Istana Budaya’s Role In Making Kuala Lumpur The City Of Arts

Kuala Lumpur -  Ten years have passed since Istana Budaya opened its doors to stage local and foreign performing arts and today it is the thrust in heralding another status for Kuala Lumpur, the city of arts.

Istana Budaya's Director General Mohamed Juhari Shaarani noted that the strategically located cultural centre not only has advanced theaters for performing art but also the ability to stage numerous genre of performances.

"Istana Budaya serves as the platform for the development of performing arts and the driving force for Kuala Lumpur to emerge as a city of arts," he said during an interview with Bernama here, recently.

"The strategic location at Jalan Tun Razak located adjacent to Balai Seni Lukis Negara and close to the National Library creates a chain of art and culture centres similar to other city of arts like Paris."

"With many of the national events, and local and international festivals, staged there Istana Budaya has become one of the leading venues to promote Kuala Lumpur as the city of arts," he said.

New Audience

He noted that the City Hall has been working on the Laman Budaya (Cultural Site) behind Istana Budaya that inevitably would further boost arts and cultural activities in Kuala Lumpur.

The interest on arts, especially after the Istana Budaya was opened about 10 years ago, has been on the rise with more Malaysians now showing interest in performing arts either as spectators or casts of production companies.

"Due to the recommendation by Information Communication and Culture Minister and the focus on teenagers in schools, there are now new arts enthusiasts who are helping to fill the void," he said.

"Programmes like the staging of historical chapter and the traditional cultural performances are the mainstay of Istana Budaya in creating a society that is aware of their identity and subsequently in creating the city of arts".

He noted that, since the introduction of the tagline Bringing Istana Budaya Closer to the People (Merakyatkan Istana Budaya) the change in public perception can be seen especially from the response towards local or international productions.

A New Development

He said if previously the society focused more on international performances, but now local production companies are ready to invest big amounts in productions.

"For example, Enfiniti Production created a phenomenon after it successfully collected two million for its production, a new development in Malaysia," he said.

He said the Istana Budaya has not only changed the society's view towards performing arts, but also managed to lure the teenagers to the stage.

"The efforts taken by Istana Budaya in presenting performances oriented towards the teenagers by exemplifying their icons can help instill appreciation for performing arts.

"Istana Budaya has special packages for this group with minimum rates in efforts to encourage more people to come and watch the performances at Istana Budaya," he said.

Programmes From Different Genre

Studies show that the move taken by Istana Budaya to sell tickets at schools has brought big impact in bringing students to watch shows in Istana Budaya.

Istana Budaya now has more than 100 schools in its loyal customer list from all over Malaysia who give support to Istana Budaya productions.

He pointed out that the tagline has meet its objectives as Istana Budaya now attracts the various races and age groups to the venue.

"We also want to change the public perception that Istana Budaya is for the elites only," he said.

Apart from the major programmes at Panggung Sari, he said, Istana Budaya also takes the initiative to organise smaller programmes of various genres at the Lambang Sari theater which has a smaller sitting capacity, in attracting the youngsters through contemporary performances like music.

Apart from that, he said, the weekly Laman Santai programme held at Laman Beringin adjacent to Istana Budaya also has been receiving overwhelming response from visitors.

He noted that the efforts taken by Istana Budaya to diversify its programmes to suit the varying taste of its audience have helped the society to love and appreciate local arts and culture.

Nonetheless, he said, the media's role is also important in fulfilling the goal.

The Phase Of Marketing Quality Products

Meanwhile, the dean of the Akademi Seni Budaya and the Warisan Kebangsaan Teater, Rusminah Tahir noted that Istana Budaya now has passed the public introduction phase and the goal now is to market performances of quality to the people.

"From year 2000 to 2009 people became more aware of Istana Budaya, it was the pillar for performing arts and Istana Budaya is capable of emerging as the main platform to create the best arts making KL as the city of arts," she told Bernama, recently.

"But the goal must be supported by other bodies like NGOs and private companies because from the economic viewpoint the performing arts can't survive on their own, we do not have enough funds for this," she said.

She noted that, although the public have stepped into the Istana Budaya to support the performing arts, yet it is still a long way to go.

"Public appreciation for arts have yet to reach the desirable level, normally spectators come to see teater productions just for the cast or due to the alluring title but do not appreciate the art itself," she said.

Meeting KPI

On the various programmes offered by Istana Budaya currently, Rusmina noted that there is nothing wrong with this as long as the quality of the programmes is given priority.

"There has to be quality, we have to set the limits based on quality, and not everything is suitable to be staged at Istana Budaya and there has to be some control to preserve the prestige," she said.

Theater director and producer, Rohaya Atan noted that, if seen from the quantity viewpoint, Istana Budaya's focus is to create cultural awareness on the people and make Kuala Lumpur a successful city of arts.

This is because up to June 2009 the Istana Budaya had successfully attracted 84,119 spectators, with the ticket sales up to June 31, 2009 amounting to RM4,789,173.25.

"There are at least 15 theater productions annually with most of the performances recording full house or 90 per cent capacity and in terms of audience Istana Budaya has met its Key Performance Indicator," she said.

Source: http://www.bernama.com
Photo: http://www.pbase.com/matt2004/image/28890105

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