Summit brings contemporary art world to RI

Summit brings contemporary art world to RI

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): The capital is hosting a month-long
international festival on contemporary performing arts, the Art
Summit Indonesia II 1998, until Oct. 19.

The festival and its accompanying discourse involving artists
and experts from here and overseas -- including the U.S., France,
the Netherlands, Finland, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, India
and Singapore -- has garnered enormous attention from local
artists and audiences despite the economic crisis.

The First Art Summit Indonesia, held in 1995, was initiated by
Edi Sedyawati, the present director general for culture of the
Ministry of Education and Culture.

Born in Malang, East Java, in 1938, Edi is known as an
accomplished Javanese classical dancer. She is currently a
professor of archeology and art history at the University of
Indonesia and chairwoman of the Association of the Indonesian
Archeologists.

Edi discussed the meaning of the summit with The Jakarta Post
recently. The following are excerpts from the interview.

Question: In the current social, economic and political
crisis, why has the government, in this case the Ministry of
Education and Culture, insisted on holding such an international-
scale art festival?

Answer: Many people still don't understand that art and
culture are an important part of our lives.

This art summit festival is held every three years and
involves the best artists in the contemporary arts from Indonesia
and overseas.

This is one of our efforts to maintain the country's
reputation, which has been tarnished in the global community,
through the arts. Besides, we had carefully planned it long
before we were hit by this crisis.

Q: Why did you choose contemporary performing arts instead of our
lavish and rich traditional arts which have so far been widely
exposed to attract tourists?

A: There should not be any dispute between traditional and
contemporary arts. Indonesia is lucky to possess abundant
traditional performing arts, encompassing dance, music and
theater, which we are very proud of. Yet, it would be difficult
to present them in this art summit because the context would not
be appropriate.

The art summit means a gathering to share, discuss and explore
artistic issues happening now.

If we display traditional arts from all participating
countries, we must backtrack to explore their diverse historical
and cultural backgrounds. Thus, there would not be any meeting of
minds and ideas.

On the other hand, contemporary performing arts offer an
intensive artistic collaboration which is beyond national and
cultural boundaries.

In the last two decades, there have been collaborations
between artists of different nationalities, Western and non-
Western, in which many Indonesian artists were also involved.

Encounters between artists of multicultural backgrounds are
expected to result in the understanding of each other's specific
problems and challenges, as well as professional appraisal of
each other's works.

Q: What is the main target of this festival?

A: We are expecting to develop a deeper and mutual understanding
among nations, at least among the participating countries.
Indonesia should be actively involved in international activities
if it wants to be respected by other countries.

The art summit festival is aimed at bringing the world into
Indonesia and placing Indonesia as an important venue on the
international cultural map.

It is also intended is to provide local artists and the
audience with the opportunity to nurture their souls with
performances of refined artworks.

Q: Compared to traditional arts, the development of contemporary
works has so far received less attention from the government.
What is the government policy on the development of the arts?

A: It is not true that the government emphasizes fostering
traditional arts only. Each type of artwork must be placed and
treated proportionally. Traditional arts are part of our precious
cultural heritage that should be preserved and honored. But,
contemporary artworks must also be promoted because time is
progressing and so are the artists and society.

Many people think that we do not give enough attention because
there is some misunderstanding.

Contemporary art performances sometimes require sophisticated
supporting infrastructures and facilities, including
representative and well-equipped theater buildings, stages, etc.

We have to concede that Indonesia has yet to possess a
prestigious opera house or other theater buildings which meet
international standards, compared to Singapore, for instance.
That's why we are not yet able to present world-class art
performances.

If we want to fully nurture the development of contemporary
works, we have to provide all the necessary facilities.

The government plans to build an international-standard art
gallery, an opera house and other related facilities in areas
near the National Monument (Monas), Central Jakarta.

Q: But facilities alone are not a guarantee of enhancing the
freedom of artistic expression, which is actually the core of
contemporary artworks. What is the government policy now on the
banning and censorship of artworks?

A: In this reform era, such a policy will no longer be
applicable. I have always told all related government officials
dealing with art activities to improve their knowledge on the
subject.

Banning and censorship occurred because there was a different
perception between the artists and the authorities toward the
works of arts.

The authorities must be able to distinguish which works of
arts could endanger the nation's existence and ideology. But,
they must also understand the works which only deal with social
and political criticism in general ways.

They have to understand that artworks have a social function
to improve the condition of society. Artworks, including fine
arts, theater, dance and music, can become a clear reflection of
the people's situation at a certain time.

In a series of interministerial meetings, I have frequently
tried to provide new perspectives on the arts in order to bridge
the wide gap between the artists and government officials.

Q: What other efforts have the government made to nurture art
activities in the country?

A: Apart from the improvement of the security-approach policy
toward the arts, the government is now focusing on the
development of art in downstream and upstream levels.

This means that we have to upgrade art education from the
elementary schools to the higher art institutions.

The development of arts is not only a responsibility of the
artists and the government. All of us -- government officials,
Armed Forces members, artists, teachers, parents and children --
are responsible for fostering art activities.

Art appreciation should be introduced to our children during
their early years. They are expected to grow up as people who
have a deep understanding of art and cultural issues, and this
will surely change the people's condition in the future.

Lack of understanding of art, tradition and culture could lead
to a serious social upheaval.