CREATIVITY AND INDONESIAN PERFORMING ARTS

Abstract

Indonesian performing arts has become one of the primary disciplines in art schools throughout Indonesia. Even in educational institutions that do not essentially focus on arts as its academic disciplines, the subject of Indonesian performing arts still receives a great deal of study. The scrutiny on the subject have produced countless numbers of papers, theses, dissertations, and even a copious amount of books published by various domestic or foreign researchers alike. As an artistic territory, Indonesian performing arts has left its profound imprint in the history of the country. For generations, mankind has laid their foundation on the Indonesian archipelago (Nusantara) through a multitude of artistic expressions and ritualistic ceremonies—some are intentionally showcased for public, some remain hidden from general knowledge. Within typological perspective, Indonesian performing arts can be assessed through the following criteria: first, its exhibited elements of beauty; second, its social function; and third, whether or not it is a form dramatization (Sedyawati, 2002: 8). These criteria of typology are often left unrealized or neglected altogether. The creativity of Indonesians is limitless, especially when it comes to actualizing their creative expressions through the means of performing arts. It cannot be denied that the field of performing arts is constantly undergoing both evolution and revolution. Community-based art, mainly, is the one thing that keeps on growing deliberately without anyone’s prompting. Similarly, individual art is relentless in representing their self-awareness of individual identity and aesthetic values to the public. To track the basics of Indonesian performing arts down to its core is to unearth the traditions and their artistic elements that construct the arts in the first place. From there, one may arrive at a conclusion about the ever-present human creativity—in this case, in the hands of artists. Art without artists will be no art, and artists without art are mere nobodies. Creation is never an imitation.