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)