Artists confused over art, cultural drive

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): This year may be declared the year of arts and culture but developments are as confusing as ever for the artistic community.

The latest development was the appointment of businessman turned bureaucrat Abdul Latief as minister of tourism, arts and culture.

Poet and sociologist Darmanto Jatman from Semarang, Central Java, is one of the artists who strongly criticized this.

Darmanto said that since the government declared 1998 Year of Arts and Culture, "Up to now, we still haven't got a clear idea about the art and cultural campaign, its concrete programs and how they will be implemented."

Less than four months later, the government set up a new Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture to deal with art and cultural activities closely related to tourism.

Under the auspices of Wiranto Arismunandar, the Ministry of Education and Culture will continue to nurture and preserve art and culture.

"The government must precisely elaborate its concept of tourism, arts and culture to avoid any misunderstanding among artists and the people of Indonesia in general," Darmanto said.

Darmanto added that in the current economic condition, the government has no other choice but to exploit the country's art and cultural potentials to gain valuable foreign exchanges.

Indonesia's natural beauty and diverse art and cultural heritages have long been recognized as potential means to lure visitors and to gain abundant revenues for its development projects.

"It seems to me that the government is too passionate to promote our arts and culture in lavish touristic packages while at the same time, sacrificing the real meaning of the arts," Darmanto complained.

Composer Harry Roesli said, however, he would not spend his energy fussing over the latest bureaucratic frenzy.

He said that several artists met Latief in Jakarta recently to ask for clarification. Although Latief tried his best to explain his job, many artists remained confused, he said.

"The government and local artists have actually more pressing issues to worry about than quibbling over the jobs of these two ministries," said Harry, who received his doctoral degree in music from the Netherlands.

Crucial

Harry said that so far, the government, and the Ministry of Education and Culture in particular, did not pay any attention to the development of arts and culture in the broader sense.

"Facilities and funds are important in supporting art activities but, there are other problems that should be addressed immediately," he said.

He identified a basic education of the arts as one of the crucial problems hindering Indonesian arts and culture.

Harry explained that people's artistic skills and appreciation must be developed naturally from a young age.

"Families and schools can play significant roles in developing children's artistic skills. This stage is important because this is a kind of grooming process to create qualified artists in various fields in the future," he maintained.

If these young people choose other professions later in life, at least they are already equipped with adequate knowledge to appreciate the arts and their culture.

Unfortunately, these two do not provide a conducive atmosphere for most children.

"Modern families are busy with material things, while art as applied in the curriculum is really pathetic," Harry explained.

To make things worse, Indonesia has only a few teachers who have adequate backgrounds in the arts.

In West Java, for instance, there are about 25,000 elementary schools and high schools. Each school should have at least one art teacher. This means that the province needs a minimum of 25,000 art teachers, preferably graduates of art or music institutes.

Harry said that between l982 and l997, the Bandung Teacher's Training College had only 4,000 graduates from its Department of Arts and Music; not enough to meet the demand.

"What is happening now is that math or biology teachers are delivering art subjects. How can they transfer their art knowledge to our students if they don't master the subject?" said Harry, who is also a lecturer at the college.

Pessimism over Indonesia's arts and culture fragility is nothing new to local artists and intellectuals.

Toety Herati Noerhadi, a professor of philosophy at the University of Indonesia, and a member of the Jakarta Arts Council's board of directors, said that there was a wide gap between artists and bureaucrats in viewing the arts and culture.

Bureaucrats, she said, have always linked cultural activities to a series of festivals and fancy shows.

Toety said culture embraces all aspects of life: the arts, politics, the economy, science and technology and people's ways of life and attitudes.

"If the government views culture only in terms of performing arts, particularly traditional art performances, it is very artificial and narrow-minded," she said.

Darmanto added that prominent scholar Umar Kayam once argued that Indonesian arts are manifested in the form of made-to-order works. This means that many artworks are created based on the government's orders and they are always associated with some event.

The most recent example of "made-to-order arts" was a series of Rama Tambak traditional dance drama performances, special shows to inspire national leaders to save the country from chaos.

There are many other government-sponsored art projects including huge sculptures aimed to mesmerize foreign tourists, Darmanto said.

"I am sure that Indonesian modern theater will not be promoted because it is not a money spinner," Darmanto added.

Despite this fact, Harry and other artists said they would give ministers Abdul Latief and Wiranto Arismunandar a chance to carry out their programs.

"We should not underestimate people's capabilities, let us just wait and see," he said.

Harry said Bang Ali (former Jakarta governor Ali Sadikin) was a good role model. "He was a marine official who showed a deep commitment to the development of arts," he said.