Time for Surabaya artists to protest arts council

By Sirikit Syah

SURABAYA, East Java (JP): Councils aimed at fostering the arts in each province are coming under scrutiny and being targeted in protests just like local administrative heads.

In Jakarta, artists' protests led to the resignation of seven members of the arts council, among others those alleged to be largely irrelevant to artists. Members were appointed, not elected, and were accused of not interacting with artists.

The criticism raised against such councils provides a picture of the arts scene here.

Surabaya's arts council, which is under the auspices of the provincial administration, recently faced similar protests. At a recent gathering, artists commented that DKS (Dewan Kesenian Surabaya) was no use and that cultural life would go on without it. Indeed cultural events like the annual Surabaya Arts Festival had proceeded without its involvement.

The gathering itself was organized by the council. Its members had ended their duties in 1997, so it had been in a vacuum for more than a year. Their appointment and election had been conducted in closed session, sparking criticism and disappointment. This time, perhaps influenced by student protests everywhere, the team invited as many artists as they could to discuss together a more preferred structure.

Many Surabaya artists said the council members, "elected" by a team chaired by the mayor, were the same as their Jakarta counterparts in that they lacked competence, credibility, and had limited relations with the arts community. They alleged that personal instead of professional qualities were considered.

Financially the Council is weak. Its budget is only Rp 12 million (US$915) a year. In comparison, an executive of the Jakarta Arts Council recently said that the budget for the ccapital's council this year was Rp 1 billion.

Artists were divided; while some wanted the council dissolved, others said it was still relevant to provide a necessary forum for artists to exchange experiences and ideas. Bambang Sudjiono, a respected figure in the arts scene here, said he agreed the council should be closed.

"But I can't forget, almost 30 years ago, a young man struggled to establish this organization for us -- Amang Rachman," said Bambang, referring to a senior painter with whom he and others founded the council.

Need

Finally the heated discussion ended peacefully with an understanding that the council was still needed to coordinate to all branches of culture and through it artists would try to collaborate more often.

The Council was set up in 1972 because of artists' need for an organization to take care of their interests. Among the facilities provided by the Surabaya municipality was what used to be called the Balai Budaya Mitra theater with 1,000 seats.

In the mid 1970s it was operated by a private company, becoming Cinema 21 with a 20-year contract. In 1984 it became a movie house with three cinemas and in 1990, five. In 1996 the contract was extended for another 26 years.

The change reflected the Surabaya mayors' business interests.

But the problem also lay with the artists. The council had the right to use the theater four times a week -- but it had a hard time keeping up this commitment due to a lack of activities.

Eventually the municipality stepped in, withdrawing the financial compensation previously received by the council whenever it did not exercise its right to use the theater. Hence the view was born that the council had become a tool of the bureaucracy, and even worse, a subordinate of the city government.

In a recent discussion. Kadar, a senior artist, said the Surabaya Arts Council should return to its original purpose as an organization where artists could discuss ideas and do things together.

But even though artists finally agreed they still needed the arts council, it had no home. The office was demolished and it now operates in a small room behind Mitra Theater. Its property, gamelan, and paintings, are in a sad state of repair.

Besides the loss of the Mitra Theater, the council also lost its gallery to make way for a brand new building for the municipal council. Promises of a new office building, a new gallery and a new theater, faded so recently artists marched in protest to the local council demanding these promises be met.

A day earlier artists in Malang, East Java, had raised similar demands. They also demanded taxes on cultural performances, be cut from 30 percent to 5 percent.

In the past, the Surabaya Arts Council always had three chairs and assistants, heading sections for dance, theater, music, literature, art, and research and development. It had a strong relationship with the city government.

At the recent meeting, artists demanded a more simple and democratic structure -- one chairperson and a number of deputies. Artists also demanded that the council be less dependent on the city government, which has been the council's financial mainstay.

Amang Rachman demanded: "We want the government to consider art and culture as respectable as the city itself," adding that an increased budget was a must. Meanwhile, some young artists like ballerina Linda Josephine, expressed optimism of self- funding efforts to reduce the community's dependence on the city.

"If we try, there must be a way," she said optimistically.

Suripan Sadi Hutomo, a professor of literature at the Surabaya Teachers Training College, suggested that whoever was elected to the council should know about art or, better still, be an artist.

He criticized the recent establishment of the East Java Art Council because its members were mostly nonartists. "Let artists organize their own organization. Nonartists will always create trouble," he said. His thoughts were echoed by many others.

The East Java Council is clearly going to face difficulties. Until March, there were no provincial councils. In East Java there were the city art councils in Surabaya, Malang, Banyuwangi, Tuban, Bojonegoro, etc.

It was set up because without it, it was said the Rp 500- million donation from the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) could not be disbursed.

People questioned why the money was not allocated to existing city arts councils. Some speculated that as the Jakarta Arts Council was a provincial council, Bappenas viewed that provincial councils should exist in other areas.

This made it difficult for provinces in Indonesia which had no provincial, but only city, arts councils because they had no access to the government funds.

Aribowo, a former chairman of the Surabaya council who now chairs the East Java Arts Council, admitted that it was founded hurriedly to disburse the money. "Otherwise Bappenas would have taken the money back ...," he said.

But for all its efforts, the East Java Council is not yet sure whether it really will get Rp 500 million in the future. "I have heard news that because of the monetary crisis, starting from next year, the budget will no longer be available. The money has been switched to more important things, namely basic needs," explained Aribowo.

Bambang Sudjiono was more pragmatic. He said: "In the past, there was no problem regarding basic needs and no monetary crisis, but we never had a proper budget anyway."

The writer is a former member of the Surabaya Arts Council