Will fine arts shine in Year of Art and Culture?
Will fine arts shine in Year of Art and Culture?
By Amir Sidharta
JAKARTA (JP): On New Year's Day, President Soeharto designated
1998 as the Year of Art and Culture, placing it in the context of
the Visit Indonesia Decade begun in 1993.
The arts community was taken unaware as there had been no
forewarning. As a result, no major events have been planned by
either the public or private sector.
Artist Nunung WS expressed the surprise of many. "I am still
wondering what it actually means, and what to do. It came as a
great surprise to us!"
Art critic Jim Supangkat, who was recently honored with the
Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands, said the move should
have been expected in line with the nation's development.
"If we refer to the second stage of the nation's Long Term
Development Plan, we should be entering the stage of progress
which places emphasis on art and culture."
Despite the financial crisis, the government consistently
adhered to this plan, he said.
In Kompas daily, Sardono W. Kusumo, another Indonesian artist
who won the award, emphasized the need to develop an adequate
infrastructure for the development of the performing arts in
Indonesia.
Jim admitted the available fine art facilities may also fall
short of requirements to host international standard art shows,
such as the Rembrandt exhibition in Singapore last year.
In terms of fine arts, however, he believed there were
sufficient venues, especially for the contemporary arts.
"The international curators of contemporary art who have seen
the Ministry of Education and Culture's Exhibition Hall in
Gambir, Central Jakarta, considered the venue ideal for
contemporary shows.
"We are in more crucial need of organizational bodies and
professionals who can manage the arts."
While he considered hardware for development of fine arts to
be sufficient for the time being, he judged the software -- the
human resources required for the management of the arts -- to be
lacking and in need of upgrading.
Jim said there were plans to send two fine arts scholars to
Japan and Australia for training in art institutions.
Jim also believed the designation of the Year of Art and
Culture would set the stage for the official announcement of the
National Gallery project, discussed since the late 1950s.
He said the National Gallery would be an important facility as
a forum for international relations, providing a heightened focus
on regional arts.
"The focus will be more comprehensive than the previous
attention directed merely towards contemporary arts," he added.
Jim pointed out that the Fukuoka Art Museum will establish the
Asian Art Gallery this year, while the Queensland Art Gallery and
the Australian National University, with the support of the
Australian Art Council, will prepare the Reviewing Modernism for
2000.
If realized, Jim said, the National Gallery would become an
important center and complementary facility for other Asia-
Pacific museums.
Jim did not mention any plans to hold exhibitions this year,
and indeed not many have been planned. There are a few routine
events that are scheduled, including the Art Summit focused on
dance, and the Jakarta Biennial concentrated on painting and
other forms of fine art.
Other than those events, the Ministry of Education and Culture
will celebrate the 11th anniversary of its space praised by Jim,
the Gedung Pameran Seni Rupa at Gambir.
Whatever the actual intentions behind the designation are, art
and culture can undoubtedly play an important role in tourism.
The government has made tremendous efforts in supporting
international promotion of Indonesian art, including contemporary
art.
The Ministry of Education and Culture continued to support the
participation of the country's artists and their works in
international exhibitions, even though the works often contain
material critical of the government's policies.
Ironically, these same pieces appear to have brought greater
attention to the nation.
Last year, the government's sincerity in promoting Indonesia
was further confirmed when the Ministry of Education and Culture
endorsed a painting exhibition, The Mutation: Painstaking Realism
in Contemporary Indonesian Painting, in Tokyo as part of the
Japan-Indonesia Friendship Festival.
Although the event was intended to increase common
understanding between the countries, it was also meant to promote
Indonesian tourism.
The designation also came as a reminder that, despite the
financial crisis, prices of Indonesian fine art have once again
returned to a competitive level on the international market.
President Soeharto also mentioned the potential of art to
accommodate "greater understanding between nations". ASEAN
Masterworks, an exhibition to be staged in Kuala Lumpur later
this month, will indeed serve that purpose and, as Jim said, will
probably be the forerunners of others in the future.
On the local level, the designation is generally perceived as
an encouraging and challenging gesture.
"For years, we have slowly seen a gradual awakening in the
field of fine arts, and suddenly there is this designation," said
Nunung WS.
"It is like a fresh morning breeze!"