May 8, 2024
JAKARTA – Writer Rama Aditia Adikara has never allowed himself to be limited by his visually impairment, and believes his condition has instead enabled him to be a “jungle of ideas and imagination”.
“I constantly think about how can I be a guiding light for other people,” said the 43-year-old, whose novels Mata Kedua (Second Eye) and Cukup Gue Aja (It Stops with Me) has earned him a following among the visually impaired community in Indonesia.
He added, “if it weren’t for [myself and other disabled creators], who would educate [the public] about people with disabilities?”
Equally uplifting is Rama’s fellow artist Faisal “Aal” Rusdi, a painter with cerebral palsy who creates dramatic landscapes and still lifes of flowers and plants.
“[Aal] started to dip his brush onto the palette and swept it on a canvas, depicting a scenery with a sunset (or full moon?),” noted blogger Karina Eka Dewi Salim in a profile of the painter.
“I may not [be] an art expert, yet I still feel the artistry in his paintings,” she continued, “which soothes the eye and calms the heart.”
Championing inclusivity
Rama and Aal are featured in “Writing for Inclusion”, an online workshop organized by the British Council in collaboration with Disability Arts Online (DAO), the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) and KamiBijak sign language community.
The workshop made up a part of “Culture Responds to Global Challenges”, one of the programs under the Arts, one of the British Council’s three pillars along with Education and English.
“The program is part of the British Council’s focus on inclusivity in the creative economy,” Summer Xia, the council’s Indonesia country director and Southeast Asia lead, said on March 26 in Jakarta, during the opening of the first ASEAN-United Kingdom Creative Economy Policy Roundtable.
“Some of the best products and services [in Indonesia and Southeast Asia] come from [creative economy actors] with disabilities,” he said.
But the institution noted that challenges remain in British Council: 75 Years in Indonesia, a booklet chronicling its experience in the country since its first office was opened in 1948 in Bandung.
In it, the council cites a 2017 mapping exercise that found “social stigma and infrastructural inequalities [still] surrounding disabled people [as well as the] dominance of non-disabled people as cultural brokers”.
This has not stopped the institution from encouraging “collaboration between Indonesian and UK inclusive and disability arts practitioners” through initiatives like 2018’s Festival Bebas Batas (Unlimited Festival), which was inspired by the UK’s Unlimited Festival.
The same year, British designers Teatum and Jones collaborated with Indonesian studio Sean Sheila to hold a catwalk show featuring disabled models at Jakarta Fashion Week.
“The British Council been championing cultural relations for countries around the world for nearly a century by fostering understanding, connections and trust through education, English language and arts programs,” Xia said at the UK-ASEAN roundtable.
“In addition, we have created opportunities for individuals and institutions in Britain and Indonesia to collaborate on creative solutions on climate change, environmental sustainability, gender equality and other challenges. We also aim to inspire future collaboration, particularly among young people, to be part of the conversation on disability in the arts and creative economy.”
He added that the roundtable aimed to foster collaboration between policymakers and practitioners to make the creative economy more viable, especially in facing challenges such as shifts in the global economy and rising inequality.
Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno agreed.
“The creative economy, such as films, music and games, as well as the education and culinary fields, are vital to the economies of Indonesia and other ASEAN countries,” the minister said at the roundtable.
“This makes the creative economy a leading factor for ASEAN economies today and in the future, particularly as the United Nations has recognized the field [as regards] sustainable development. Indonesia’s creative economy has contributed around eight percent to this country’s GDP and provided over 25 million jobs.”
Sandiaga added that this was in alignment with the government’s medium-term development plan for the creative economy, as well as its goal to achieve net zero emissions by 2030.
Sharing know-how
British Ambassador to ASEAN Sarah Tiffin highlighted the potential for mutual exchange between the creative economies of Britain, Indonesia and other ASEAN member states.
“Britain’s status as a dialogue partner with ASEAN over the past three years, after a 25-year hiatus, enables both sides to deepen their cooperation and exchange their knowledge, and in doing so increase [the creative economy’s] global impact. This is vital, as Britain’s creative economy generated about 108 billion pounds [US$136.48 billion] last year,” she said, adding that the sector had grown 1.5 times over the past decade.
Sandiaga concurred with Tiffin’s observations.
“Great Britain, through the British Council, and Indonesia have already made one notable collaboration, namely through the 2023 Indo Fringe Festival, which was based on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The event has enabled many [Indonesian] movers in the creative economy to show their talent,” he said.
“The festival also highlighted strides in inclusivity in Indonesia’s creative economy, as well as within the Tourism Ministry. Over 50 percent of senior positions in the ministry are held by women, reflecting their role as leaders and decision-makers in the field.”
Meanwhile, Xia highlighted a number of initiatives for potential collaboration, including sending “creative economy movers to Britain to learn creative economy developments. These include festival management”.
He added that research would play a major role in other programs, such as a region-wide perception poll on the creative economy as well as mapping Southeast Asian festivals and the role of technology in the creative economy.
Xia also expressed his hope that the UK and ASEAN countries would collaborate in organizing festivals.
When these initiatives will become a reality is yet to be seen. What is certain, however, is that such eclectic events will be worth looking forward to.
