Serious art forms needed: Official

Serious art forms needed: Official

JAKARTA (JP): A recently-concluded national arts festival has
shown that people need more than just entertainment; they need
more serious art forms, according to a senior official of the
Ministry of Education and Culture.

Many of the artistic performances at Art Summit Indonesia
1995, which ran from Sept. 23 to Oct. 12, were sold out. The
festival involved 15 contemporary arts groups from nine
countries.

"I hope the event has left an impression (of contemporary
arts) with a large section of the public," Edi Sedyawati,
Director General of Culture, said on Friday.

Her own impression, she said, is that "the public needs and
likes forms of art which are more than simply entertaining."

Edi, author of a book on the growth of the performing arts in
Indonesia, is not discouraged by the current greater acceptance
of mass entertainment.

"That's just a matter of public relations ... of changing the
public's view. It is a challenge to encourage the growth of more
serious arts ... to create the need for those arts which not only
entertain for a few moments, but which also enrich the soul," she
said.

While acknowledging that the traditional arts promoted by the
tourist industry are mostly limited to a form of entertainment,
Edi said the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications
must be given credit for asking all hotels to hold performances
of traditional music on a regular basis.

"Greater efforts need to be made on the part of the artists
themselves," she added.

Edi dismissed the view that the government has not been
serious about promoting the arts.

"The government has always been serious, although it does
depend on the vision of the officials in charge," she said. Edi
said the establishment of the Jakarta Arts Council in 1969, on
which she once served, was an indication of the government's
commitment to fostering the arts.

Also on Friday, Edi announced a plan to hold an arts congress
in Jakarta on December 4-7.

The congress is intended as an opportunity to reflect on the
state of the Indonesian arts scene, she said. It is also aimed at
stimulating more local art experts to conduct studies in their
specific fields.

"Most experts on our arts are foreigners," Edi said. (anr)