Addressing Disparity in Eastern Indonesia through Cultural Development

Speakers in a special session entitled “Reducing Disparity by Optimising the Role of Culture in Eastern Indonesia” are taking selfie together. Left to right: Directorate General of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Education and Culture, Hilmar Farid; Musician Glenn Fredly; DNA Expert from Eijkman Institute, Herawati Sudoyo; Founder of Ganara Art and Mari Berbagi Seni, Tita Djumaryo; and Founder and Director of Heka Leka Peduli Pendidikan Maluku, Stanley Ferdinandus.

Jakarta, July 11, 2018 - Java and Sumatera are currently the main contributors to the national GDP. On the other hand, eastern Indonesia is full of resources and cultural diversity, yet today remains underdeveloped. The gap in development in the western and eastern parts of Indonesia can be addressed through cultural development, said the Director General of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Education and Culture, Hilmar Farid. 

“Economic development has to keep running,  but when culture is neglected, it will lead to problems,’ Hilmar explained in the special session of Indonesia Development Forum 2018 entitled ‘Reducing Disparity by Optimising the Role of Culture in Eastern Indonesia, on Wednesday, July 11, 2018. 

Hilmar said that developing connectivity infrastructure is key to addressing development disparity. However, without taking into account the cultural aspect, local community will be hindered from optimally benefiting from development. 

Through cultural development, efforts to overcome disparity in a region will be founded on the local potentials. Hilmar gave Belitung as a case, which started to enjoy significant development after the release of ‘Rainbow Troop’, a famous novel and movie depicting adventures of a group of local kids. The novel and movie managed to attract mass number of tourists to visit the island. 

“The Bupati (District Chief) of Belitung then responded by shifting the district’s main sources of income from the previously non-sustainable mining to new touristic destinations,” Hilmar explained.

Hilmar believed that there are so many other locations across Indonesia which have unexplored attractive cultural potentials equal to those of Belitung. Optimization of local culture is one of the means utilized by the government to implement cultural mainstreaming. 

In eastern Indonesia, cultural development is undertaken by exploring the local arts and cultures. Maluku-descent musician, Glenn Fredly, suggested that the designation of Ambon as a City of Music by the national government might open up new opportunity to develop the region. 

Glen believed that music can function as three tools for development, namely as a cultural platform, educational platform, and economic improvement platform. To achieve this, all policy makers ranging from national government, sub-national government, private sector artists, and local community need to sit together to establish a vibrant arts community in Ambon City. 

Adding to Glenn’s statement, founder of Ganara Art and Mari Berbagi Seni [Let’s Share About Art], Tita Djumaryo, said that art and culture are one of media for education which will definitely contribute to local development. Certainly, all forms of education channeled through art and culture need to take into account the local potentials and conditions. 

“Those children that we (Mari Berbagi Seni Community) teach arts to prove to become more critical, open-minded, and mature in decision making compared to before,” said Tita, still in the same seminar. 

Tita explained that there are four aspects that need to be considered in cultural development. They are, respectively, asset-based community development; enhancement of education quality; empowerment of local potentials; and promotion of inter-stakeholder cooperation. 

Cultural development became one of the most frequently discussed topics in Indonesia Development Forum 2018. The forum promotes more equal and sustainable development acceleration in Indonesia that is based upon science, relevant experiences, and facts. 

IDF 2018 is held under the grand title of “Pathways to Tackle Regional Disparity Across the Archipelago”. The forum is held by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) with the support of the Government of Australia through Knowledge Sector Initiative (KSI).  The results will be used as a reference to develop the Mid-Term Development Plan of 2020-2024.**