'I La Galigo' unaffordable

The headline of your Dec. 2 front-page story, 'I La Galigo' finally back home, struck me as somewhat ironic given that Indonesian audiences will be charged Rp 250,000 (US$25) to Rp 750,000 ($75) for a ticket to view a piece of their own culture.

Such prices are understandable in Singapore or New York or Amsterdam or Paris, where this wonderful production garnered rave reviews and much prestige. But the cost is totally beyond the means even of middle-class Indonesians, who will be excluded from the experience of seeing their own culture on stage at Taman Mini from Dec. 10 to Dec. 12.

With all due respect to the high production standards of this show, why do theater lights need to be hired from Germany for Rp 2 billion ($200,000) for three performances? Why does culture -- particularly a performance based on a 14th-century indigenous Indonesian poem -- need to be so exclusive, to the point that it is totally unaffordable to everyone but Jakarta's richest, many of whom flew to Singapore to see the production last year anyway?

Instead, wouldn't it be wonderful if a local light supplier could be hired (the lighting at many rock concerts I've seen here, or at Prambanan temple performances for that matter, has been superb), and the extra $200,000 used to subsidize ticket prices so that ordinary Indonesians could experience the show for a tenth of the current price? Wouldn't it be wonderful if this production could be staged in Monas Park, so that Jakartans could enjoy theater as a community, just as New Yorkers enjoy free shows in Central Park? I La Galigo would then truly belong to the people of Indonesia and -- equally important for the producers -- would be viewed by tens of thousands of people instead of just an affluent few.

The upcoming Jakarta International Film Festival (JiFFest) is an example of how even high culture need not be exclusive. Tickets to world-class films cost just Rp 10,000 each, and over half of the screenings are totally free, making the film-going experience accessible to anybody in this city. This despite the fact that JiFFest is sadly and consistently underfunded. Making culture accessible to society at large is always possible. It is merely a matter of attitude and commitment.

DANIEL ZIV Jakarta