29 juni 2009 02:00

Helping Fledgling Artists Fly

In the last decade, the Kelola Foundation has put on more than 160 performances.
It offers a variety of workshops, grants and programs to support local artists.
(Photo Courtesy of the Kelola Foundation)

Jakarta - The fact that there are about 3,000 arts and cultural groups listed throughout the archipelago shows that Indonesians are active creators. Despite the artistic diversity and talent that can be found in the country, aspiring artists find little support.

The Kelola Foundation for Arts and Culture is a national nonprofit organization that promotes the growth of Indonesian arts.

Linda Hoemar Abidin, chair of the executive board and co-founder of Kelola, said that the main problem for aspiring artists was limited access to information. Many artists do not know where to start looking for grants, employment or learning opportunities.

Linda co-founded Kelola in 1999 because she wanted to give something back to the community after having received a grant herself from the Asian Cultural Council to study dance in New York City.

“There are Indonesians who are very talented, but they do not know about learning opportunities, which means they cannot fund their work.”

To promote the foundation when it was first established, Kelola held a cultural management organization workshop and connected artists and organizations in different cities, including Manado, Malang in East Java, Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara, and Padang Panjang and Bukit Tinggi in West Sumatra.

Kelola offers arts grants, national internships, international residency opportunities in the United States and Australia, programs to empower female artists and a number of workshops.

In the last decade, Kelola has helped produce more than 160 music, theater and dance performances. It has had 38 artists in its international residency program and 101 artists in internship programs in 13 organizations in Yogyakarta, Bandung and Jakarta. Its workshops have been held in 26 provinces.

The national internship program offers artist opportunities at some of the country‘s most reputable organizations, such as the Goethe Insititut and Kineforum film foundation in Jakarta; Selasar Sunaryo Art Space in Bandung; and Teater Garasi and Rumah Seni Cemeti art center in Yogyakarta.

Aryati Dewi Hadin applied for the internship program last year, aiming to develop her skills and network so she could further contribute to the fine arts community. The 29-year-old from Jakarta was given a placement at the Goethe Institute and is currently approaching her third month as an assistant in the cultural program division. At the moment, she is working with Goethe to plan a contemporary dance summit involving around 10 countries for August.

“Kelola works like a bridge; it helps us to build networks,” Dewi said.

After the internship, Dewi plans to head for Turkey to study intercultural communication.

Although the programs are all competitive, the application process was relatively easy for Dewi, who formerly worked with the Maros Visual Culture Initiative, a Jakarta-based fine arts education community. But she said it might be harder for applicants who had never worked in the field of arts and culture.

“You have to provide a resume outlining your activities related to arts and culture,” she said. A minimum of two years‘ involvement in the arts is required for the internship programs.

On top of the programs are workshops in cultural organization management, festival management, theater management, business partnership management and lighting design. Many prestigious international talents have collaborated with Kelola to run the workshops, such as Jennifer Tipton, an award-winning American lighting designer; Laurie Uprichard, director of the Dublin Dance Festival; and Taiwanese choreographer Lin Hwai Min, who was listed as one of Asia‘s Heroes in 2005 by Time Magazine.

In July, Fred Frumberg, former head of production for the Paris Opera, will be the guest facilitator of a stage management workshop in Solo.

There are no age barriers for Kelola participants — their youngest applicant is 23 and their oldest is 40 — nor are their geographical boundaries.

“We don‘t focus on one area in Indonesia, although access to information in Java is easier than on the other islands. We give opportunities to individuals from outside Java,” Meuthia said.

But the main challenge for the foundation is finding local funding. Since its conception, Kelola has been backed by international donors, such as the Ford Foundation and the Asian Cultural Council, and Dutch NGO Hivos, the Asialink Center from the University of Melbourne, Unesco-Aschberg Bursaries and the World Bank have made contributions as well.

Linda said that Indonesia should implement a tax exemption policy for arts projects.

“Our neighboring countries have excellent policies. We don‘t have any mechanism to encourage people to actively participate in supporting the arts,” she said.

With the Jakarta Arts Council and the Salihara and Utan Kayu art communities, Kelola recently presented a proposal for a tax exemption policy to the Ministry of Finance. The response was favorable, Linda said. “But it‘s still a long journey to implement the policy. Our hope is that we can continue offering our learning opportunities programs.” Titania Veda

The Kelola Foundation

A workshop for aspiring stage managers aged 20 to 45 will be held in Solo with Fred Frumberg. Applications close July 3.

July 21-25
Teater Kecil, Institut Seni Indonesia Surakarta, Jl. Ir. Sutami 57, Solo

For more information, please contact:
Retno Hemawati
Kelola Foundation for Arts and Culture
Jl. Cikatomas II No. 33, Kebayoran Baru. South Jakarta Tel. +6221739 9311
E-mail: info@kelola.or.id
Web site: www.kelola.or.id

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.com (28 June 2009)

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