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Nirwan Dewanto, the director of the upcoming Festival Salihara, one of Indonesia’s largest and most diverse performing arts festivals, was in a contemplative mood. “A festival must be more than just an anthology,” said Nirwan, speaking about the four-week celebration that gets underway at the Salihara cultural center in South Jakarta on Thursday.

“Festival Salihara can be seen as the creme de la creme of our curators’ choices,” Nirwan said. “The cornucopia of presentations and performances [underlines] our vision to preserve diversity and experimentation.”

Starting this year, Festival Salihara will be held every other year in South Jakarta. The event will take turns with the Literary Biennale — a festival featuring readings and workshops with various authors — which is also organized by the cultural center.

Organizers say they’ve chosen to stagger the events like this to give them ample time to book good guests and guarantee high-quality performances.

One look at the festival’s program rundown and it’s clear that the drive to book talented, diverse local and international artists is taken very seriously by the organizers.

Indonesian indie band Bonita and the hus Band will take the stage on Thursday to kick off the festival.

“Salihara is one of the hippest community spaces for art and culture in Jakarta right now,” band member Bonita said.

“And since as a singer I am working in that field, of course I am very happy and delighted when I was asked to become the opening act for the festival [together with my band].”

The first night of the festival will also see the opening of an exhibition by Joko Avianto and Hedi Haryanto, two Indonesian sculptors who have collaborated to create an installation artwork constructed out of bamboo.

Completing the opening night festivities will be a dance performance choreographed by Wiwik Sipala, who has redefined Pakarena, a traditional dance from Makassar that dates back to the 14th century.

And that’s just for starters. There are so many highlights at this year’s festival, one might actually have trouble picking out favorites.

Theater enthusiasts might opt to take in the performance of “Hamlet the Clown Prince” by Indian theater troupe Cinematograph from Mumbai (Sept. 27 to 28), or go local with plays by Teater Kubur from Jakarta and the renowned Teater Garasi from Yogyakarta.

Festival director Nirwan is especially proud of the fact that Salihara has lined up both emerging talents and well-established artists from the performing arts scene.

“The Chunky Move dance company [from Melbourne], and pianist Margaret Leng Tan, for instance, are names with sterling reputations [worldwide],” he said.

“Then there are performers such as the guitarist duo Twin Demon and the Tresno Budoyo dance company, who are relatively new to us, but whose unique works are more than deserving to receive a wider reception.”

Among the big names from the local scene are composer Tony Prabowo and poet and essayist Goenawan Mohamad, who have joined forces again to create an opera performance together.

While Tony contributed the music, Goenawan delivered the libretto. The resulting “Tan Malaka” tells the story of the Indonesian activist and communist leader who was killed in 1949.

Even though Festival Salihara is a colorful celebration of the performing arts, there will also be a number of in-depth workshops and lectures organized by leaders in the art community.

“Clearly, such a network of communities will not only enrich the festival, but, more importantly, expand the sphere of the discerning public in our city,” Nirwan said.

Book discussions, batik workshops and a lecture series about the history of Indonesian architecture will be among the participatory events.

“We have also invited Anwar Ibrahim, [the opposition leader of Malaysia] to give a lecture on ‘freedom and its enemies,’ ” Nirwan said. “We believe that he, due to his experiences, can provide critical reflection upon this topic.”

Salihara has become a vibrant cultural center since its opening in 2008, and over the course of only two years has established a loyal audience and an enviable reputation for putting on high-quality events.

Nirwan sees this year’s festival also as a great opportunity to further strengthen the bond with the local audience.

“We always strive to grow together with our audience,” Nirwan said. “Komunitas Salihara has grown into what it is today because of our audience’s kind willingness to support us, to sustain and enliven our variety of programs.

“Festival Salihara is also a way for us to thank [them] all.”


Festival Salihara 2010 is on from Sept. 23 to Oct. 20 at  Jl. Salihara No. 16 Pasar Minggu South Jakarta.
Tel. 021 789 1202 
For the full program, visit  www.salihara.org