A Festival Of Culture, Thought And Art

Jakarta - "A festival is like a bouquet of flowers, displaying an assortment of shapes, colors and scents,” Hasif Amini, director of the upcoming Festival Salihara, wrote in the foreword of the festival`s program.

Staying true to these words, the Salihara arts complex in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, has come up with a diverse program for this year`s festival, which will run for five weeks.

The festival will include music, dance and theater performances, public lectures and an art exhibition.

“All the events are very special,” said Rama Thaharani, Salihara`s promotions manager. “Eiko & Koma from New York, for instance, belong to the best contemporary dance groups worldwide, and the `Hunger of the Land` performance will have its world premiere at the festival.”

There will be two other contemporary dance performances by local talents, including “Girl`s Voices” by Nur Hasanah, a choreographer and dancer who recently graduated from the dance department of the Jakarta Arts Institute. The second one is “Red” by Asri Mery Sidowati, which depicts the state of the earth during this time of climate change. She first choreographed “Red” during her studies and developed it further for the festival.

Other acts include music groups from Austria, Germany and the United States. Local musical acts will include I Wayan Sadra & Ansambel SonoSeni, an ensemble from Solo fusing Western and Eastern sounds, and the jazz rock group Trio Ligro, which has performed at the Java Jazz Festival for the last five years.

Local and international actors will take the stage for a number of performances. Australian actress Jennifer Claire, who lives in both Bali and Australia, plays Countess Sonya Tolstoy in “Tolstoy`s Wife,” a monologue based on the countess`s last diary. Local theater group Lungid from Surakarta will perform “Visa,” a play about coming home, while the Saturday Acting Club from Yogyakarta will take a look at the challenges of modern living in their play “Holocaust Rising.”

There will also be a short wayang (shadow puppet) performance by Solo-based puppeteer Purbo Asmoro. He will present a three-hour show telling the life story of Karna, one of the characters in the Hindu epic Mahabharata.

Since opening last October, the Salihara arts complex has drawn crowds to its many events and has established itself very quickly as a prominent arts venue. Renowned figures, such as writers Nirwan Ahmad Arsuka and Ayu Utami, regularly take part in Salihara`s events.

“The success of Salihara was beyond our expectation because it was a brand new art center. At the beginning, it was only a small house with a garden, and we turned it into this cultural center, and people came,” Rama said.

Festival Salihara is the second of the three major events that Salihara is organizing this year: In April, there was the “Six Weeks of Women,” focusing on women in visual arts and literature, and in October, the arts complex will hold the International Literary Biennale. Katrin Figge

Festival Salihara

Jl. Salihara No. 16 Pasar Minggu
South Jakarta
Tickets: Tel. 0817 077 1913/ 021 9619 2632
Full Program for Festival Salihara 2009, July 8-Aug. 15

July 8
Opening of Festival Salihara
By invitation only

July 11-12, 8 p.m.
“Hunger of the Land”
Dance performance by Eiko & Koma, USA

July 14-15, 8 p.m.
Music performance by Christian Utz
& Ensemble on_line, Austria

July 16, 7 p.m.
“War, Word and Form”
Opening of exhibition featuring 13 Indonesian artists

July 17-18, 8 p.m.
Music performance by
TimeTable Percussion Trio, USA

July 21-22, 8 p.m.
“Girl`s Voices” and “Red”
Dance performances by Nur Hasanah and Asri Mery Sidowati, Jakarta

July 24-25, 8 p.m.
“Jazz Poetry”
Performance by Denise Jannah, Netherlands-Suriname

July 26, 7 p.m.
“`Jamal,` the Feminine Beauty of the Divine”
Lecture by Amina Wadud, USA

July 28-29, 8 p.m.
Music performance by I Wayan Sadra & Ansambel SonoSeni, Solo

July 31-Aug. 1, 8 p.m.
“Tolstoy`s Wife”
Monologue by Jennifer Claire, Australia

Aug. 2, 8 p.m.
Music performance by Dieter Mack & Selisih Ensemble, Germany

Aug. 7-8, 8 p.m.
“Holocaust Rising”
Theater performance by Saturday Acting Club, Yogyakarta

Aug. 11, 8 p.m.
“Banjaran Karna”
Short wayang (shadow puppet) performance by Ki Dalang Purbo Asmoro, Solo

Aug. 12, 8 p.m.
Jazz rock music performance by Trio Ligro, Jakarta

Aug. 14-15
“Visa,” 8 p.m.
Theater performance by Teater Lungid, Solo

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.com (1 July 2009)

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