Children encouraged to learn art from an early age

By Yudha Kartohadiprodjo

JAKARTA (JP): Sitting on the floor of the Graha Bhakti Budaya hall at the Taman Ismail Marzuki art center, a group of elementary school students began to hit themselves and the floor with their hands. On the opposite side of the lobby, strange vocal noises came from a different group.

One could hardly guess that from these groups may emerge future connoisseurs of Indonesian art.

The children were participating in Arts from an Early Age, a workshop with the objective of introducing art and cultivating art appreciate to young children.

This event, the third of its kind, was organized last Saturday by the Communication for Arts Foundation (Komseni) in cooperation with local artist Jose Rizal Manua and Bela Studio. Previously, the workshop familiarized participants with music, poetry, drawing, the environment and storytelling.

The foundation's director, Debra Yatim, said: "There is a lack of effort to teach art in the formal school curriculum, and this shows in our society," adding that as her program finds its form, she will offer it to schools as an extracurricular activity.

The inspiration to organize this program came from the idea that art should be introduced from an early age; art appreciation on its own is a vanishing art.

"When I went to cultural events, I kept meeting the same people. Soon, this community, united by their appreciation for art, will cease. Too many people think art is not an affinity. We need to cultivate people's desire to appreciate it," she said.

Taking a short glimpse at the participants, one could tell that they came from various backgrounds. Debra acknowledged this.

"We intentionally invited street kids to mix with middle and upper-class kids. It is our goal to blend them and blur the social strata," she said. Some of the participants came from the nearby Cikini elementary school, while others came from as far away as Cinangka village, West Java.

The plan worked. The workshop began with the participants sitting in a circle, introducing themselves. One could only differentiate one participant from another by the loudness of their voice.

Freedom of expression was stressed during introductions. Without this, according to Debra, it is hard for one to become creative. There was a reward and punishment system in the forum. A participant who did not speak loud enough was asked to repeat his statement, while the one who succeed was applauded.

After introductions, the participants were divided into two groups. Those who were still in third grade or lower would follow Jose Rizal and participate in various activities while the older ones would stay and be led by an artist from Bela Theater.

Most of the older group were more interested in music. Divided into smaller groups, each learned how to generate music without using conventional musical instruments. After several attempts, the groups who used their body to generate sound succeeded in getting into the beat. Manipulating their hands, torsos and knees, they managed to create a dynamic rhythm. Surprised with their own finding, they began asking for more. Other groups were using their voices and the lobby's floor to create sound.

Although it had fewer participants, excitement in the other group, who were introduced to drama, was also immense. The drama group was introduced to simple drama techniques, demonstrated by the Bela Theater actor.

First instructed to observe objects around the room, the group slowly started circling the room, gradually getting faster and faster. Just short of running, the group's leader suddenly shouted "freeze". The group froze in various positions. Children as they were, some could not help giggling after realizing their own silly positions.

Debra said she realized that it would take a lot of effort to achieve the workshop's goal. Still, she insisted that such an activity is needed on top of formal art education at school.

"I would be satisfied if from this program emerges just one artist," she said, "because I know other workshop participants will come to appreciate this one person."

Will the workshop succeed in its mission? Proudly, Debra pointed at four little girls who came from Cinangka, "Look at them, they came with their own agenda. They have the ambition to form their own theater group after watching Bela Theater perform. They may become future Sardonos (prominent choreographer Sardono W. Kusuma)."