Indonesia-Arts+and+Education

= Indonesia =



History
Indonesia is a vast cluster of islands numbering over 17,000 in total. The first known human inhabitants of Indonesia are believed to the ancestors of the present day Papuans about 60,000 years ago who stopped here and eventually made their way to New Guinea and Australia. In about the 4th century B.C. they were followed by the ancestors of the modern day Malays, Javanese and other Malayo-Polynesian groups who now make up the majority of the Indonesian population. Trade with India, China, and other Southeast Asian countries brought new religions and culture to the Islands. Indian Muslim traders began spreading Islam throughout Indonesia by the 8th and 9th centuries. The vast amount and array of spices on the islands brought Portuguese traders to the trading port of Malacca in 1511. The Dutch gained control of the islands and the Dutch East India Company monopolized the Indonesian spice trade, lasting into the 18th century. After 3 centuries of colonial rule, in 1945 the Republic of Indonesia gained its freedom after a 4 year guerrilla ware led against the Dutch by Indonesian nationalists. Today Indonesia is a developing country, home to the the world’s 4th largest population and largest Islamic community. The country is incredibly diverse having over 580 languages and dialects, but only 13 have more than one million speakers. The country’s government is unstable, as militant Islamic groups and separatists threaten the state of the government. Struggles continue between Islamic and Christian and Hindu groups.

Arts Education & Culture
Arts education in Indonesia is at odds with its culture. While Indonesia itself is a bastion of culture and diversity, Indonesian schools are very limited in their arts schooling. Elementary students are taught by general teachers, who teach all general subjects including language, mathematics and art. Only in high school are art specialists brought into the picture. Each school generally has one art teacher who is disciplined in one particular field. Studentsalmost always art from the Western point of view, meaning what these students are taught has little to do with what they experience on a daily basis. The correlation is slight. At the higher levels of education you see more of a push for art. By the time people reach this level of education, the feeling of urgency to educate in general academic fields is lessened, as students already have foundational knowledge and so here is where arts education seems more affordable. Art is seen more as a privilege than a necessity, saved for those who are competent and privileged enough to make it to the university level.

The Indonesian culture is a mix of many indigenous cultures and outside influences. Indonesia was a central stop along the ancient trade routes between the Far and Middle East so many different religions can be seen there. Among them are Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Confucianism, and Hinduism. Western culture has greatly influenced modern Indonesian entertainment and political views. Many indigenous groups, cut off almost entirely from the outside world, still practice their own unique traditions. The diversity of culture can be seen all throughout Indonesian art forms. Melanesian forms are visible in the dance, Austronesian in the paintings, and a large Indian influence throughout the architecture, among many other influences.

**Famous Artist:**

Raden Saleh
Raden Saleh, one of Indonesia’s most famous painters, was born in Indonesia in 1811. He was born into nobility, which allowing privelige to many things, sponsored by the Dutch government. From a young age, Saleh showed artistic talent. In 1829 Saleh won a scholarship from the Dutch government and was sent to live in The Hague. He lived in Holland until 1839, when he was sent by the Dutch government on a 6 month study trip through Europe. He would finally end up in Dresden. Raden Saleh became famous for his exotic painting style, and particularly his depictions of wild animal hunts and battles and his work was highly sought after. In 1851 he returned to Indonesia as the first European trained artist. He would return to Germany for a short time from 1876 to 1878, to find that his works were no longer in such high demand. He returned to Indonesia where he would die in 1880.

"Javanese Landscape, with Tigers Listening to the Sound of a Travelling Group" Raden Saleh

"A Flood on Java" Raden Saleh

**Arts Organizations:** **Kelola**

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Kelola is a national non-profit organization founded in 1999 that supports the arts communities in Indonesia. Kelola helps to provide these communities with funding and learning opportunities through support from corporations, organizations and individuals. The organization offers training in “Cultural Organization Management, Festivals Management, Theatre Management, Business Partnership Management, Lighting Design, as well as opportunities to learn from other organizations through a 3-months internships within Indonesia, Magang Nusantara, and advanced residency opportunities in the US and Australia, the International Residency program.” The company also offers grants for artists working in the fields of music, dance and theatre.======

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The Kelola Arts Grants program, started in 2001, offers competitive funding to Indonesian artists who create exceptional work. The program funds the artists to tour performances outside of their area and helps to get the artists work out to the public. Since its creation, the program has sponsored over 1,500 artist and art groups throughout Indonesia. By funding artists and groups to tour and view other art while showcasing their own the program hopes to “enable communication between different artistic communities, and therefore strengthens the arts community in Indonesia.”======

Indonesian Institute of the Arts
The Indonesian Institute of the Arts was the first Institute of the Arts in the country founded in 1984. It is located in the Javanese county of Yogyakarta. Java is home to the capital of Indonesia, the city of Jakarta. The location is optimal, as Yogyakarta is the center of Javanese art and is called “The city of Art.” The creation of the Indonesian Institute of the Arts was a merger of 3 arts academies: Academy of Arts, Academy of Dance, and the Academy of Music. The three were merged in an effort to “further step-up the quality of art teaching” in accordance with modern educational trends. The Institute offers 3 faculties: Performing Arts Faculty, Visual Arts Faculty, and Multi Media Arts Faculty. The Arts Faculty consists of the Departments of: Dance, Karawitan Music, Ethnomusicology, Puppetry, Music, and Theater. The Visual Arts Departments are the Department of Fine Arts, Department of Crafts and the Department of Design. The Multi Media Faculty consists of Photography and Television Departments. The Institute has about 2500 students, with an average of 25 foreign students a year. The university staff and students are “involved in counseling the community to meet the need of skill improvement from particular art-groups. These activities, worth millions of rupiahs yearly, are coordinated through the research and community service institutions.” Combined efforts with foreign culture agencies have succeeded in throwing exhibitions, concerts, workshops, and other activities within local schools and the community.

Teacher Training
54 percent of Indonesian teachers are underqualified. 31 percent are qualified but not certified; and 15 percent are qualified and certified. Indonesian schools are in dire need of more qualified teachers at the moment. Indonesia does however, have the fourth largest education system in the world with 2.8 million teachers 48 million students and 227,000 students. To improve the level of education in the country, teachers are often sent to other countries such as nearly New Zealand and Australia and even sometimes as far away as the United States. Prior to 2005 teachers did not receive a teaching certificate but they are required to take a competency assessment in order to receive certification. As of now, 82,000 teachers have the certificate. Teachers are taught to encourage students to answer questions and to be interactive with students and teachers must now teach more globally, as more emphasis is being put on international relations in Indonesia. However right now teachers are trained to teach general education and only specially qualified teachers generally teach the arts. Some efforts have been made to acquire more certified arts teachers such as the plans made by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Jakarta, Indonesia. Recruitment for arts teachers in Jakarta is now carried out by Diploma Programmes for teachers at Art Institutes. At higher levels of education, art programmes for undergraduates, graduates, and postgraduates have been called for by the Indonesian government.

Funding
Funding for arts education in Indonesia is small but growing. At the university level, especially the government seeks to incorporate arts learning so that students have basic competencies and knowledge in aesthetics history and creation. Most arts funding is done by organizations wishing to further the artistic development and education of the Indonesian people.

Conclusion
The Indonesian educational system is in serious need of improvement in educational quality. With so few qualified teachers it is no surprise that arts education probably suffers the most. This is similar to the situation that we are seeing here in the United States; the shortage of teachers and the lack of arts in the general teachings. I can say personally that this seems to be the case as I have never had to take a required art class. I did however have more opportunity throughout my schooling for artistic expression and development than most Indonesian students get. I did have elective art class choices and these were taken by choice. Indonesia is a developing country in a rush to catch up, and as such, the country is modeling its education after the Western style; a general language and mathematics curriculum and education in Western art, when offered. This is not totally surprising, as the country is developing and it is common practice for less developed countries to somewhat mimic their more developed counterparts, but Indonesian culture is so rich and diverse that one would think that art education would be naturally a part of Indonesian educational system. From seeing the culture first hand I can say that that it is an absolute shame that the country is not embracing its astonishingly beautiful and eclectic artistic culture as a part of its educational system.