A matter of cultural empowerment

A matter of cultural empowerment

In the new Cabinet, the Ministry of Education and Culture has
been renamed the Ministry of National Education, raising
speculations as to whether the culture arena will be neglected.
Former director general of culture and current chairwoman of the
Indonesian Archaeologist Association Edi Sedyawati contributed
this article to The Jakarta Post.

JAKARTA (JP): It has been argued back and forth as to whether
culture should be taken care of by governments or not. Some
people say that culture should be let free to develop itself,
without any intervention from a government or any other agencies.
That proposition is, to my understanding, at odds with some
cultural historical facts, as well as with the present situation
in developing and underdeveloped countries.

These countries are suffering from cultural marginalization
and underexposure in the world cultural "market". Well-developed
countries, such as the United States of America, are very
powerful in their cultural industry. They are forceful in the
dissemination and marketing of their products, through trade as
well as though mass media channels, to the effect that other
countries, targeted as consumers, become cultural prey. People
from nondeveloped countries, with their still weak cultural
industries, are in a helpless position; the more so if cultural
development is to be allowed to be entirely directed by the
basically commercial free market, without any protection for
integrity and principled values.

In these countries, advocacy for good taste and principled
values are urgently needed if every nation's culture is to be
safe from corruption by the overpowering commercial market. On
the contrary, the cultural market needs to be developed into
something that promotes good taste and principled values.

On reviewing the history of cultures, one will immediately
understand that significantly strong cultures can only be born as
the outcome of a role played determinedly by a strong social
group (mostly governments, in whatever format, or the class of
elites). These groups around the world and in ever period of
history acted as patrons and stimulators for cultural
development. The great ancient civilizations of India, Egypt,
China, Greece, the Incas, the Romans, etc. developed through the
support and ideological leadership of a powerful social group.

Likewise, small-scale societies also have their cultural
development in the hands of communal leaders. The adat (custom,
tradition) in many Indonesian ethnic groups are cultural
manifestations that came into being through the consensus of
leaders.

Development and maintenance of culture can only be left to the
society at large if it has gained a strong foundation within the
institutions of the respective society, and no threat of its
existence is likely from any direction. By way of example, it can
be mentioned that European classical music has become a stable
cultural asset since it is respected and loved by the population,
and tended by stable institutions such as schools,
conservatories, permanent performing groups, etc.

Another example is the arts sector in the United States, which
has managed to build an economic kingdom for itself and permeate
the whole world. Still another example is the art and customs of
Bali. Its strong foundation in religion, the deep respect for
religiosity among the population, and strong traditional
institutions such as the banjar (village organization) have made
Balinese art, including old Javanese literature, a vibrant
activity.

Indonesia has played a significant role in international
organizations such as the Non-Aligned Movement and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). These
organizations have expressed through several forums their
collective position regarding cultural development. They have
exerted that each country should be empowered, or empower
themselves, to preserve the vitality of their respective
cultures. The First Meeting of Ministers of Culture of The Non-
Aligned Movement (NAM), held in Medellin, Columbia, on Sept. 4
through Sept. 5, 1997, observed that "notwithstanding the end of
the Cold War... new barriers have emerged between the North and
the South, globalization, unipolarism, and technological gaps, as
well as aggression and occupation, threaten and marginalize our
cultures and their national character, and jeopardize our
survival as sovereign nations".

Moreover, the ministers "acknowledged that cultural diversity
and a plurality of views of the world constitute a major asset to
mankind, and provide a contribution for the construction of a new
international order". These "rich diversities should be
considered as opportunities for cooperation and solidarity rather
than reasons for dissension".

The ministers also "emphasized that the media have an
important role to play in the universalization of ideas of
tolerance, respect for cultural diversity and the right to
cultural development", and "to combat the disinformation
strategies aimed at producing adverse political effects on member
countries of NAM and other developing countries".

An ASEAN committee, namely the Committee on Culture and
Information, has recently drafted an "ASEAN Declaration on
Cultural Heritage" on the mandate of the Hanoi Plan of Action,
adopted by the ASEAN Heads of State and Government in Hanoi on
Dec. 15, 1998. The declaration is a part of the aim "to promote
ASEAN awareness and its standing in the international community",
and is due to be adopted by the year 2000.

In fact, it is expected to be signed by the ASEAN Ministers of
Foreign Affairs in November 1999. The committee is fully aware of
the threat of cultural loss, rapid deterioration of living
traditions of creative and technical excellence, knowledge
systems and practices and the disappearances of worthy heritage
structures due to tropical climates, inappropriate development
efforts, the homogenizing forces of globalization and other major
changes taking place in ASEAN societies. The declaration includes
a guarantee for the protection, preservation, and promotion of
each Member Country's cultural heritages. It also states that
each country shall formulate and adopt policies, programs, and
services, and develop appropriate technical, scientific, legal,
administrative and financial measures for this purpose.

A development policy of a state can only be issued by the
respective government in its widest sense (in its legislative,
executive and judicial aspects). The development policy should
not neglect the cultural aspect, since culture is a referent for
a nation. The strength of a nation lies both in its capacities to
be competitive (in science and economic matters that are founded
in universal principles), as well as in its cultural integrity
(in which values, taste and style, are of a specific character).

For the Republic of Indonesia, the cultural problem at hand is
yet to be addressed seriously, with an urgently needed
substantial facilitation on the government's part. The first
problem is that of nation formation, which includes the formation
of a national culture, and this again includes at the same time
the management of empowering the diverse local cultures and
enhancing intercultural understanding and appreciation within the
nation. These dynamics of cultural development should be guarded
against distortions that may come from the commercial market. The
second problem is that of survival; facing the aggressive
marketing of the products of cultural industry, mostly of the
popular kind, from strong industrial countries.

For those intent on improving the Indonesian cultural
industry, especially those advocating high quality and principled
values, cannot be left to businesspeople, workers, and artists
alone, because those endeavors will not yield immediate returns.
It needs a synergy of potentials in the field and a government
program. In this case, there should be a form of protection
against unfair competition in the cultural industry. In a wider
sense, actors and producers of cultural substance (in the form of
ideas, deeds and things), in whatever mode of manifestation it is
expressed (direct or mediated), should be empowered by adequate
means and dignity.

For the population at large, a cultural awareness raising is
an obvious demand, since the understanding of the substance and
problems of our own culture is decreasing all the time. A nation
with a strong culture only, which is determined to retain its
culture's existence can be culturally resilient, one of the
important sources of a nation's sovereignty.