Local artists lament fixed standards
Local artists lament fixed standards
JAKARTA (JP): Performing artists from across the country are lamenting the imposition by bureaucrats and urban experts of what they say are impossible standards for local and traditional artists.
The artists, participating in the National Arts Congress which concluded yesterday, raised concerns over what they described as excessively uniform standards for art performances. This situation, they agreed, has been stifling their creativity.
The bureaucracy and the urban experts impose the uniform standards when selecting and judging local arts, for instance, for festivals at the national level, the congress heard.
"The problem is how to foster the growth of local geniuses without sacrificing their identity," said Suprapto Suryodarmo, a choreographer from Solo, Central Java.
He said local artists see the city as a center of administration as well as a center of academic standards which they must live up to.
"It is not that we reject the graduates from the Jakarta Institute of Arts and other academies," Suprapto said after attending a session on dance on the last day of the four-day congress.
But art experts entrusted to judge works from regions must thoroughly comprehend the social cultural context of local works, he said.
Artists from Kalimantan, Sumatra and Sulawesi told the session that when they participate in national-scale arts festivals, their creativity is stunted because of the application academic standards in the selection process.
Playwright Emha Ainun Nadjib, who moderated the session said the bureaucracy "has taken over the identity" of the arts community. "It happens during processes such as selecting the works of regional groups," he said.
Choreographers Sardono W. Kusumo and Atik Ganda called for "an open judgment process" to avoid judging local works by standards established for urban performances.
"Dance is not merely performance," Sardono said. In local cultures dance is also a social activity in which anyone may participate, he said.
As such, the activity cannot be judged using urban standards, he argued. For the sake of surviving competitions, however, local groups end up copying urban standards of performances, he said.
"They alter their costumes, for instance, thus reducing the spiritual significance of dances," he said.
Atik, who helped organize cultural shows during Indonesia's 50th anniversary celebrations, said the arts were also being undermined by a set of standards established for a public which only appreciates performances for visual enjoyment.
Sardono called on artists and the bureaucracy alike to organize more local and regional festivals to correct the situation.
"Festivals should not be held in the capital only," he said.
Sardono raised another concern: the effort to link local artistic creativity with other interests, such as tourism.
Linking the selection of local works with other interests, and the imposition of unified standards for contests organized by officials, rob artists of the authority to apply their own judgment and standards, he said.
Atik said regions are actually experiencing a boom of cultural groups, particularly dance groups, among young people.
"This is a positive influence of television, on which young people watch cultural shows," she said.
But it could lead to a mere copying of dances geared for contests, unless creativity and orientation to local meanings of art works is immediately encouraged, Atik said.
Other sessions included discussions on theater, music and film.
In the talks on theater, local artists also voiced concerns.
Hendricus Supriyanto, a leader of a traditional ludruk drama group, said monthly levies on his 60-strong group was among the realities the players must face.
"Although my group is run by a foundation under the Air Force, we are still subject to monthly levies of Rp 150,000 (US$65.27)," he said. (anr/raw)