JakArt 2001 carnival rolls into town for a month<\/p>\n
By Mehru Jaffer<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A canopy of blue skies is stretched
\nacross the city for JakArt 2001, the first international carnival
\nof the arts in the capital, to open on Thursday.<\/p>\n
For an entire month the city will be converted into a
\nsprawling stage throbbing with the sight of visual arts and the
\nsound of performing artists from around the world. Performances
\nwill not be restricted just to auditoriums, stadiums and museums,
\nbut will be thrown open to the public at hotels, malls, parks,
\nstreet corners, markets, churches and mosques.<\/p>\n
Community workshops, seminars and exhibitions will be taken to
\nthe kampong and the poor and rich alike coaxed to participate in
\nthe rejoicing of Jakarta's 474th founding anniversary. During
\nthis time the roving Stage Bus is expected to attract much
\nattention, as the vehicle that transforms into a theater travels
\nthe city's streets for 30 days.<\/p>\n
\"All this is in celebration of the new millennium,\" beams
\nMaria Kolonia, JakArt 2001 executive director.<\/p>\n
A Greek author and filmmaker, Maria came to Jakarta two years
\nago. She had traveled to Bali for holidays in the past and when a
\njob opportunity for her husband made it possible for both of them
\nto live in Jakarta she was ecstatic.<\/p>\n
Along with other friends here, Maria is concerned with
\nher beloved city's deteriorating image internationally. In the
\nspirit of the era of globalization she could not just sit and
\nwatch, though at first JakArt was all talk.<\/p>\n
\"Both local and foreign artists living here wanted to do
\nsomething but we did not quite know what and how,\" Maria told The
\nJakarta Post at the office of JakArt in the basement of the
\nS. Widjojo Center, which is hustling and bustling today with
\nhundreds of volunteers and activities.<\/p>\n
It took Mikhail David, artistic director and a visual
\nartist who has lived here since 1982, to float the idea of an
\nart festival involving the entire city and as many of
\nits 20 million residents as possible. Sharon Eng,
\ntreasurer, musician and teacher, said that eventually
\nthe friends came up with a budget of US$2 million to fund the
\nfestival but the treasury, of course, was empty.<\/p>\n
As the carnival became more of a reality the money trickled in
\nslowly but surely, although 90 percent of the cost is being
\nshouldered in kind by embassies and friends in the corporate
\nsector. Eng's dream is to see JakArt financed entirely by the
\ncorporate sector in the future, just like the Singapore Art
\nFestival, along with the active participation of the government.
\nWhen this happens the artists can concentrate on their art
\ninstead of having to think about funding.<\/p>\n
Despite all the hurdles, the festival is about to become a
\nreality, with more than 300 events planned for throughout the
\nmonth of June.<\/p>\n
Many artists from the local kampong will be able to show off
\ntheir talent by painting murals in public places or trying their
\nhand at photography.<\/p>\n
Members of the Association of Young Indonesian Architects
\n(AMI) worked hand in hand with the residents of Pluit's Kampong
\nTanggal Indah, where 900 homes along the river will be painted by
\nthe slum dwellers themselves.<\/p>\n
\"When we first went into the kampong, the people expressed
\nskepticism. They wanted to know what we wanted from them?\" said
\nDjohara, 34, a local architect, as he put the final touches to
\nplans for the project.<\/p>\n
He is excited at the thought of the multicolored kampong that
\nwill dot the city's horizon like an eternal rainbow, as it is
\nseen from the toll road that connects Jakarta to the airport. To
\nfurther enhance the face of the city, imaginatively designed
\nbamboo structures will be installed at strategic places, chosen
\nby 50 artists working with AMI.<\/p>\n
June 24 is set aside for Keliling Monas (around Monas), when a
\nplethora of cultural activities will involve the public around
\nthe National Monument. The director of film studies at the
\nInstitute Kesenian Jakarta (JKI), Gatot Prakosa, will hold
\nworkshops for children from the kampong, in their own
\nneighborhoods, to introduce them to film animation and video
\nproduction.<\/p>\n
Films made by students of JKI will be screened outdoors in
\ndifferent areas of Jakarta's five districts, after which it will
\nbe possible for the public to choose their next form of
\nentertainment, either a poetry reading or an open-air theater
\nperformance.<\/p>\n
Not to be left out, prisoners too will get a glimpse
\nof what is going on in the world of art with performances to be
\nheld within cells.<\/p>\n
As participants prepare for a three-day seminar and interfaith
\ndialog on the role of art in promoting peace and harmony in the
\nworld, designer Harry Dharsono is busy putting the last stitches
\nto costumes he has designed especially for the Greek cast of the
\nKnossos Theater, which will perform Antigone, the tragedy which
\nSophocles wrote as a tribute to democracy.<\/p>\n
Apart from the Halle Orchestra, in association with the
\nBritish Council, a Giorgio de Chirico Italian retrospective on
\nthe father of Expressionism in modern sculpture and Afro-Funk
\nmusic by Denmark's Moussa Diallo, the highlight of the
\ninternational program is Maximiliano Guerra, the Argentinian
\nchoreographer and successor to the late Rudolf Nureyev, master of
\ncontemporary dance.<\/p>\n
The local fare includes traditional wayang (shadow puppet)
\nplays and topeng (mask) dances from 15 provinces and a live
\nperformance by Indonesian composer Slamet Abdul Sjukur, as he
\ntakes his monochord to the local mosque to play music inspired by
\nthe Creator.<\/p>\n
Sjukur will also involve handicapped children in a workshop
\nwhere he will compose music from the sound made by the
\nwheelchairs of the participants.<\/p>\n
Kite exhibitions and workshops will collide with other
\nclassical performances, along with hip-hop dances and a
\ntreat of jazz all the way from the Caribbean.<\/p>\n
World famous architect Antoine Predoc will preside over a
\ndesign competition and workshops, a batik exhibition of Brahma
\nTira Sari from Yogyakarta and youngsters from Surakarta will
\ncontrast with dreamscapes created in batik by aboriginal women of
\nAustralia. Food from around the world will fuel the
\nbody as viewers trip from one exhibition to another.<\/p>\n
JakArt 2001 promises, in short, to be a well deserved break
\nfor people, presidents and legislators alike from all the recent
\nproblems here.<\/p>\n
For further inquiries telephone 5265762 or go to
\nwww.jakart.com.<\/p>",
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