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Strategic thinking is key for artists: Garin Nugroho
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Garin Nugroho in the Kompas newsroom in January. (Kompas.com/Dino Oktaviano)
F
ilmmaker and director Garin Nugroho has highlighted the importance of artists’ individual strategies to survive amid a lack of government support for cultural activities.
“Every artist must develop their own management that is in line with their own ideals. The most important thing is to always create something new, grow and in the end share the experience with other artists,” Garin said to tempo.co at Ruang Kreatif: Bincang Seni Pertunjukan Indonesia (Creative Space: Performing Arts Talkshow) at Bentara Budaya Bali, Tuesday.
(Read also: Garin Nugroho bringing politics to focus)
Garin, who has been working in the creative industry for 35 years, stressed how tactical artists must be when it comes to project funding. “Every artist has to map out their surroundings,” he said, “Personally, I am used to designing two-year long programs worth Rp 20 billion, however I am also well-versed in creating activities that only rely on social capital and not monetary capital.”
He contrasted Indonesia with European countries, where governments subsidize cultural activities because they are more highly valued. Because of this, local artists must have the skills to seek out various sources of funding, he added, including funding from international foundations, corporate social responsibility programs and individual patrons of the arts.
Garin said he could always find ways to bring his idealist projects to fruition alongside his commercial projects. “I did a popular film, which had a 30-day production schedule. However, with the approval of the investor, I finished it in only 20 days,” he said, “I used the equipment and remaining 10 days to do a personal project that was more idealistic.” (asw)
