Art, music to grace capital

Artists from several countries will be in Jakarta for the triennial Arts Summit, to entertain lovers of contemporary music, dance and theater for an entire month.

Painters and other artists are also scheduled to join local artists in exhibitions throughout the event.

Running from Sept. 11 to Oct. 10, Art Summit Indonesia 2004 will also include a three-day seminar hosted by playwright Putu Wijaya, which will discuss, among other issues, cultural collaborations.

The event, organized by the Office of the State Minister for Tourism and Culture, was last held in 2001. The scheduled participants this year are coming from France, Finland, South Korea, Russia, Britain, Thailand, Japan, Egypt, the United States, Hong Kong and Germany. Others participants are expected from New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan.

Organizers said the screening process for the event was aimed at selecting the best possible participants, adding that the greatest difficulty was finding local artists.

"We want artists who will be on a par with the foreign performers. But in contemporary arts, our artists are becoming fewer and fewer," musician Suka Hardjana said at a press conference earlier this week.

While past Art Summits have drawn more expatriates than Indonesians, State Minister I Gede Ardika said he hoped more locals would follow this year's event.

The main venues for the Art Summit will be the Jakarta Playhouse, Galeri Nasional and the Ismail Marzuki Arts Center. -- JP