1998 declared Year of Art and Culture

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto rang in the new year at the stroke of midnight yesterday, proclaiming it as The Year of Art and Culture.

1998 is also a continuation of the Decade of Visit Indonesia to promote tourism, now the nation's top earner of badly needed foreign exchange.

"We shall emphasize the nation's art and culture," Soeharto said in a nationwide televised address. "Through art and culture, we strengthen our identity as a nation and at the same time attract foreign tourists to Indonesia."

The government at the turn of each new year gives it a special theme name, but its record of promoting these themes has varied from year to year. The just concluded 1997 was The Year of Telecommunication and Cooperatives.

Neither the government, nor the art and cultural community for that matter, has yet to announce what they have in store in terms of the art and cultural agenda for 1998.

Soeharto was accompanied by Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication Joop Ave and Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro.

"We are a nation who possesses ancient history, traditions and cultures. The heritage comes in the form of historical buildings and artifacts, customs and tradition, and the art and craft products that are found in every corner of the archipelago.

"In our cultural heritage we will rediscover symbols of sacred values, thoughts, views and teachings of our predecessors," Soeharto said.

As Indonesia is made up of many ethnic groups, the nation was bound to be rich in history, custom, tradition and art, he said.

"They remind us of the true meaning of national unity and cohesion. We are indeed different, but we are united. Bhineka Tunggal Ika," he said, referring to the national logo which is Sanskrit for Unity in Diversity.

Soeharto said the national heritage was also a draw card for people from other countries.

"This is bound to promote tourism, vital for national development. Besides, it is a vehicle to promote greater understanding between nations."

This is the sixth year of the Visit Indonesia Decade proclaimed by Soeharto in 1993.

After enjoying rapid growth year on year from the mid 1980s, the number of tourist arrivals to Indonesia grew by a paltry 0.6 percent in 1997.

Tourism officials blame the stagnation on the spate of violent riots in the first half of the year, and on the smog covering a major part of the country caused by forest fires in the second half of 1997.

The tourism industry nevertheless still earned US$6.62 billion in foreign exchange for the nation last year.

Soeharto said that while the nation was concentrating its efforts on dealing with the monetary crisis, it should not be stuck with that endeavor, no matter how difficult the problem was.

"There are still many things that we should and could do. One of them is tourism. So let's promote tourism," he said. (prb/emb)

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