Festival presents women in arts

Festival presents women in arts

Tantri Yuliandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Kartini Day, every April 21, usually evokes memories of parades
of little children clad in colorful national dress or various
competitions ranging from best-dressed, best-behaved, best
singing, to best writing.

One wonders what they all had to do with Kartini, the 19th
century Javanese woman who had supposedly sparked the first
women's emancipation movement in Indonesia with her school for
girls and progressive letters.

Nothing whatsoever. And therefore it is with great relief that
Institut Ungu, a women's art and cultural organization, has
organized Festival April 2003, showcasing the progress of
Indonesian women in the field of arts and culture, in
commemoration of this year's Kartini month.

"At Festival April the voices of women will be carried to the
people through an interesting medium, arts and culture," Institut
Ungu said in a statement.

Festival April is the first all-women festival in the country,
aimed at exposing a women's perspective to the general public as
well as promoting the creations of female artists and authors.

The five main themes of the festival -- which opened on April
5, 2003 at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) in Central Jakarta -- are a
Women's Fine Arts Festival, Women's Film Festival, Women's
Literature Festival, a public dialogue titled Seni dan Pembebasan
Perempuan (Art and Women's Emancipation), and a Kartini Night.

The Women's Fine Arts Festival will showcase the work of 40
female artists like Kartika Affandi, Astari Rasyid, Dolorosa
Sinaga, Sekar Ayu Asmara, Rima Melati and Rukmini Affandi, with
works ranging from sculpture, photography, painting, to video and
happening art.

The Women's Fine Arts Festival will be held from April 5 to
April 11 at TIM's Galeri Cipta II and Galeri Cipta III. Workshops
by the masters will be held at Galeri Cipta II from 10 a.m. to 5
p.m. and exhibitions will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Between April 10 and April 14, The Women's Film Festival will
be held at TIM's Cineplex 21 and on a wide screen on the grounds
of TIM.

To be screened during the festival are Indonesian films on
women like Kartini, Tiga Dara (Three Women), Ibunda (Mother),
Budak Nafsu (Lust Slave), and Kerikil-Kerikil Tajam (Sharp
stones), as well as foreign movies such as Doesn't Believe in
Tears (Russia), Rabbit Proof Fence (Iran) and To Be or Not To Be
(Portugal).

The festival will also screen independent movies by or about
women.

Cala Ibi, a book by Nukila Amal, will be launched at Aksara
Bookstore in Kemang, South Jakarta, on April 16.

The Women's Literature Festival will continue on April 17 with
a discussion of Perempuan dalam Cerita Calon Arang (Women in the
Calon Arang story) by a panelists, including Gadis Arifia, Pande
K. Trimayuni and Max Lane.

The discussion, held at TIM's Galeri Cipta II at 7 p.m. until
10 p.m., is based on Toeti Heraty's Calon Arang, Kisah Perempuan
Korban Patriarki: Prosa Lirik (Calon Arang, A Story of a Woman
Victim of Patriarchy: Lyrical Prose), and Pramoedya Ananta Toer's
The King, the Witch, and the Priest.

A short story workshop for high school students will be
organized on April 17 and April 18 at TIM's Galeri Cipta II with
Linda Christanty at 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Authors Ayu Utami, Mira W, Mariane Kattopo, NH Dini, Jenar
Maesa Ayu and Helvi will be on hand at Galeri Cipta II on April
18 at 7 p.m. for a meet-the-author event.

A book bazaar and exhibition A Room of Her Own will also take
place during the two-day Women's Literature Festival at Galeri
Cipta II.

On April 19, a public dialogue titled Seni dan Pembebasan
Perempuan (Art and Women Emancipation) will be organized at
Galeri Cipta II between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Panelists will include Anang Hermansyah, Julia Surya Kusuma,
Ratna Sarumpaet and Dolorosa Sinaga.

Festival April will end on the eve of Kartini Day with a
cultural oration by two generation of Indonesian women -- Toeti
Heraty and Dewi Lestari -- and the launch of the Women's Literary
Award.

For more information call Institut Ungu, Jl Otista III, Complex
II No. 89, East Jakarta 13340. Phone/fax 021-8196619.