Butet Kartaredjasa dreams of a saner Indonesia

Butet Kartaredjasa dreams of a saner Indonesia

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): While some people are willing to sacrifice
anything to be famous, actor Butet Kartaredjasa did not even
break a sweat for the latest boost to his fame, which was the
result of recent media coverage linking him to a taped telephone
conversation purportedly between President B.J. Habibie and
Attorney General Andi M. Ghalib.

Dubbing him the king of monologue, the headlines made people
pay more attention to Butet, known for his rare talent of
impersonating major public figures. So far, his favorite victims
are not only Habibie, but also other figures, such as former
president Soeharto and House Speaker Harmoko.

His extraordinary skills in imitating people's voices was
recently showed at the Taman Ismail Marzuki arts center, taking
the title, Lidah (Masih) Pingsan, (Still) Numb Tongue, a sequence
from the Lidah Pingsan (Numb Tongue) performances.

"We're now entering a new era, okeeeyyy? An era that is
entirely different from the old one ... But, rememberrr, for all
of those things, we have to do it constitutionally. Rememberrr,
constitutionally, okeyyy."

The audience burst into laughter. Without Butet announcing
whose voice he is imitating, they instantly knew that through his
role as a new subdistrict head, Butet was impersonating Habibie
-- not only his voice, but also the way he talks, his expressions
and even his unclear R's.

The fifth child of a noted dancer, choreographer and painter,
the late Bagong Kussudiardjo, Butet is not a new name, especially
in theater circles.

Since his childhood, Butet, whose full name is Bambang Ekolojo
Butet Kartaredjasa, was in contact with dance, painting and art
discussions.

At junior high school, his interests were poetry, theater and
painting. He won and award for best actor at senior high school
and joined the Teater Kita-Kita group and became a member of
other theater groups like Dinasti, Sanggar Bambu and Gandrik.

But he did not want to be a dancer, or painter, like his
father. "I don't want to become a dancer because I realize that I
don't have the talent," Butet said, adding that when he was a
kid, he was reluctant to practice.

He said another reason for not wanting to be a dancer was that
there would be nothing special if he could dance.

"(People will say) 'Sure he can (dance), he's Pak Bagong's
son.' If I dance badly, it's embarrassing. It feels like there's
nothing to be proud of when I am good at dancing. So, rather than
being associated with my father, it's better for me to find
another way," Butet said.

He added that his father was not angry about his decision.

"He believed that each child has his or her own choices and
own way. If I wanted to join the theater or to be a pedicab
driver, he would not care less. His principle was: everything
should be done seriously. Don't be lazy. If he felt worried about
me, I tried to understand. Maybe the one who felt worried was not
Bagong the artist, but Bagong the father ... I told him 'If my
choice is wrong, please let me learn from my mistake, to make it
right'," said the 38-year-old man.

Butet was named by his father after a song, Butet, which
received a warm response when performed by Gordon Tobing as part
of a cultural group led by Bagong in Vietnam. The name is usually
given to girls in North Sumatra.

"Then, Pak Bagong said, 'If my child is born, girl or boy, I
will name it Butet'. When I was born, bapak was still in Vietnam.
When he got to the hotel, he received a telegram, telling him
that I was born. He then sent the name, Butet. It turned out a
bit strange: A Javanese is named Butet, and it's a boy," said
Butet.

Butet is not a person to be easily satisfied, and likes to try
his hand at everything.

For almost five years he worked as a journalist with Monitor
tabloid, Jakarta-Jakarta magazine, Nova tabloid and other
publications. He also took part in several TV series, such as
Kartika and Kupu-Kupu Ungu (Purple Butterfly).

Butet is also Teater Gandrik's head of production. He joined
the theater since 1985. In March, the group staged Brigade Maling
(The Thieves' Brigade) at Monash University and Raja Rimba (The
King of the Jungle) at the University of Melbourne in Australia.

But theater is not Butet's only world. He is also a writer at
Galang Communication, an advertising company that he set up with
his friends in 1996. And, since 1998, he has been director of the
Galang Foundation, which works at educating people about gender
issues and reproductive rights.

He credited his motivation for hard work to his marriage to
Rulyani Isfihana, his father's former dance student, since he was
a third-year senior high school student. Butet is now a proud
father of three daughters, Giras Basuwondo, Suci Senanti and
Galuh Pasca Magma.

"It's true that I married young. It's no problem for me. In
fact, it motivated me," he said. His married life was not a bed
of roses, he said, as he had to scramble for a living to feed his
family. "If I did not face a difficult situation because of the
marriage, maybe I would not be motivated to work hard," said the
graduate of the Indonesian Art Institute in Yogyakarta.

The following are excerpts from an e-mail interview with him
from his hometown in Yogyakarta.

Question: How do you learn to impersonate people?

Answer: I don't especially learn it. It's just based on my own
memory. Just like any Indonesian. they must have the same memory
as I have... I just memorize visual keys, expression and diction
for every figure. That's all that I presented, and the audience,
because they have the same memory as me, then remembers that my
voice is the same as certain figure. So, actually, my voice is
not completely the same. But it just reminds people of certain a
figure. Once, when someone conducted an accuracy test, it turned
out that my voice was different to those figures.

Q: How does your creative process work?

A: It's team work. I'm not the only factor. Maybe people know me
better because I'm the one who performs ... Sources can be from
everywhere. We share ideas and process them together ... Most of
them are from our experiences, from our sensitivity in grasping
reality.

Q: What's the difference between your works before and after the
reform period?

A: I think there's no difference. Well, at least in the working
process, there is now no need to fear. There's no more self-
censorship.

Q: So, before reform, you felt oppressed?

A: Yes!

Q: Your monologue has strong political nuances. Why?

A: Every time I work on my art piece, also in other works, in my
heart, my motivation is to deliver something useful for people's
lives. I always want to take part, no matter how small that part
is. Although in the end, social and political matters sound more
dominant (in my art works), maybe because these problems are the
crucial problems for us now.

It means that, when these problems are solved, Indonesians
will live in justice and prosperity. Law is really enforced, no
playing around, no more cheating, no oppression of humanity.
Everything is in order like in heaven. Then, maybe my works will
be different...

Through my monologue, at least I try to take a small part in a
synergy with reform components who have the same ideas: to build
a saner Indonesia, a more democratic one, that appreciates people
and humanity.

If, for 32 years people's logic has been programmed in the
wrong way, then now it has to be reprogrammed, and reformatted.
If, after watching my monologue people's critical awareness is
touched, I feel that my monologue is not worthless: Because after
that, people will have the guts to criticize things that are
wrong. It is very important to create a democratic society, a
community that has the guts to perform social control.

Q: With such concerns, do you have any plans to become
politician?

A: No! I don't know about later. At least until now, I am not
blessed with ambitions to become a ruler, or part of the power.

Q: Are there any political parties asking you to join them?

A: Yes. But I rejected because I want to be independent. I better
not mention the name of the party.

Q: What was the impact on you of Habibie-Ghalib's taped telephone
conversation? Did it make you more popular?

A: Yes. That's the work of journalists, who associated me with
that case. The result is, I 'became popular' ...Then, people
were curious, they wanted to see who this Butet is ...

Everywhere, people invite me to perform just to imitate the
voices. This is pathetic. People no longer appreciate my art, but
they merely need entertainment, need to laugh when I joke about
(the people impersonated) ...

Q: Aren't you afraid of being accused of making fun of the
president and others?

A: I am only afraid if I make a mistake, or violate a law.

Enliven a character in performing art, and then the character
is alive and the viewers associate it to (those in) bureaucratic
positions. What's wrong with that? Does it violate the law? If I
suddenly feel afraid, it means that I'm being paranoid. I'm tired
of being paranoid and living in fear.

Q: Do you ever get threatened?

A: No. Everything runs safely... There are maybe two reasons for
this: Either the government has already been able to appreciate
freedom of expression, or they are still busy handling other,
more important matters, like the economic crisis, political
conflicts and so on. So they do not have the time to take care of
unusual matters.

Q: What do you plan to do now?

A: Along with Teater Gandrik, we performed Brigade Maling (The
Thieves' Brigade) at Monash University in Melbourne in March.
This time, we'll perform it in Yogyakarta and Jakarta. The plan
is around mid July.

Q: After all this time, do you feel satisfied?

A: No, because all of them are not goals, but only part of my
artistic exploration... Besides, if I feel satisfied, then
(inspiration) will stop and die.