UNS – Celebrating the 43rd Anniversary, Coordinating Board for Traditional Arts (BKKT) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta held a Talkwhow with Didik Nini Thowok and Winda Dwi Lestari, S.Pd., M.Pd., on Tuesday (7/7/2020). Bringing up the topic on Synergize with Art and Pandemic, the Talkshow can be accessed through live streaming in BKKT UNS YouTube Channel.
Starting the event, for the first time the BKKT March is displayed publicly. The song is the work of BKKT UNS Coach, Drs. BRM Bambang Irawan, M.Si. Afterward, a Sebelas Maret Bedhaya Dance is presented by the UNS students. The dance presentation is delivered uniquely because the dancers use face shields in accordance with the health protocol.
“Happy 43rd anniversary to BKKT UNS. Hopefully, BKKT can be more advanced and developed in preserving traditional arts,” says the Rector of UNS, Prof. Jamal.
The first speaker Didik Nini Thowok, who usually called Didik, is dancers, choreographers, comedians, singers, and teachers, and the second speaker is Winda Dwi Lestari, S.Pd., M.Pd., an art activist, radio announcer, and lecturer in UNS.
Didik as the first speaker, states that during the early pandemic condition, many artists are confused by the format of the performance that can be done. Especially artists who depend their lives on performing arts. Live streaming performance show is one of the trends that are now used by artists. However, there is a challenge in Indonesia as not many people are used to watch paid online performance.
“Government response is quite good especially Kemendikdbud. Especially the Directorate General of Culture. In March, there is a problem and in April they provide the online program for the artists,” reveals Didik.
Didik adds that he has a story from one of his artist colleagues in the Netherland who reported that currently, the country has begun to open live performance shows. However, the viewer for the performance is limited to 30 people. This method will obviously reduce ticket sales.
On the other side, Winda mentions that current performance must be held in accordance with the health protocol. Art performance that usually held for hours, can not be implemented at this time. Therefore, an adaptation is needed to be done by an artist, one of them is actually done by BKKT by performing a dance wearing a face shield.
“We need to remain active, also maintain our existence, and do not surrender to the current condition. We all feel the current conditions, my message for us to remain active, remain productive, remain creative for our existence. We must be confident that we can get through this together with high solidarity among the artists. We need to hold each other,” advised Winda.
In line with Winda’s advice, Didik states that amid the current condition, art performance needs to keep going. Art is a calling, thus in the current situation, fellow artists must work together to find solutions for what the future will be like. Both speaker also suggests participants follow the health protocol, maximizing the time for training and finding the best format for an art performance.
Moreover, on the occasion, BKKT UNS also announces the winner for a competition they held for celebrating its 43rd anniversary. The creative Instagram championship is won by @yodaovrie29 (1st winner), @fajripras_ (2nd winner), and @citrawahyuarsiani (3rd winner), and the video parody competition is won by @aapadong_ (1st winner), @luqmankhaqim1 (2nd winner), and @nahnuanshaa_ (3rd winner). Closing the event, a Nusantara Dance Performance is performed by BKKT members celebrating the 43rd Anniversary, this ‘Tarian Nusantara’ performance is consist of dances from the various regions in Indonesia and is a work of BKKT UNS with an accompaniment of gamelan and modern music, and closed with song performance from the members. Humas UNS
Reporter: Ratri Hapsari
Editor: Dwi Hastuti