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ndonesia is a place where art and culture are central to people's life, says Philip Bither, the American curator of the Minneapolis-based Walker Art Center when recently visiting the archipelago.

Bither belonged to a group of 10 US influential performing art presenters who just concluded a nine-day tour across Indonesia on Sunday in Bali, opening up an opportunity for future cooperation between artists and performers of both countries.

Yes, the riches of Asia have not only captivated the attention of business-oriented communities, but also the minds of art professionals around the world, especially from the US.

"What we've aimed to do is shift our focus strictly from European and North American artwork to be more aware about contemporary ideas in other parts of the world," said Bither who oversees music and theater programming at the Walker.

Jointly organized by the New York-based Asia Society, the Boston-based New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) and the Jakarta-based Kelola Foundation, the program took the American art presenters to Jakarta, Surakarta in Central Java, Yogyakarta and Bali.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to understand Indonesian arts and culture at a deeper level," Rachel Cooper, Asia Society's director of cultural programs and performing arts, told The Jakarta Post on the sidelines of the group's two-day visit in Yogyakarta, last week.

She said the program was inline with the Asia Society's mission of increasing people's understanding of Asia, in this case Indonesia, and deepening the relationship between American and Indonesian people in particular and among other people from Asia.

"We have been involved in cultural exchange programs for more than 50 years. In particular with Indonesia, we have taken artists to the US for more than 30 years," Cooper said, also recipient of the Isadora Duncan award for the Festival of Indonesia, known as the KIAS festival, she helped organize in the late 1980s in the US.

"We consider this an important time for re-establishing relationships at the time of the new administration of President Barack Obama, who has shown interest in increasing compassion," she added.

Cooper also expressed hope that concrete projects involving artists and performers from both countries could develop in the future from the visit.

"We're really committed to ensure an equal partnership. We work closely with Kelola," she said.

Participants of last week's visit comprised of directors, curators, program managers and producers representing noted and influential art centers, museums, theaters and management institutions across the US.

"We helped organize the visit by presenting 40 performing art works, both traditional and mostly contemporary, of Indonesian artists and performers in the four cities for touring," Kelola Foundation's director Amna S. Kusumo said in Yogyakarta last week.

While in Jakarta, for example, the American art presenters were exposed to the Cirebon traditional mask dance by Wangi Indriya of Indramayu (West Java), traditional martial arts pencak silat performance by Nan Jombang group of Padangpanjang and Sardono's collaborative showcase of performance and painting.

While in Surakarta, they watched royal dances of the Mangkunegaran Palace including the Bedaya Dirodometo, Topeng Panji and Gambyong Retno Kusumo performances.

Opportunities to meet young choreographers, artists and experienced figures in the fields of art and culture like Rahayu Supanggah (music), Mugiyono (dance) and Eko Supriyanto (dance), were abound.

In Yogyakarta, the group met with people working in the art world and visited some influential contemporary art centers and workshops in the city including the Cemeti Art House, the Kedai Kebun Forum and the Didik Ninik Thowok studio as well as a classical Javanese dance school.

They were also exposed to a number of contemporary works including that of noted choreographer-cum-dancer Miroto's masterpiece dance Penumbra, Fitri Setyaningsih's dance performance, experimental music performances by Djaduk Ferianto's Kua Etnika and the Jogja Hip Hop Foundation, collaborative contemporary shadow puppet show performance Wayang Bocor Project by trio Catur Kuncoro-Eko Nugroho-Yennu Ariendra and a theater performance by Teater Garasi.

In Bali, similarly, the group was exposed to a number of performances including mask dance and music, and was given the opportunity to meet and talk with important figures in the arts and culture industry.

"I will come with open ears and eyes to receive some orientation to the Indonesian works of arts. It's more a learning and absorbing opportunity for me," artistic director and producer of The Public Theatre's Under the Radar Festival, Mark Russell, said.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' (YBCA) executive director Kenneth J. Foster expressed the same, saying that the visit was interesting to his organization partly because it gave an opportunity to learn more about Indonesia and Indonesian contemporary arts in a way that could not be done from the US.

"It's a great opportunity for me as the director of the organization to come here to meet with people, talk to artists and learn more about Indonesian culture," he said.

He said the visit was a powerful way to help build an information path between people of the two countries especially because people in the US do not know much about Indonesia.

Foster added that the program the YBCA was interested in was providing pictures of culture.

As such, he said, it was not just interested in finding great artists and taking them to San Francisco, but as well have the community understand various cultures.

"It's moving to see traditional works of arts presented to us but it's also interesting watching contemporary ones performed by much younger artists. I think some works will be relevant to the American audience," curator Philip Bither of the Minneapolis-based Walker Art Center said.

"This is an opportunity to understand the world much more. Having a chance to get here gives us an opportunity to witness some innovative works in the field of contemporary performing arts from Indonesia," Bither added.

The Walker Art Center, he went on, was dedicated to exploring new ideas in contemporary arts in the discipline of visual arts, performing arts, films and media.

Part of the efforts to realize that, he said, was for curators to go to major festivals and biennials to observe artwork and travel to countries to meet artists, producers, curators and people, talk to them and build relationships that would result in shared project exchanges and presentations of international artists.

"There's a fascinating, important, global awareness occurring over the world that needs to get to America," he said.

Bither said the trip to Indonesia, a first for him, was an incredible opportunity to learn more about Indonesia and the works of Indonesian contemporary dancers, theater artists and musicians.