APPRECIATING STREET ARTISTS PERFORMANCE
By Aries Musnandar*
As we know, in Indonesia, street musicians (pengamen) are allowed to showcase their arts from door to door to earn money. These street musicians have talent and can sing nicely. They are not bad if we compare them with current famous singers and musicians.
Although we realize that not all street musicians have real talent, we need to create some places for them to practice their artistic interests and skills, which include singing, dancing and the like.
I think we can provide a place for street musicians in the city to allow them to perform their art before the public. At the same time, they will earn money from those who enjoy their performances.
The city will then play host to interesting performances by a number of artists, including street singers, painters, poets, dancers and the like, while audiences will be able to freely choose which performance they want to watch. Of course, audiences will give their pennies to street performers voluntarily.
I see that this happens in the Covent Garden area of London, where street artists perform in unique and interesting ways. I think here in Indonesia, local government can also provide certain places for our street artists to perform, whether in the center or heart of the city, such as the alun-alun kota (town square).
The respective parties should work together to ensure that all barriers to making this happen are able to be solved professionally. We may learn from countries that have already had some success with conducting these kinds of events.
Local government should provide facilities and educate both street artists and the public to be more aware of the need to encourage talented artists by appreciating their performance in the right place.
In this context, I suggest that in their respective territories, local governments identify possibilities for street performances to take place, especially during weekends. Local governments could provide places for free, while audiences could still give pennies to street musicians for their income.
Periodically, local government can also guide and assist street artists to develop their skills to become professional artists. Who knows, from playing in public, talented artists may pay attention to their professionalism?
This will improve the quality of our arts, because every artist wants to enhance his or her abilities. Consequently, the dynamics of arts in Indonesia will be further culturally enriched and appreciated by our people.
Every city that has street singers should open arts markets and ask members of the public to come along and show how we can appreciate the arts while also helping people who are unemployed.
At the same time, we can tactfully build character among our people by encouraging them to interact with others.
Character education, which is becoming a discourse among elites, will not be as important, because by attempting to create proper arts markets, younger generations and the wider public will be experiencing good values through the appreciation of human culture through performances in the arts. This will contribute a lot toward building the nation’s character.
Finally, in doing this, we Indonesians will go back to the root of our culture, which includes a highly rich heritage and traditions, as well as people that are well known as being warm, with good manners.
*) Educator and HRD Consultant
