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)