Artists debate ways of fighting off restrictions

Artists debate ways of fighting off restrictions

JAKARTA (JP): The establishment of a legal aid center for artists was suggested yesterday in a discussion on arts and the law. Another suggestion was that legislators should use their right of initiative to review the regulations on permits for gatherings and cultural performances.

"Maybe we need to set up a legal aid center," said writer Titi Said in one of the sessions of the National Arts Congress.

Doing so might provide a way of overcoming the problem of government restrictions on cultural performances, she said.

The government announced last week that new guidelines on permit requirements for gatherings, including cultural performances, are due to be issued this month.

But artists at the congress expressed concerns that the new rules would not go far enough in guaranteeing freedom of expression.

Publisher Alfons Taryadi, who spoke on the arts and gathering permits, said legislators should work towards the rescission of the 1963 law and article 510 of the Criminal Code which authorize the government to restrict gatherings.

The question of the permits has come up repeatedly since the congress began on Monday. At the start of the meeting, Armed Forces Chief of Socio-political Affairs, Lt. Gen. Muhammad Ma'ruf, offered an open dialog with artists on the question.

Alfons said yesterday a "national discussion" was needed on the permit question.

Choreographer Guruh Soekarno Putra, son of late president Soekarno, was among artists who expressed frustration about the restrictions which, he said, scare off potential sponsors of artistic endeavors.

"At the sight of my name, sponsors shy away," he said. "They think it will be difficult for my show to get permits."

Playwright Ratna Sarumpaet said that a legal aid center for artists "will not help as long as the rules are not clear."

Restrictions or bans on performances are based on laws which do not differentiate family gatherings or cultural performances from political meetings.

The government has recently ruled that scientific discussions held within the confines of university campuses do not need permits.

Alfons said artists need to continue to work to prove they are not as harmful as the authorities may think.

But Guruh and Ratna said this is difficult, given the fact that artists cannot even exhibit their work, let alone prove anything.

Alfons was not able to provide the audience with a satisfactory solution to the perceived problems surrounding the permit rules.

"Actually I am in the same boat as all of you," he said. "We should have someone from the government speaking here," he added.

The artists were in agreement that the requirement of permits should be abolished altogether.

Former minister of education and culture Fuad Hassan told reporters that any rules on permits should draw distinctions between different types of gatherings.

Another session yesterday featured Director General of Culture Edi Sedyawati, who spoke on the study of the arts.

She told participants that researchers should be skilled in "selling" their work to sponsors to get their work published.

Several expert studies in various fields have remained unpublished, she said, because publishers were afraid they would not be able to sell the products to the public.

Edi was responding to a participant's question on how to disseminate research work on the arts which, the participant said, "always ends up in store rooms".

Luckily, Edi said, university publishing houses are committed to publishing unpopular work.

Other sessions yesterday continued discussions on arts and the media, arts and education, and arts and the private sector.

A participant from Aceh said artists need more cooperation with the private sector.

"To say we merely need financing is too narrow," said Junaedi Bantasyam, who manages a government-owned arts center. "But artists in Aceh, despite their works -- which often win national and local awards -- are discouraged by the lack of enthusiasm of the private sector about working with us," he said. (anr)