JP/19/MELB

JP/19/MELB

Festival Indonesia a reminder of the good things in life

Dewi Anggraeni
Contributor/Melbourne, Australia

Life is full of extremes in crests and troughs, and we
experienced, or at least witnessed, one such occurrence last
weekend.

On Saturday night, when the three-day Festival Indonesia in
Melbourne's Federation Square was closed with a spectacular two-
hour performance of Jamrud Khatulistiwa, an extravaganza of
dances, martial arts, and live bands, nobody in his or her right
mind suspected that within a couple of hours a second series of
bomb attacks would hit Bali.

It seems strange and somewhat unseemly now, looking back at
the success of the first-ever, comprehensive Indonesian festival
organized in Melbourne, where the Indonesian Consulate General
hired 5th Season Entertainment to manage the event
professionally.

However at a time of grief and misery, we may need some
reminding that many things still go our way.

Federation Square as a venue is not only centrally and
strategically located in terms of public transport, but also
picturesquely perched on the eastern bank of the Yarra River.

Sponsorship was received from the city of Melbourne, the
Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board, as well as private
enterprises of various sizes, from Rio Tinto to Austindo.

Throughout the three days, visitors of different ethnic
backgrounds wandered around, visiting stalls displaying as well
as selling their merchandise and services, going to performances,
eating and drinking, all while being entertained by daily free
entertainment on the center stage.

Meetings were also organized between the visiting and local
businesses to explore trade cooperation. On the last day, while
only a few claimed to have gone further than exploratory talks,
many expressed optimism that links had been established.

The launch by Arief Budiman of Margaret Kartomi's book on
Gamelan Digul also took place during the festival.

Ironically, the Bali Night, subtitled Bali Beyond Kuta, stands
out as the most spectacular event of the festival. No one in the
organizing committee or the audience had any idea that the
following evening would witness a tragedy, yet again, on their
beautiful island.

Like many Balinese performances, Bali Night was a riot of
colors, accompanied by a continuous eruption of loud gamelan
music. It was held in the BMW Edge, a space wrapped around by
glass walls, with a large, sunken stage and an entrance hall
large enough to accommodate a pre-performance party for the
audience.

The main organizer, Mahindra Bali, a Melbourne Balinese Hindu
community, rallied together a large gamelan orchestra, which not
only accompanied the dance performances beautifully, but also
filled the room with total Balinese ambience.

Bali in fact, was not only present on Bali Night, because
while Jakarta, Cirebon, Yogyakarta, Solo, West Sumatra and
Gorontalo were represented in the festival, the northeast corner
of Federation Square was dominated by Balinese display tents,
promoting a variety of commodities from clothing, accessories and
soft furnishings to tourism and hospitality.

For the participants from Bali and other regions of Indonesia,
the three days were filled with hopeful anticipation, hard work,
perseverance and -- not least -- great fun.

To be confronted the following morning with the news of
another bomb attack back home must have been like waking up to a
nightmare.

However, nobody can take away the success of Festival
Indonesia, because the event has indeed left a mark in the memory
of the Melbourne community, which enjoyed the entertainment, ate
and drank, bought the items of merchandise which they may now be
wearing or using, or which may be sitting in prime corners of
their homes.

The event has also left a mark in the memory of those
volunteers and performers who went home each evening tired, but
satisfied for having made some people happy, or made new
friendships.

Life is indeed full of extremes.