Spectacular line up of performers at arts festival

Spectacular line up of performers at arts festival

By C.G. Asmara

JAKARTA (JP): From Sept. 23 until Oct. 12, Jakarta audiences
will be treated to a variety of performances by internationally
renowned contemporary music and dance groups as part of Art
Summit Indonesia 1995: International Festival and Seminar on
Contemporary Music and Dance. All performances will be held at
either Taman Ismail Marzuki or at Gedung Kesenian Jakarta.

The festival, which has been organized by the Directorate
General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture, is
part of the government's ongoing commemoration of Indonesia's
50th Anniversary of Independence and serves as a salute to
Indonesia's artistic achievements which have received
international attention and acclaim. It aims at bringing together
performances from around the world within the context of
multiculturalism that represent the summit of contemporary music
and dance.

Apart from the music and dance performances, the festival will
also hold a two-day seminar at Hotel Wisata, Jl. Thamrin, Central
Jakarta, on Sept. 27 and 28, entitled, Frontiers for Composers
and Choreographers: The Problem of Multiculturalism. The seminar,
whose committee chairman is I Made Bandem, will open with a
keynote address by Edi Setiawati and will host a number of
leading scholars on music and dance including Sunil Khotari (of
India), Sal Murgiyanto (Indonesia), Jose Maceda (The
Philippines), Jochen Schmidt (Germany) and Sumarsam (Indonesia).
The main topics for discussion have been broken down into three
parts pertaining to music and dance: philosophy and concept;
methods and techniques; and case studies.

Building on the theme of multiculturalism, the majority of the
15 scheduled contemporary performances originating from nine
countries can be broken down into roughly two types: those that
build on and are inspired by traditional genres and those which
launch into the avant garde with the intention to create
something entirely new. Many of the groups have multinational
members. Issues of multiculturalism are crucial in the world of
performance today as an increasing number of artists look to
their own traditional cultures and to the cultures of others for
inspiration. There are many issues raised by these
investigations, not the least of which include questions of
appropriation that arise when an artist "gains" from the culture
and traditions of another without a true understanding or
sufficient experience.

In the festival, many of the contemporary artists grow out of
the performance traditions from which they draw inspiration. An
example of this is Banjar Gruppe Berlin from Germany, headed by
Paul Gutama Soegijo. Born in Yogyakarta, Gutama's compositions,
which he terms "New Source Music", fuse together his western
music training and experience from living in Berlin for the past
30 years with the music of his youth in Central Java. His five
compositions all emphasize his spiritual ties with his motherland
and include Deprokan which explores the implications of this
Javanese word which means "to let oneself fall to the ground into
a sitting position with the legs crossed in front or folded to
one side. Another of his compositions is based on the dakwah
(religious teaching) of the Saman people of Aceh that features
singing and rhythmic upper body movements.

The four Indonesian groups performing in the festival --
Slamet Abdul Syukur, Rahayu Supanggah, Sardono W. Kusumo and
Bagong Kussudiardjo -- are not only the leading innovators in
contemporary Indonesian performance, but also draw upon their
traditional training in music and dance. Rahayu Supanggah, a
composer who has been known throughout his career as a "rebel
pioneer", is committed to the task of continuing his use of
traditional Javanese music in order to preserve its existence and
to keep it contemporary. Likewise, choreographer Bagong
Kussudiardjo has expressed his belief that artists must delve
into the traditional arts in order to get at their roots so that
they can be protected, allowed to grow, blossom and change.

Supanggah, Bagong and Sardono have all been heavily criticized
at one time or another throughout their careers for breaking with
their traditional training and not following pakem (conventions
and standards) of their respective arts, yet have also been
highly praised for their innovations and performances of
exceptional artistic merit. These criticisms and praise for
contemporary performers who break with their traditional training
both in Indonesia and abroad will hopefully be addressed during
the festival and accompanying seminar.

Besides these groups that draw on tradition, several of the
festival's events will feature groups that have been forging into
completely new styles of performance. One such group is Urban Sax
from France, whose performance marking the gala opening of the
festival promises to be spectacular. Appearing in costumes that
resemble toxic waste gear, 30 or more performers will blast their
saxophones in a unique staging formation based on group founder
and leader Gilbert Artman's in-depth studies into the nature of
acoustics and the architecture of urban spaces. Termed "sound
manipulations" the musicians explore the nature of the saxophone
as a generator of sound that can be controlled by subtle nuances
of the breath as well as by electronic equipment.

With such an impressive list of performers, every event is
sure to be a success. Such a prestigious list of artists is
rarely assembled for a single festival and I urge Jakarta
audiences to take advantage of this rare opportunity by seeing as
many performances as they can.