Goethe's new venue to refresh cultural ties

Goethe's new venue to refresh cultural ties

Christina Schott, Contributor, Jakarta

East meets West: A German choreographer experiences new dance
elements by cooperation with Javanese dancers. Music meets
literature: An Indonesian composer creates solo music
performances inspired by German poems. Modern meets tradition:
Indonesian students perform a traditional German theater play -
about corruption in a small town.

Intercultural exchanges -- not only in the meaning of bringing
two cultures together, but also of mixing different disciplines
of art -- might sometimes be a very difficult discipline. It
needs a certain freedom of opinion and information as well as
room for unrestrained artistic expression.

Therefore it is, if successfully carried out, a rarity to find
in an advanced form. During the next few weeks, on the occasion
of the opening of the new GoetheHaus on Jl. Sam Ratulangi 9-15
in Menteng, Central Jakarta, the public will be able to witness
such expression.

This month, almost a hundred German and Indonesian artists
will perform in the new 300-seat events hall at the recently
moved Goethe-Institut Jakarta -- one of 128 German Cultural
Centers worldwide, which has been an important part of the
capital's cultural life for the past 41 years.

"Our principle is not only presenting cultural events, but
also initiating a dialog with the artistic and intellectual
community in our host country," the institute's director Peter J.
Bumke said.

"Therefore we are very happy, that we are now able to offer,
with our new facilities, a comfortable space, which is available
as much to us as to our Indonesian and other European partners
and their programs."

The opening ceremony on May 12 (by invitation only) will
highlight two of the longtime cooperative efforts that exist
between German and Indonesian artists.

Dancer and choreographer Henrietta Horn, still well-known from
the Art Summit 2001, will perform an experimental modern dance
together with 20 dancers from Jakarta, Yogyakarta and Surabaya.

Two solos and a boisterous whistle study of the whole ensemble
will represent, "the first severe endurance test for the new
stage in GoetheHaus", as director Bumke puts it.

For the occasion, Indonesian composer Tony Prabowo created
five new compositions, inspired by the poems of two German and
two Indonesian poets: Else Lasker-Schueler, Eva Christina Zeller,
Chairil Anwar and Goenawan Mohamad. The opening will show the
setting of lyricist Eva's Requiem stanza Sister Time.

The music, partly pre-recorded in a studio, will be heard
quadrophonically from four different sides, while singer Nyak Ina
Raseuki (better known as Ubiet) will give a live performance
together with Saxophonist Budi Winarto.

"There was no question to require Tony Prabowo's work for this
special event, and we are very happy, that he granted our wish,"
says Detlef Gericke-Schoenhagen, head of the cultural department
of the Goethe-Institut Jakarta.

"He's been a friend of our house for 20 years, and I dare to
say that his art might be influenced by German literature, film
and music history as he experienced it already as a student."

All of Tony's pieces will be played again on May 13 and May 14
at 7 p.m., and it will be open to the public with free entrance.

The performances this weekend will be followed by a series of
other intercultural highlights - most notably, Heinrich von
Kleist's classical German theater play The Broken Jug shown by
the Teater Sastra theater group from the University of Indonesia
on May 16 at 7 p.m., as well as the performance of the Gumarang
Sakti Dance Company just before their depart for the
international Transit-Festival in Berlin.

Young artists, modern themes as well as interactive events
should help to focus on younger audiences and to attract them as
much as their parents to cultural topics - such is the wish of
the Institute's director Peter J. Bumke.

The concert by a German Jazz music ensemble, the Guenter Adler
Quartet on May 23 at 7 p.m. and a multimedia performance by
dancer Chris Haring on May 25 at 7 p.m. seem to underline this
intention.

The courtyard with a cafeteria in the back of the new hall
will certainly support the concept -- even if Peter has to admit,
that their won't be German sausages or potato salad on the menu.

Last but not least, Indonesian film giant Garin Nugroho's
moving images will round out the opening month's program. The
subtitled films Surat Untuk Bidadari (A Letter to An Angel, May
27, 7 p.m.), Puisi tak terkuburkan (Undying Poem, May 28, 7 p.m.)
and Rembulan Di Ujung Dahan (A Moon on the Tip of A Branch, May
29, 5 p.m.) will be accompanied by a photo exhibition in the
foyer of the Goethe-Institut (from May 22 to May 29, 8 a.m. to 6
p.m.) and the presentation of the book Reading Garin's Films.

"Thanks to the new facilities we now have the chance to
combine several events covering one topic as we do now with
Garin's art", Detlef said.

"I'm sure that our house will therefore become a newly
refreshed, yet longtime meeting point for all kind of arts, young
and old, East and West."

All programs at the Goethe-Institut are free of charge. For
more information call (021) 2355-0208.