Marketing art and culture to help end crisis

Marketing art and culture to help end crisis

By Franki Raden

JAKARTA (JP): At the time when the gamelan, as an Indonesian
product of art and culture, is becoming part of the global music
culture and the export of gamelan instruments is a source of
foreign exchange that brings in billions of rupiah, here gamelan
makers are becoming increasingly rare.

There was certainly something odd in the culture of politics
run by Soeharto during his regime. Art and culture was apparently
only seen as a lifeless symbol or a heritage that had to be
conserved.

The importance of gamelan music was glorified by officials who
stated that we were a civilized nation which had inherited a
supreme culture, although the community that brought life to it
never received any attention. It is not rare that art, mainly
traditional art, is manipulated in such a way as to become a
propaganda tool.

The concept of conservation itself is static and artificial,
besides it is very costly. Furthermore, the cultural diversity of
Indonesia is immense. In the final instance the programs of
conservation often become a source of manipulation by the related
government officials.

Billions, perhaps even trillions, of rupiah were wasted during
32 years of the Soeharto regime to "conserve" Indonesian art and
culture. The reality shows that we are witnessing the dissolution
of the tradition of gamelan making which is capable of generating
huge amounts of foreign exchange and has contributed
significantly to the development of world music culture since the
19th century.

Besides, the concept of conservation is actually only suitable
to be applied to extinct art and culture. The Japanese
government, for example, does this especially for the art of the
Kabuki theater and Gagaku music which indeed are no longer part
of the country's daily life.

Cultural traditions in Indonesia still live on in the
community, from the cultural tradition of communities living in
the interior of the country, like the Dayak in Kalimantan and the
Dani in Irian Jaya, to the cultural tradition of the Betawi
community which lives in metropolitan Jakarta.

Therefore, the concept of conservation is a concept that is
not suitable for implementation in the cultural life of our
society. If we really intend to "conserve" the artistic-cultural
life of our traditional communities, the way to do it is to
enable the community to carry on with their cultural livelihood
amid the changes that herald the modern era.

In other words, the government must have the right concepts in
place in order that the transformation process of the traditional
community to a modern community can occur without destroying the
foundation of livelihood which have become a tradition for
hundreds of years.

Toward the fall of the New Order, Soeharto's regime made a
small breakthrough in its cultural policies. Art and culture were
given some prominence by placing them in the tourism ministry in
addition to the Ministry of Education and Culture.

The implication was art and culture were no longer seen as an
heirloom that had to be merely conserved, but as a source that
could be relied on to improve on the people's welfare through
economic growth that was being pushed by the development of the
tourism sector and the culture industry as earners of foreign
exchange.

In this context it was surely expected that art and culture
would become saleable commodities. If so, it is logical that they
must be produced continuously. Capital would certainly be
required. In other words, the government was apparently prepared
to disburse funds to push the art and culture production sector
in Indonesia so as to market its commodities in the context of
the development of the industry of culture and tourism.

That is what was being done by Malaysia and Singapore. To
implement this program the Malaysian government established a
body named Panggung Negara that is responsible for the production
of the works of theater directors, choreographers and composers,
through a very strict selection of quality.

The government and Petronas (Malaysia's state-owned oil
company) have also built a theater of international standard, the
National Theater, and a concert hall to host these high-quality
works.

Furthermore, for potential artists who fall short of
qualifying for the national theater or the concert hall, there is
the Panggung Eksperimental to accommodate them. The programs
there are run by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Art.

It can be imagined that with this serious program and
investment Malaysia will be ready to sell its cultural products
abroad in the free trade era that begins in 2003. Singapore too
has stated that it will be an international art and culture
marketing center.

Therefore, in the context of facing the problems of the
culture industry in the future, it is the right decision to give
the highest position in the Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture
to somebody with a business or economic background like Abdul
Latief or Marzuki Usman.

The minister does not need to get deeply involved in matters
of art and culture to make them a source of foreign exchange
earnings. However, he must be assisted by a director general of
art and culture and a staff who fully understand the norms and
ethics in artistic and cultural life so that when the products
must be sold, both domestically and internationally, it will not
be detrimental to the existence of the resource itself. The key
to the problems is the ability of the ministry to combine market
logic and art logic.

Commodities

Basically the concept of art and culture as a commodity is far
more productive and realistic than treating them as political
rhetoric, a lifeless symbol or an heirloom needing conservation.
In the cultural global environment of capitalism, there is hardly
any artistic product that cannot be turned into a commodity. Even
experimental art products initially meant to combat the current
malaise are finally turned into commodities.

One example is the works of the Dada artists of the 1920s
which at the time were considered radical. Now, one of them, a
work by Marcel Duchamp, has become a very precious work of art.

Another example, Soho and East Village in New York, known as
centers of experimental art, have become extremely attractive
tourism areas. The 24-hour life in these localities draws many
tourists.

In this case, the role and capability of the artists to change
Soho and East Village, depressed areas in the 1970s, into dynamic
and unique centers popular among professionals, yuppies and
tourists, cannot be considered lightly. Their presence injects
life into avant garde music concerts, alternative galleries and
off-off Broadway theaters.

In other words, experimental art is a highly saleable asset in
the tourism world. Artists need not worry about presenting their
products according to market taste. The market needs to be
introduced to the nature and logic of the life of the art world
which they buy. The art and culture industry needs an economist
who is able to attract the market to buy the artists' works using
the market's language, not the artists' language.

In the current critical economic situation the tourism sector
can clearly play a greater role in supporting the continuity of
the life of art and culture in this country. Through the revenues
of the tourism sector the Ministry of Tourism, Art and Culture
can channel its funds to artists, both traditional and modern, to
continue with their creative work and conserve cultural
traditions in this country.

Without an established tradition of art and culture, when the
Free Trade Era starts in 2003, this country will not only lose
out in competition to other countries, it will also be very
fragile vis-a-vis the penetration of culture from outside.

Maybe we all could learn from the Dayak community in the
interior of East Kalimantan. My research a few years ago
concluded that even in the worst economic situation they still
had a high capacity for survival because they could incorporate
art and cultural activities in their daily lives.

They did not prioritize only the search for basic foodstuffs.
At the same time they constructed lamin (longhouses) which were
the center for all their art and cultural activities.