Indonesia: A contemporary cultural identity?

Fauzi Bowo, the governor of Jakarta, hoped that Indonesia’s 10th international dance festival, which opened on Monday, would brand “Kota Jakarta [Jakarta City] as a cultural city and main tourism destination in Indonesia”, whilst closely aligned the festival to Jakarta’s 483rd anniversary celebrations.

Contemporary feel: Muslimin B. Pranowo — a contemporary group from Indonesia, performs The Young, with two dancers. Courtesy of the Indonesian Dance Festival

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Digital Door for Art

For struggling artists in Indonesia, a Web site based halfway across the world is helping them get noticed. Deviantart.com in Los Angeles has become the outlet of choice for up-and-comers who otherwise have a slim chance of getting into galleries dominated by more senior artists.

DA, as it more commonly referred to, dubs itself as “the world’s largest online community of artists and art lovers.” The site is said to have more than 13 million members who have posted more than 100 million

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‘Tan Matepi’, a dialogue with wood

An ongoing exhibition at Ubud’s Puri Lukisan Museum shows that traditional Balinese wood sculpture is still alive, and most importantly, retains its energy to mesmerize even the most seasoned of art connoisseurs.

 Following the demise of Lempad, Cokot, Tilem, Njana, Ayun and the other great sculptors of the 1940s and 1950s, traditional Balinese wood sculpture gradually faded into obscurity.

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Spiritual Tourism in Sidoarjo

Sidoarjo regency is more likely to evoke painful thoughts of thousands of Lapindo mudflow victims still left in limbo rather than instill a desire to take a leisurely stroll around the area.

But aside from attracting attention as a prime location for natural disasters and man-made catastrophes, Sidoarjo has also become an increasingly popular destination for spiritual tourism.

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Aiming high for the Island of the Gods

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has an elusive dream — developing Bali as one of the world’s art and cultural center.

“If the international community has an annual World Economic Forum, it should also create an annual World Cultural Forum here in Bali,” Yudhoyono said during the opening of the annual Bali Arts Festival last weekend.

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