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.