Future of Fine Arts Awards questioned

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Art Institute expressed concern yesterday about the future of its annual Fine Arts Awards.

Director Toeti Heraty said it was uncertain if there would be donors for next year's awards.

"Why it is so easy for sports to find donors but not for the arts?" Toeti asked, quickly adding that she was still optimistic.

According to the dean of the School of Fine Arts, Dolorosa Sinaga, the Fine Arts Awards have been awarded annually since 1990 to the best students in the Faculty of Fine Arts. The awards were funded by the now-defunct Tempo weekly magazine for the first three years. "That is why we called them the Tempo Awards," she explained.

Other donors were sought to continue the program when Tempo had its publishing license revoked in June 1994.

This year's awards were funded by the fine arts foundation Yayasan Seni Rupa chaired by Mrs. Sanyoto Sastrowardoyo, wife of the Minister/Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board.

According to Mrs. Sanyoto, her one-year-old foundation aims to help Indonesian artists get international attention.

Mrs. Sanyoto declined to confirm that her foundation would continue to sponsor the awards. "Since we do not have any permanent funding sources, I can not promise anything," she explained.

Mrs. Sanyoto said art in Indonesia, which is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education and Culture, is regarded as a luxury. This notion is proved by tax regulations.

Funds

She explained that the government needs huge funds to manage education. "Education is still the prime program of the government," she said.

"In Indonesia we can only display international masterpieces such as Van Goghs, and Piccassos. We can not afford to buy such masterpieces because Indonesian regulations do not support this," she said.

"Art, which is regarded as a luxury item, carries very high taxes. Therefore, many Indonesians buy art abroad," she said.

"Indonesian arts still face a lot of obstacles, but we have to try to promote it so that people will appreciate it."

The 1995 awards were given to seven students. Each received Rp 500,000.

Rusdi Harsono and Judhi Saputra were awarded for best achievements in graphic art, Siti Indriani and Ruth N. Juanita for textile design, Umar Shollahudin for interior design, and Widya Martam and M. Syauqi for graphic design. (01)