Cultural center binds Germany, RI
Cultural center binds Germany, RI
Christina Schott, Contributor, Jakarta
Did you know that Berlin and Jakarta were "sister-cities"? They
are, although not many activities -- both here and there --
underline this partnership.
People in both cities want to change this. Some of them
gathered recently in Berlin to rebuild the former Indonesian
Cultural Institute and ended up creating a new entity -- the
German-Indonesian Cultural Institute (DIKI).
Art workshops, Indonesian films and socio-political
discussions are on the program -- artists, commentators and
filmmakers like Fauzi Azad, Heri Donoa, Lexy Rambadeta and Garin
Nugroho are on the institute's invitation list for this year.
According to its statutes, DIKI aims to promote Indonesian
culture in Germany and to support the cultural exchange between
both countries. This means informing both cultures about
developments in fine art, literature and music, about new media
and social movements. The institute also offers an Indonesian
language course for beginners.
"A lot of people muddle their way through organizing
intercultural events between Indonesia and Germany. We can save a
lot of resources and prevent the sporadic character of such
activities if we bring them all together and build a new network
with an organized structure," newly elected DIKI chairman Martin
Jankowski said.
The Berlin-based writer speaks from his own personal
experience: Jankowski and his friends have tried for more than
two years to connect activities between Berlin and Jakarta,
Germany and Indonesia.
The Indonesian Cultural Institute has been around since
September 2001, initiated by Indonesian artist Yudi Noor who
lived for 13 years in Europe. The handful of Germans and
Indonesians involved from the beginning set a good base for
further communication between the two countries. But the small
group had to work hard to get funding.
The change into a bilateral institution was necessary to make
everybody feel appreciated -- and responsible -- before, official
institutions from both sides tended to pass the buck to their
counterparts.
Intercultural connections between Germany and Indonesia are
historically quite close. But while German culture in Indonesia
is represented by the Goethe-Institut, there is no such
Indonesian institution in Germany. There is also not much support
from officials about staging events on Indonesian topics.
The newly elected management committee of Iwan Setiabudi,
Stephan Gutzeit and Martin Jankowski have promised they will try
to give DIKI a wider public profile in Germany.
Setiabudi has already lived for a decade in Berlin. He
recently finished his final exams on information technology and
is also a political activist. He has been responsible for most of
the existing connections made between Germany and Indonesia and
putting forward the Indonesian perspective.
Gutzeit has studied the language and culture of Indonesia and
is strongly connected to the archipelago. He began the
institute's first Indonesian language course at cost price (the
institute works on a non-profit basis) two weeks ago.
Chairman and former East German cultural activist Martin
Jankowski has a lot of experience organizing events like the
Berlin International Literature Festival as well as searching for
sponsorship and funding for cultural programs.
While there were some German-Indonesian societies in Berlin
and several other cities, they mainly focused on traditional arts
and non-controversial events. DIKI's focus was more on
contemporary arts and developments that left space for discussion
and debate, the board explained at the first general meeting.
About 50 members have joined DIKI more than month after its
formation in December -- among them artists, historians, jurists,
journalists and students. The hope is that each successive DIKI
event brings in more members. A discussion with painter Fauzi
Azad at the Indonesian Embassy and the showing of the documentary
film Shadow Play have already proved successful drawcards.
Meanwhile, the network built up by Yudi Noor remains an
important part of the organization.
The next events on the agenda are work by contemporary artist
Heri Dono and a seminar about the romantic painter Raden Saleh
who lived for some time near Dresden in the former East Germany.
Obviously, traditional art still has plenty of fans, as DIKI also
plans a symposium about Batik and a Gamelan-workshop.
Another plan is to form a consulting committee of specialists
in Indonesia that can help to select interesting guests and
projects for the intercultural exchange. "We would like to get
prominent partners in different categories like politics and
literature, fine arts, music and so on," said Jankowski, a poet
himself. No names have yet been confirmed.
If motivation stays high and applications for sponsorship are
as successful as the expanding social network, a cultural
festival held in both cities is planned for next year.