Performing: More than just for show

Performing: More than just for show

JAKARTA (JP): Performing good quality art is no longer enough.
The most important thing is that the artists should be able to
reach audiences through their work, even collaborative pieces
made with foreign counterparts -- a common phenomenon in the
performing arts.

This opinion was expressed by dance critic and member of the
Third Art Summit Indonesia 2001 artistic board Sal Murgiyanto
during a media conference on Tuesday regarding the upcoming
international seminar on contemporary performing arts to be held
from Sept. 14 to Sept. 16 at Hotel Indonesia in Central Jakarta.

The dean of the Jakarta Arts Institute's School of Performing
Arts urged Indonesian artists to improve their communication and
expression skills to prevent the exploitation of local arts when
performing collaborative works. He also insisted that good
collaborative works show equality among the artists' involved.

"If there's no equality then there will be exploitation of one
another. Such situations might happen due to the lack of
communication skills among those involved. And most Indonesian
artists, although they stage good quality performances, are so
poor in the skill (of communicating)," Sal said.

Citing an example of Indonesian artists' lack of communication
skills, he said that during the season of a certain collaborative
show in Australia, it was always the foreign counterparts who
talked to members of the press. "In this case, there could be
misinterpretation," Sal said.

Besides equality, he also expressed the need to share
expertise and knowledge among the artists involved in
collaborative processes.

Intensive collaborative processes between Indonesian artists
and foreign counterparts, according to artist Rahayu Supanggah,
are still rare.

"In fact, a long time is needed to create a good collaborative
piece. The process might take about three to five years since it
is not only about working together, but also respect for each
other's cultures," Rahayu said.

He also lamented the existence of attitudes asserting
inferiority toward anything from the West within the art world.
"In this case, sometimes we do not have enough information about
the groups that are more suitable to work with," Rahayu said.

Collaborations do not necessarily mean an east-meets-west kind
of thing. In fact, it can also be east-meets-east, as Japanese
artists have undertaken with their Asian counterparts.

Indonesian artists, according to the seminar's chair Saini
K.M, should enrich themselves by following current theoretical
discourses.

"Actually, we have lots of art forms, but there's a lack of
theoretical discourse about them. Once a Japanese person
researching Indonesian arts faced problems finding any theory
despite the presence of an abundance of art forms," he said.

Saini believes that discourse plays an important role,
particularly with the challenges of multiculturalism. Without
discussion and debate, he said, there would be less reflection on
what was happening within society.

The upcoming seminar, he said, was expected to bridge the gap
between theory and art forms. The event is also expected to
conceptually map situations, problems and challenges created by
multicultural encounters and collaborations.

Local experts and international speakers from Australia,
Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States will
present their views during the seminar.

The seminar is expected to enhance awareness and understanding
among the nations involved, including their respective artists
and audience. (ind)