Have the courage to create: Sedyawati
Have the courage to create: Sedyawati
By Ati Nurbaiti
JAKARTA (JP): Unique art and culture landed Indonesia and other oriental cultures on the world map. The study of this art secured their place in the minds of the world.
"To be able to place accurate value on items acquired from far away countries, people in the West needed to study all about the background of the objects," said Edi Sedyawati, the Director General of Cultural Affairs.
Time sciences, like archeology and anthropology, have broken down the remote cultures in the East. But the west-east bias still exists, and artists, says Sedyawati, must be given wider support to make their mark internationally.
"We must preserve traditional arts because tourists always look for local specialities when they come here," says Sedyawati, a former dancer who now also teaches archeology.
"But to view products of our culture as merely exotic is outdated; we must value the exploration among our artists, who sometimes also base their works on their local roots."
"Cultural progress," she said earlier, "should aim for the courage to create, to break from merely following what has been dictated."
Sedyawati was expressing her views on promoting local arts, which critics felt would get even less attention with the installment of the reportedly technocratic Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro in 1983.
But into his second year, the Minister has been praised for appointing the right person to the right post.
"When artists talk to Ibu Edi, they know she understands their language," says musician Franki Raden.
Contemporary arts, he said, has been given more attention than under previous leaders. "In any project, Sedyawati involves the professionals, instead of letting government officials tromp over the show."
A current example is the planned exhibition of contemporary arts from non-aligned countries, scheduled for March. This was Sedyawati's initiative, about which she consulted artists before conveying the idea to Minister Djojonegoro.
"Given our close relations with other members we should also try to understand each other's soul, through art," Sedyawati said.
Such a display, she said, would hopefully reflect the exploration of individual artists from many parts of the southern hemisphere. "It would reveal how the development of the arts has so far wrongly stressed experiences in the west, such as the Renaissance," she said.
Although events in Indonesia have had adequate local coverage, like at the experimental arts festival Nur Gora Rupa last year in Surakarta in Central Java, the contemporary arts are still in need of wider recognition.
She said interest in traditional art has gained less recognition compared to the high appreciation of various forms of traditional Indonesian art in other countries. In Japan, for instance, there is a wayang (leather puppet) association.
So how do we go about promoting both contemporary and traditional arts to reflect the past and present?
"Constant intervention is needed," Sedyawati believes. "How are people supposed to appreciate traditional dances when they are no longer exposed to the plots of the wayang? There is instant entertainment on television and people prefer the (Japanese) Doraemon comics."
However there will always be the inevitable conflict between commercial and cultural orientations, so the "intervention" includes the continuous reminding of business circles of everyone's need to know their cultural roots.
Involving the young generation is important in her agenda: "youngsters are just as alienated here as in other countries like Japan."
The difference, she said, is that in Japan the government and a number of financially able groups willingly promote traditional culture.
Musician Franki Raden points out that one result of the campaign to explore cultural roots was the recent Music and Poetry Youth Festival initiated by Sedyawati's office.
"All 23 groups that came out in the semi-finals were very creative, compared to what most youngsters are exposed to nowadays in the music industry," said Raden, a jury member of the Festival.
Limits
But Sedyawati's passion of valuing the creative runs into the fact that one must know the limits, given recent bans on a number of performances.
For instance, the works of playwright and essayist Emha Ainun Nadjib were banned more than once.
A source, who requested anonymity, said Sedyawati tried her utmost to help persuade the powers that be that Emha's performance wasn't "dangerous" in any way, but Emha's request for permission arrived too late.
"Every country requires permission to hold a public event," Sedyawati asserted.
"But artists tend to try to arrange permission too late. This is not respecting the task of the government, who must first consult the artists."
Bans, she pointed out, are often caused by lack of communication and mutual respect, rather than the substance of the event.
The writer Sapardi Djoko Damono, a colleague of Sedyawati at the Faculty of Letters of the University of Indonesia, lamented the government's censorship policy.
He pointed out that because of the ethnic, racial and religious issues which everyone faces in this culturally heterogeneous country cannot be discussed in public, novel writing seems to be made in a vacuum. "Indonesians face these problems every day," said Sapardi.
Sedyawati denies this. The issues are not forbidden as long as they do not show disrespect for other cultures, she assured.
"Our creativity must not result in putting others down," she stressed.
In her mission to promote creativity within acceptable norms, Sedyawati is also challenged by the bureaucracy within her own Ministry. Her task is often pushed aside by the ministry's pet project of producing trainable workers through improved education.
"Culture is often not mentioned but it is everybody's task," reminds Sedyawati.
She says she willingly agreed to take up the job, having first hand experience in a number of fields.
Of course sacrifice comes with the job. "I have no time to watch all those beautiful performances," says the dance lover with regret.