World-class entertainment coming to Cities of Heroes

World-class entertainment coming to Cities of Heroes

By Sirikit Syah

SURABAYA (JP): People in Surabaya will experience a slice of
cultural life in October. World-class performances will be staged
and quality films will be shown to entertain audiences, whose
cultural entertainment needs have been neglected.

The British Council, in celebration of its 50th anniversary in
Indonesia, will hold a British Film Festival featuring 12 films,
from a classic rendition of Hamlet to the recent award winning
Secrets And Lies. A French film festival, organized by the French
institute Center for Cooperation of Culture and Language (CCCL),
will also take place in October.

The British Council will present Claire Martin, a jazz
quintet, on Oct. 24. Jazz is the perfect choice for Surabaya,
where good performances are rare despite there being many jazz
lovers here. Another jazz concert, by Portal, Sclavis, Humar and
Chevillon, is scheduled to take place in November under the
sponsorship of CCCL.

A combination of Sundanese music and French music, organized
by CCCL, will be performed on Oct. 29.

Still in October, a joint foundation of Indonesia and the
Netherlands in the field of culture and education, YPKIB, will
present a solo cabaret.

One might wonder if Surabaya is a city of art and culture. As
a matter of fact, art and culture does not really count here. The
city's motto is Indamardi, which stands for Industri, Dagang,
Maritim dan Pendidikan (Industry, Trade, Maritime and Education).
This industrial city does not have an adequate theater for
performing arts, a gallery for art exhibitions, or an auditorium
for concerts.

The city does have the East Java Cultural Center, where
cultural activities, painting exhibitions and workshops are held
from time to time. But the infrastructure does not meet the
standard for quality art and cultural activities. The cultural
center's management tends to be more concerned with preserving
traditional cultures than exploring experimental and contemporary
arts. The highlight of this place happens once a year, when a
traditional dance or/and music festival is presented.

Most international artists perform at hotels, which have
better facilities, while local artists prefer to exhibit their
works at CCCL or have their outdoor performance at Balai Pemuda
Surabaya. Campus auditoriums are the other option.

Phillip Rees, an English language trainer and consultant who
loves to see wayang orang (Javanese play), complains about the
lack of cultural performances. He had lived in Jakarta for six
years and used to enjoy a rather lively life. He misses Wayang
Orang Bharata, which regularly performs at Gedung Kesenian
Jakarta, and other cultural events in Jakarta.

"Jakarta is not like any European city where culture is a part
of our way of life. But still, it is far better than Surabaya."
Phillip is almost bored of living in Surabaya but he survives
with the help of laser discs and magazines sent from his home
country.

Dimitry Ovtchinnikoff, director of CCCL, said that Surabaya is
culturally not interesting. "It is a pity, how a city of five
millions people doesn't have a theater or an art gallery."

Well, there was the Surabaya Art Council Gallery but the site
has been used by the local house of representatives.

It can be said that CCCL is the only place in town which has
sufficient facilities and atmosphere for art and cultural
activities. It holds exhibitions regularly, especially those of
art students. "We provide the facilities, with no charge. We just
ask the artist to donate one piece of their work for our
collection," said Dimitry.

Promoting French and Indonesian culture is a part of CCCL's
mission, besides running language training and acting as a
consulate agency. But when it comes to quality performance,
Dimitry said, it is hardly possible because there is no standard
of technology and professionalism required to do such things in
Surabaya.

He also complained about the arduous censorship and
bureaucracy. "There are so many permits required by different
government institutions for a cultural performance," Dimitry
said.

Funding is another problem. Businesspeople are not attracted
to sponsoring a cultural activity and the tickets are not for
sale because the performances are free for the public. So, even
though artists are usually paid by their own government, the
organizer still has to spend money for, among others, invitations
and advertising.

A German professor who has been teaching in Surabaya for years
expressed regret that cultural events happen very rarely, and
without adequate publicity.

In fact, the lack of publicity and promotion seems to be the
weakness of any cultural organizer in Surabaya. There might be
several happenings in a month but there is no adequate
information available for the public. Mostly, audiences are made
up of just the relatives or friends of the performers themselves.
There are no leaflets, newsletters or any kind of simple
periodical published for a cultural agenda.

Besides CCCL, the British Council seems to be the most active
foreign office here. Every Saturday, it presents a British film
at its center. It also has a library and has a management club.
Founded in 1994, in cooperation with the Surabaya Institute of
Technology, the center frequently holds seminars or workshops on
language and management training.

According to its director, Soeatmadji, YPKIB was founded in
1995 to encourage more Indonesians to speak Dutch. Now, from time
to time, it also holds cultural programs, such as musical
performances, cabaret and even workshops with the musicians.

In 1997, the United States Information Service in Medan and
Surabaya, along with many others throughout the world, were
closed following the U.S.'s budgeting problem.

Both the Goethe Institut and an Indonesia-America friendship
organization (PPIA), used to give great attention to cultural
activities. But they have become concerned mainly with teaching
language. Only occasionally do they have a cultural program.

In the past, PPIA could be said to be the most active foreign
office in terms of cultural activities. Since last year, it
doesn't even have a cultural director any more.