The pandemic has impacted greatly on many artists and creative talents in Indonesia. Arts and culture industry is listed as one of the most vulnerable sectors as the pandemic led to economic shocks. According to Koalisi Seni, there were approx. 135 art performances and events, including film productions, concerts, art galleries, theatre performances, etc - have been canceled or postponed in the period of January-April 2020. In addition, the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) also noted that as many as 40,081 artists experienced a crisis. This led to the surge of unemployment rate because many artists rely much on live performances as their primary source of income.
This is a serious problem as the creative economy ecosystem is an essential sector. In 2019 only, the creative economy in the country contributed Rp 1,211 T to the national GDP. As the crisis arose, the government of Indonesia then started to provide a social safety net for the marginalized groups, including the creators and artists. Under the Pemulihan Ekonomi Nasional (PEN) and Bangga Buatan Indonesia programme, the government provides a stimulus fund for the artists and creators in the industry who are mostly circled in the SMEs business. We also noted that SMEs business in Indonesia is the backbone of the national economy, contributing to more than 60% of the national GDP.
Despite all of these hardships, an unexpected new research finding shows that 61,6% of respondents claimed that working in a new environment during a pandemic makes them even more creative! This is unanticipated news, yet a really good one!
Embrace Digital to Adapt the Crisis
Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalization in many sectors, including the creative and cultural industry. Many live performances, starting from music concerts, live comedy shows, and art performances are now shifted to digital platforms. Therefore, the Education and Culture Ministry is preparing policies to regulate art and creative performances on digital platforms.
Last year, a modern and contemporary art museum, Museum Macan, launched “Museum from Home” where the public can explore well-curated arts virtually, join into various virtual workshops, listen to exclusive podcasts, and experience the museum through a virtual tour.
Galeri Indonesia Kaya canceled almost every live show but kept innovating with the online performance in their official social media. Recently, they presented #MusikalDiRumahAja as a response to the lockdown policy. We spoke to Garin Nugroho, executive producer of GIK about one of their musical series, “Nurbaya” and he admitted that technology and digital channel offering an alternative solution in adapting to the crisis. “JakartaMoveIn'' and “Askara Production” have also shifted from offline performances to online performances! You can see their performance on Youtube and Netflix! XOXO
Making arts collaboratively
Strong community support is one of the factors that keeps the creative ecosystem survive. Noni Respati, an Indonesian fashion designer also shared her opinion on “When Art & Fashion Collide: Local Context In Fashion Collaboration.” Talk Show last year, that with the collaborations, artists from various sectors can double the impact and expand the market audiences. In relation to this, Minister of Information and Communication Johnny G. Platte also added that the crossed sector collaboration would help in accelerated the digitize progress, especially for the SMEs.
We are proud to see that Indonesian artists connected each other to bring a more diverse and wide range artworks to us to enjoy. Recently, Badan Ekonomi Kreatif (Ekraf) held a virtual gallery to introduce the collaboration of creative sectors to a crypto-based market named “Jakarta METAVERSE”. The event gathered creators and artists to innovate and adapt the artworks in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFT).
Indonesian graffiti artist Adi Dharma aka Stereoflow collaborated with Singaporean artist, Zulkarnaen Othman Zero on a virtual mural project called Under The Same Sun. This collaboration was formed to give optimism for the travel and tourism sectors that were greatly impacted in both countries due to pandemics. The theme was chosen with the philosophy that we are going through the same situation in this crisis, that although we’re apart and can’t go out for travel but we’re all in this together - under the same sun. The graffiti were exhibited in M Blok Space, Jakarta and Bali Lane, Kampoeng Gelam, Singapore.
The spirit of togetherness in these hard times is what makes our creative brain continue to spark bright! Let’s support one another and keep creating new innovations, shall we? #CreatorSupportCreator!
Executive Content Writer:
Radia Luthfina N
Co-Writer & Content Editor:
Sesa (Kolaku.co)
Creative Team:
Jasmine Surkatty, Art Director
Kharen Chandra, Illustrator
Comments