Not on bread alone<\/p>\n
Man cannot live on bread alone, says the Bible. And in the
\n1960s, when visiting Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschev chided
\nIndonesia's first president Sukarno for spending too much money
\nand effort on grandiose cultural undertakings and not enough on
\nindustrial development, the latter was said to have retorted --
\nparaphrasing Vladimir Ilyich Lenin -- that people needed pants
\ntoo in order to achieve progress, thus throwing back at his
\ncommunist guest the words of the venerated founder of the Soviet
\nstate.<\/p>\n
Indeed, over the millennia, this same truism has been stated
\ntime and time again, in different forms and by different
\npersonalities. But perhaps one of the most concrete examples of
\nwhat those words actually mean was provided by Jakarta's governor
\nAli Sadikin in the 1970s, when he launched the first Jakarta Fair
\nat Monas Square, setting into motion a month of festivities to
\nmark the anniversary of the founding of the city.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's capital city, more so perhaps than any other
\ncommunity in Indonesia, urban or rural, has for centuries been a
\nmajor melting pot of ethnic, cultural, religious and racial
\ngroups coming from all parts of the archipelago and from the
\nworld. Out of Indonesia's hundreds of ethnic populations, there
\nis hardly one that is not represented in this city.<\/p>\n
In order to motivate that hodgepodge of population groups to
\nwork toward the city's advancement in those difficult years, a
\ncommon sense of belonging and pride had to be instilled among all
\nof Jakarta's residents, regardless of their creed and racial or
\nethnic background. The people of Jakarta, the governor reasoned,
\nhave to be made to feel that they are Jakartans and to take pride
\nin that fact.<\/p>\n
It would go beyond the purpose of this column to pass judgment
\non whether or not former governor Ali Sadikin succeeded in his
\ndrive. The undisputed fact remains, however, that even up to this
\nday, the live wire governor is commonly regarded as Jakarta's
\nmost successful governor. Apart from a few new facilities, such
\nas the construction of toll roads and flyovers, there is hardly
\none that had not been put in place by the time he ended his
\ngovernorship in 1977.<\/p>\n
All this leads us to the string of art festivals that has to a
\ncertain extent livened up the dismal social and political
\nlandscape that has prevailed in Indonesia these past few months.
\nIn contrast to similar events held in previous years, the Bali
\nArt Festival was launched with relatively little fanfare, due, no
\ndoubt, to the memory of the Oct. 12 bombing tragedy in Kuta last
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Similarly, the Borobudur International Festival in Central
\nJava last week appeared to be suffering from a lack of foreign
\nvisitors, brought about by the Bali bombing incident and the
\nsubsequent travel warnings that were issued by several foreign
\ngovernments. The same might possibly be said of the Jakarta Art
\nFestival and the Five Mounts Festival at Warangan village at the
\nfoot of Mount Merbabu in Central Java over the past weekend,
\nalthough the latter did enjoy considerable success locally.<\/p>\n
One question that might possibly arise in view of all that has
\nbeen said, then, is: Can it be justified, in these times of
\ncrisis and terrorist concerns, to organize elaborate art
\nfestivals whose main purpose is to draw visitors and, more in
\nparticular, their money? While it may be true that tourism
\nrevenue is the major driving force that sets the tourist industry
\nin motion, it must be borne in mind that for the average person,
\nart, culture or entertainment -- whatever one may call these
\nevents, even kitsch -- have a function to perform in society that
\ngoes well beyond commercialism.<\/p>\n
It is a well-accepted fact that prolonged exposure to
\nstressful conditions can have an adverse effect on even the most
\nhealthy of individuals. Art festivals -- or whatever is
\nunderstood by the word "art" -- provides at least some relief.
\nWhat's more, they also provide that other thing that every person
\nneeds besides bread, as referred to in the Bible, or Sukarno's
\npants for the people. In brief, if it is not tourism, then it is
\nthe people who can benefit from art festivals or performances.
\nLet us not deny the people this means of preserving their sanity.<\/p>",
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