Art community doubtful of govt's commitment

By Amir Sidharta and Budiman Moerdijat

JAKARTA (JP): The art community and the government have traditionally been uneasy bedfellows.

Despite periodical government funding of the arts, their checkered relationship has included the banning of controversial stage performances and literary works.

Not surprisingly, many artists are skeptical whether this year's promotion of culture will also extend to freedom of expression.

Social and cultural affairs observer Mochtar Buchori said the government's stated commitment to promoting art and culture would be empty rhetoric if it failed to encourage discussion of the intrinsic cultural values.

"Culture is not merely a traditional dance or tourist objects like temples or historical monuments. It must enhance people's values, something which is decisive in development."

He listed these values as democracy, freedom of expression and the public's strong confidence in the government's will.

But he said the government had traditionally been hesitant to back freedom of expression.

He cited as a case in point the banning of a monologue play about a murdered labor activist in several towns last November.

Marsinah Menggugat (Marsinah Accuses), written and performed by Ratna Sarumpaet, did go on stage here and in Padang, West Sumatra, but scheduled performances were called off in Surabaya, Bandung and Lampung.

Mochtar said the government should make culture the center of all development activities, instead of part of a year-long program, if it was really sincere in its promotion.

He said there should be greater freedom for discussion of development values and the role of culture.

"The values should not have to serve the needs of the tourists. We don't have to make culture cheap... It is very precious instead."

Priest, novelist and social worker Y.B. Mangunwijaya also doubted the government could carry through thorough development of the arts.

"That's why I am now focusing on preparing the youths to build a better Indonesia in the future," Mangunwijaya said.

In the past few years he has run a modest, participation- oriented elementary school in a small village in the southern part of Yogyakarta. The school faces closure by the government.

The performing arts may be particularly prone to acts of censorship due to their greater prominence, but fine arts have also fallen victim.

Among significant incidents during the 30-year rule of the New Order was the closure of an exhibition, What Identity? -- questioning the avoidance of individualism in Indonesian art -- at Yogyakarta's Seni Sono art gallery in 1978.

The city's police shut it down after two days.

Two years later, artist Hardi was detained for questioning by the police for several days due to his provocative work, Presidential Candidate 2001, which was essentially a self- portrait of the artist in the garb of a highly decorated military general.

More recently, in 1988 the Yogyakarta police tried to close Semsar Siahaan's exhibition which had also traveled to Salatiga, Solo and Bandung.

They charged that he intended to humiliate the authorities by staging the exhibition in the city. He was detained for questioning, but was released after he was able to establish that he had nothing to do with the production of leaflets promoting the exhibition.

There were also attempts to close down the show in Bandung. Semsar demanded that the police produce a warrant for the closure, and the exhibition remained open when they failed to do so.

Explaining Semsar Siahaan's freedom to continue producing works of social criticism, Astri Wright writes in Soul, Spirit, Mountain that "this shows that the guidelines for censorship in the visual arts are less clearly formulated by the state's security apparatus than in the case of literature.

It illustrates that contemporary painters can feel relatively safe as long as their work does not point a finger at any particular politician, leader or policy".

Wright's perspective is supported by the banning of the exhibition Visual Art for Marsinah, created by artist Moelyono in honor of the slain activist, at the Surabaya Art Council in 1993.

Semsar had little faith that this year's designation signaled a more open attitude of the government toward the arts.

"The announcement was made just after authorities banned Ratna Sarumpaet's play on Marsinah. It is impossible that it will signify a greater freedom of expression," he said.

"In my opinion, the designation was only meant for tourism and tourism-related industries."