The Innovation and Challenge of Art and Culture to Strengthen the Local Government in Ternate Island as the part of Nawacita Program

Abstraksi

Ternate is one of the Moluccas islands located in the Eastern Indonesia, an area surrounded by several small islands which is located on the shoreline that has richly natural resources and various ethnics. Preserving of natural resources and the cultural segment is one of the vision and mission of NawaCita program. The richness of natural resources should be balanced with the skilled human resources. In some cases, the incapable human resources triggered a risky and vulnerable horizontal conflict. During 1999 and the span of 2005-2006 that the issue of SARA has heated up. To diminish the incident afterwards the local artist brought a strategy with the discourse of art exhibition entitled "Bicara Bahasaku" and "Bayang Kita Satu". This paper is a preliminary research which is done by qualitatively and presented descriptively. It focuses on Cultural Studies by using a cultural approach that emphasizes on the theory of Symbolic Creativity by Paul Willis. In this theory, Willis argued that everyday life, everyday activity and expression on their potential cultural significance—even it is sometimes invisible, looked down on or spurned. The existence, reproduction and appreciation of the art depends on institutions, from individual art galleries, museums, theaters, including the role of local government. Though it was subordinated and often marginalized, the group of artist named “Rumah Sabua” still continuing such innovation as the strategy to preserve the local culture.