Familiarity reigns among city arts council's new board lineup
Familiarity reigns among city arts council's new board lineup
JAKARTA (JP): Unfamiliar faces were the minority as the
Jakarta Academy of Arts and Culture officially installed the new
Jakarta Arts Council for a three-year term yesterday at Taman
Ismail Marzuki, Central Jakarta.
The council is in charge of setting up programs and seeking
funds for arts and cultural events, for which TIM is a main
venue.
Most of the council lineup are reappointees, and there is a
distinct lack of those under 35. Although the term of the former
council ended last year, members said the ceremony was postponed
several times due to the General Session of the People's
Consultative Assembly in March, the general election last year
and the selection of a new Jakarta governor.
Among those new to the board are Addie M.S. and Aida
Simanjuntak Swensen for the music committee, and Maria Hoetomo on
the dance committee.
Taufik Ismail is the only new member on the literary
committee.
Addie is a noted conductor of the Twilite Orchestra, Aida is
the orchestra's coach and Maria teaches dance at the Jakarta Arts
Institute (IKJ).
The arts council, set up in 1973 along with the academy during
the governorship of Ali Sadikin, comprises 27 members on six
committees.
The academy selected former council members Hamid Jabbar,
Slamet Soekirnanto, Jamsad Rangkuti and Agus R. Sardjono for the
literary committee. Siti Marwiyah Sipala, Siti Nurchaerani
Kusumastuti, Rachmat Ruchiat were reappointed to the dance
committee.
Sulebar, Syahnagra, Rudjito and Mara Karma were selected for
the fine arts committee; Otto Sidharta and Totom Kodrat for the
music committee, and Ratna Riantiarno, Tommy F. Awuy, Adi Kurdi,
Aspar Paturusi and Amak Baljun for the theater committee.
Chaerul Umam, Niniek El Karim, SM Ardan and Jakarta Arts
Council head Salim Said were reappointed to the film committee.
This is Salim's third term.
Addressing the prevalence of former and older members on the
council, the head of the academy, Mochtar Lubis, said, "The old
ones are young at heart... and younger ones still need to
study". The older members have more time for the activities, he
added.
The previous council's members included business community
figures such as Cyril Noerhadi, president director of Jakarta
Stock Exchange, to help address the chronic problem of lack of
funds.
The business community is not represented this time. Ratna
said: "It is not about getting businesspeople anymore, it's about
getting new ideas..."
Mochtar said most businesspeople on previous councils failed
to show enough interest in the arts. (ylt)