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.