Local and international art advocates are meeting Wednesday at the Eramus Huis Dutch Cultural Center in Kuningan, South Jakarta, to outline strategies they hope will nurture Indonesia’s arts and culture.
Secretary of the Jakarta Arts Council, Abduh Aziz, who spoke at a press conference held Tuesday by the Public Interest Research and Advocacy Center (PIRAC) and Dutch-based international humanist and development network Hivos, said, “The government and public must change their perspectives about art.”
“Art should not only be considered as entertainment, but as the identity of a nation and a way to educate its people,” he added.
PIRAC, the Hivos, the Kelola Foundation and the Jakarta Arts Council have invited artists, art advocates, government officials and the public to find the best ways to channel much needed funding into Indonesia’s arts and culture sector.
PIRAC executive director Hamid Abidin said there were three potential resources for preserving and developing Indonesian arts and culture, which were overlooked in the state budget. He cited government policy, fundraising and income from art products and services as examples.
“The allocation for the art sector in Indonesia is less than 1 percent of the national budget in 2010,” Hamid said, adding that the government could do much more to support
the arts.
“Philanthropy is a potential alternative resource for preserving and developing Indonesian art and culture, but even this gets minimum support from the government,”
he said.
He cited the government’s failure to produce a law that provided tax deductions for individuals, institutions and businesses that donate to the arts.
“A 2008 law only offers tax deductions for companies that give natural disaster assistance, research and development, social infrastructure and sports development donations,” he explained.
Linda Hoemar Abidin of the Kelola Foundation, who has long advocated tax deductions for arts donations said, “This shows that arts and culture are not government priorities. We must optimize philanthropy,” Hamid Abidin said.
According to PIRAC, the value of philanthropic donations in Indonesia has increased significantly in the past few years from Rp 65,000 (US$7) per person per year in 2000 to Rp 375,000 per person per year in 2007, but this has had little impact on the arts.
“Very little goes to the development of Indonesia’s arts and culture.” (rch)
