'I La Galigo' unaffordable
'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