While writing for a Sarawak magazine, ‘New Reality’, in 2001, I went to

 the southern Philippines and saw some ‘art-exciting’ postcards by Bencab.

 I rang him in the northern Philippines, and he agreed to be interviewed in

 Baguio.  I was on the trail again for the reasons for my art-excitement.

 The cancer came back in 2004. When it was treated again, there was still

 some energy kicking, so I had the chance to go to Ubud, Bali, to see

 how things had changed over 24 years, and to interview Pranoto, an

 artist whose work got me art-excited in 1980, and whose work I have

 lived with happily for 25 years.

 Over the years, I have found out that it helps in one's understanding,

 enjoyment, and skill in seeing art, to meet good artists, to ask

 questions (especially of artists whose work you like), get honest answers

 and therefore to know more about your own preferences. I hope you agree.

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