Indonesia 1999: A cultural retrospect<\/p>\n
By Edi Sedyawati<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The year 1999 began with reverberations of what
\nhad happened in 1998, when although entangled in an economic
\ncrisis, Indonesia managed to organize two major international
\nculture events, in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The first was the 15th conference of the International
\nAssociation of Historians on Asia (Aug. 27 to Sept. 1, 1998), and
\nsecond, the Second Art Summit Indonesia (Performing Arts, Sept.
\n19 to Oct. 19th, 1998).<\/p>\n
In a way, these two events, attended by many foreign
\nparticipants, contributed something to make a better image of the
\nsituation in Indonesia, which otherwise was exposed by foreign
\npress agents as being desperately in turmoil countrywide.<\/p>\n
Within the year 1999 itself, there were several cultural
\nactivities worth noting, which we may recall in a combination of
\nclassified and chronological order.<\/p>\n
The classification would run as follows: (1) international
\ncooperation; (2) the world of children; (3) the promotion of
\nlocal cultural potentials; and (4) the promotion of facilitating
\nagents for the development of a conducive sphere for the
\nformation of a national culture.<\/p>\n
Aside from all those cultural activities, 1999 also saw a
\ngeneral problem of the role of culture in the development of the
\nnation. Social unrest in certain places, in fact, put cultural
\ntolerance to a test.<\/p>\n
Artistic collaboration<\/p>\n
The fruit of an international artistic collaboration was seen
\nat Teater Tanah Airku at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah, in February
\n1999, featuring a theatrical rendering of William Shakespeare's
\nKing Lear. Acting, music, dialog and dance, as well as costume
\nand stage design, were composed into an integrated whole.<\/p>\n
What made it special was that different elements of all those
\ningredients were taken from diverse stage traditions: Chinese,
\nJapanese, Javanese, Malay, Minangkabau and Thai.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, the performance was remarkably good; the
\ndominant feelings reverberate genuinely despite the multiple
\nsources of techniques. The unimpaired strength came from the fact
\nthat all the composing and performing artists were masters in
\ntheir own right.<\/p>\n
In March, a bilateral agreement brought about an exhibition of
\nIndonesian Gold from the National Museum's collection in Jakarta
\nto Brisbane, Australia, at the Queensland Art Gallery, and
\nsubsequently moved to Sydney. It was hoped that the feelings of
\nAustralian visitors who viewed the exhibition noted the cultural
\nrefinements of Indonesia and were duly aroused. It was meant as
\ncompensation for political and media hostilities between the two
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
There were, moreover, three international festivals held in
\nIndonesia attended by participants from many countries. The first
\nwas the 20th Festival and Conference of Asian Composers League
\nheld in Yogyakarta and Surakarta from Sept. 2 to Sept. 9,
\norganized by the Association of Indonesian Composers with the
\nfull support of the Directorate General for Culture.<\/p>\n
Then there was the Indonesian Dance Festival held in Jakarta,
\nfrom Sept. 16 to Sept. 21, organized jointly by Institut Kesenian
\nJakarta, Dewan Kesenian Jakarta, Taman Ismail Marzuki and Gedung
\nKesenian Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Another festival attended by foreign participants was the
\nMakassar Forum held in Makassar, in mid-1999. The presence of
\nforeign participants at all those festivals, again, gave an
\nopportunity \"to show the world\" that Indonesia was not as bad as
\nit appeared in media coverage.<\/p>\n
Culture for children<\/p>\n
Another category of cultural activities is that related to
\nchildren. In February, the Directorate of Museums held an
\nexhibition of children's toys and games, accompanied by a
\ndiscussion and demonstrations.<\/p>\n
This complex of activities was held in the National Museum,
\nJakarta. A lot of interest from visitors was expressed, mostly
\nwith the hope that all those children's games could be revived,
\nto be experienced and enjoyed by our children today.<\/p>\n
The wish is, indeed, a challenge for educators, parents and
\nentrepreneurs. A seminar with the same theme, Dolanan Anak-anak
\n(Children's Play), was later held by the Gadjah Mada University
\nin Yogyakarta, on July 13.<\/p>\n
It is worth noting that some games or plays include songs, of
\ncourse in the respective local language, and use the specific
\ntonal system of the local culture. Thus, learning a traditional
\ngame will also mean learning a musical tradition at the same
\ntime.<\/p>\n
Enriching the musical experience of children is a problem at
\nhand. Besides the diatonic system, other tonal systems, such as
\nthe pentatonic, should also be presented to children. The visual
\naspect of musical presentation also needs assessment.<\/p>\n
At present, too many TV programs feature children's video
\nclips in which children are made to move and dress as coquettish
\nadults. Therefore, the performance of music for children such as
\nthat given by the Midori Orchestra during National Education Day
\ncelebrations in May is something that needs to be presented more
\noften.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Wayang Week VII, held from Aug. 7 to Aug. 14 in
\nJakarta (organized by the National Secretariat for Wayang, which
\ntook place in a special venue built for wayang in the vicinity of
\nTaman Mini), also featured wayang Kancil, a puppet performance
\ntelling educational fables meant for children.<\/p>\n
Demonstrations or short performances of the many different
\nstyles of wayang (puppets) performances from different places in
\nIndonesia were also welcomed as a means to develop appreciation
\namong the newly acquainted spectators, including children.<\/p>\n
In October, a special Children's Theater Week was held for the
\nfirst time in Indonesia, organized by the Directorate for the
\nArts, also at Taman Mini. The plays were written in Bahasa
\nIndonesia, but the staging allowed local interpretations. Hence,
\nwe saw a great variety of presentation styles from all the
\nparticipating delegates from many provinces. These creatively
\nconstructed performances, which were then observed and evaluated
\nby professional theater artists and experts, should be made
\naccessible to a wider audience.<\/p>\n
Local potentials<\/p>\n
On Aug. 21, a local and private art center was inaugurated. It
\nis called Pondok Seni Boediardjo at Tingal, a small hamlet near
\nthe famous Borobudur temple. It is the legacy of the late air
\nmarshal and art lover (also ex-minister and ambassador) H.
\nBoediardjo.<\/p>\n
Alumni from several art academies gathered there to help the
\nBoediardjo family develop programs to expose local artistic
\npotentials, as well as to present rare traditional Javanese
\nperformances.<\/p>\n
For different cultural areas, a remarkable joint-festival was
\norganized in September and October. It was the Festival Budaya
\nNusantara, coordinated by Pudentia and supported by The Ford
\nFoundation.<\/p>\n
It comprised: (1) a performing arts festival at Karangasem,
\nBali, organized by the Society for Indonesian Performing Arts,
\nfrom Sept. 9 to Sept. 14th; (2) a festival of Dayak rituals,
\nethnography and oral language, organized by the Institute of
\nDayakology in Pontianak, from Sept. 22 to Sept. 23; (3) a Malay
\nCulture Feast organized by the Tanjung Pinang office of the
\nDirectorate for History and Traditional Values, from Oct. 7 to
\nOct. 9; (4) a symposium on manuscript studies and an exhibition
\nof manuscripts at the National Library, organized by the
\nAssociation for Nusantara Manuscripts, held in Jakarta from Oct.
\n12 to Oct. 19; (5) a seminar, festival and book launching
\norganized by the Association for Oral Tradition, from Oct. 14 to
\nOct. 16, at Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta; and (6) a conference
\non local languages organized by a joint committee, also held at
\nTaman Ismail Marzuki, from Oct. 14 to Oct. 19.<\/p>\n
This integration of activities makes an exemplary work of
\nsynergy, binding together several professional organizations,
\ngovernment offices and foreign agents. Because of its dimension,
\nit had a demonstration effect, letting people know that many
\nstudies and vitalization efforts regarding local traditional
\ncultural expressions have indeed been done from time to time.<\/p>\n
Tolerance tested<\/p>\n
Alas, due to inadequate socialization of intercultural
\nunderstanding (through four channels: community circles, schools,
\nmass media and cultural industry), cultural (and religious)
\ndifferences have been exploited for political ends to generate
\nconflicts and to fan fights and riots.<\/p>\n
Expertise in understanding and tolerance is needed. It is now
\nhigh time to see that social and cultural matters are central in
\nproblems of social welfare. It should be put as a higher
\npriority, at least at the same level as economic and public
\nfacilities development.<\/p>\n
What is urgently needed now is an integrated and well-
\nstructured combination of efforts to fight ignorance and
\nintolerance of cultural differences thought all four channels
\nmentioned above.<\/p>\n
The writer is the professor of archaeology at the University
\nof Indonesia and former director general for culture.<\/p>",
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