Sat, 25 Aug 2001

Seventeen groups gear up for Art Summit

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Art lovers, get ready to whet your appetite. A strong lineup of reputable international and local artists will take part in the Third Art Summit Indonesia 2001 International Festival on Contemporary Performing Arts, which lasts a whole month.

Two world premieres by international artists, five new works along with other creations presented by 17 troupes coming from 10 countries -- Australia, China, Egypt, England, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Italy and the Netherlands -- will grab your attention.

A unique dance troupe from Australia, Strange Fruit, will open the festival on Monday evening, Aug. 27, at Plaza Senayan's terrace with an alluring show: female dancers clad in colorful dome-shaped gowns and male dancers in black suits stand on top of four-meter high elastic poles.

With music in the background, the group, which won the prestigious Myer Performing Arts Group Award in Sydney last year and which has performed in various international events, will present three pieces -- The Field, Flight and Swoon -- for free. Those who are not invited to the opening ceremony can watch the show the next day at the same time and place.

Local artists

During the Art Summit, art buffs will also have the opportunity to enjoy new works by renowned local artists. From six Indonesian groups, only one will front up with old material.

New choreography by dancer-choreographer Boi G. Sakti, Ritus- Ritus Kesucian (Rites of Holiness), will be presented in two parts -- Tradisi dan Mimpi Buruk (Tradition and Nightmare) and Mitos-Mitos Kecemasan (Myths of Anxiety).

Through his new work, the 35-year-old son of well-known choreographer Gusmiati Suid is trying to build imagination, depicting women who are deprived of their basic rights and then trying to set themselves free.

Through this piece, Boi, who has taken part in many international events, describes the grim reality of women who are tortured, helpless against tradition, politics, economics and modernity.

Two musicians -- I Nyoman Winda and AL Suwardi -- will entice the audience with their new compositions.

Balinese musician I Nyoman Winda will harmonize gamelan music through his new piece Gugatan Bambu (Bamboo Demand), played by 12 musicians including himself.

The new piece was created after the musician realized the Bali traditional music is dominated by percussion instruments, inspiring him to use suling (traditional flute) as a dominant instrument in his new creation.

The 50-year-old AL Suwardi will entertain music lovers with enchanting compositions, exploring newly made gentha (traditional bells). Through his new work, the Surakarta-based Indonesia Arts Institute lecturer is trying to revive the vanishing instrument that originated from Surakarta Palace.

Rachman Sabur's Payung Hitam will present Peter Handke's Kaspar, which has been performed at several events but is considered the group's best. Actor-director-writer Rachman Sabur has so far directed 45 plays, either his own works or those by renowned playwrights like Samuel Beckett's Menunggu Godot (Waiting for Godot) and Nikolai Gogol's Inspektur Jendral (General Inspector).

Big names -- choreographer Farida Oetoyo of the Kreativitat Dance Indonesia and N. Riantiarno's Teater Koma -- will also stage their refreshing creations at the event.

Foreign nuances

Not everything is new; foreign troupes taking part in the event will present reputable creations -- dance, music and plays -- which have been performed at noted international festivals.

Exploration of body language will be presented by Guangdong modern dance troupe from China. Set up in 1992, the first contemporary dance troupe in China is here with its successful A Tacit Assembly and I Want to Fly, which were staged last year at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

Choreographed by Becky Edmunds and Charlie Morrisey, the dancers collaborate in A Tacit Assembly to blend body language with expression and dynamic movements, while in I Want to Fly, Lin Pai Shi promises an impulsive short dance, full of dance ritual, intrigue and humor.

Bangladesh-born artist Akhram Khan from England will stage contemporary Indian kathak dance at the Art Summit. The winner of the Jerwood Choreography Award, London in 1999 will perform with his best team comprising Nithin Sawhney, Michael Hulls, Andy Cowton, Moya Michael and Gwyn Emberton.

Three pieces scheduled to be performed here -- 15-minute Fix, five-minute Loose in Flight and 30-minute Rush -- promise dynamic and explosive dances inspired by the energy of sufi, Muslim and abstract dances.

Three choreographies -- Flower of Existence, the Flower of Vanity, The Marriage of Blood and Waiting -- will be part of the Kim Bock Hee contemporary dance company's performance at the international event.

For the last 30 years, Kim Bok Hee, one of Korea's legendary dancers, has reflected and interpreted Korea's way of thinking and Buddhism philosophy into her creations.

Tarantula Hypertext O'rchestra from Italy will display what a poetical phenomenon it is with its music, Yuji Takahashi from Japan will present Japanese traditional string instruments sangen and koto, while Dutch musicians Trio Braam -- comprising bassist Wilbert De Joode, drummer Michael Vatcher and pianist Michael Braam -- bring a different atmosphere with their exploration of jazz music.

Japanese theater troupe Black Tent Theater will play the seventh interpretation of Georg Buchner's Woyzeck. Directed by Makoto Sato K., this 105-minute play was based on a psychiatrist's notes on a man who was convicted and hanged for killing his mistress in 1821.

Unique theater group El Warsha of Egypt will also entertain people with their unique show staged inside a specially-designed tent and specially-ordered yellow sand. The famous Egyptian troupe, which was established in 1987, is finally making it to the Art Summit after missing out on the previous event in 1998. The troupe will stage Spinning Lives (Ghazl el Amaar), which has been performed in various events, such as in Jordan, Iran and Eqypt.