RI-Dutch poetry fiesta gets limited applause

JAKARTA (JP): Dari Priok ke Kota: aduh mak, macetnya, macetnya! (From Priok to downtown Kota, oww, such a jam, such a jam!)

Hamid Jabbar's poem Permutasi Mas Merdeka was read at the Indonesian-Dutch Poetry Festival held at the Dutch Cultural Center, Erasmus Huis in South Jakarta, from Sept. 4 to 6.

Jabbar provoked comments, laughter and much applause when he recited the poem for the first time at Chairil Anwar Plaza at Monumen National (Monas) Park on Aug. 15. However, his reading only got polite applause at Erasmus Huis. The poem hadn't suddenly lost its power, but, because the audience consisted of Indonesians and expatriates, Jabbar's poem fell somewhat flat.

Despite the poems universal theme of modernization, it is very local. It looks at things very familiar to anyone who regularly reads newspaper: the country's debt, conglomerates, smugglers, the stock exchange, the paper shortage, the Internet, forest fires and World Bank funds. The chaos the poem describes can only truly be felt, however, by those who have ventured into Tanjung Priok and Kota in North and West Jakarta.

The language Jabbar uses to emphasize the havoc is not standard Indonesian. He employs Jakartan slang and mixes in Japanese terms. Even Indonesians not familiar with Jakartan slang might not catch all the meanings, let alone foreigners.

No wonder the applause was limited.

The festival, opened by former minister of culture and education Fuad Hassan, was jointly organized by Erasmus Huis and poet W.S. Rendra's theater group Bengkel Teater.

The festival featured six Indonesian poets, Diah Hadaning, Dorothea Rosa Herliany, Hamid Jabbar, Afrizal Malna, Acep Zamzam Noor and Sitok Srengenge; and six Belgian and Dutch poets, Jaap Blonk, Remco Campert, Herman de Coninck, Anna Enquist, Esther Jansma and Simon Vinkenoog.

Although allowing Indonesian poets to meet their counterparts from other countries is a very good idea, extra effort is necessary to make the performance interesting for people from different language groups.

Translations could help. But the Dutch poems were poorly translated into Indonesian. Translating other forms of literature, such as short stories, is never easy. Translating poems must be done with even more care.

Providing a narrator to explain the background of a poem might help the mixed audience understand more.

It was a nice try. (als)