Appreciating The Cheapness Of The Establishment Of Taman Ismail Marzuki And There Is No Hotel In It

Gallery Cipta II Taman Ismail Marzuki (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The essence of art and culture cannot be oriented to business calculations. Based on these values, art activists and cultural observers are united in the same voice, namely rejecting the plan to build a five-star hotel as part of the revitalization of Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM).

Imam Ma'arif is one of the art activists in TIM who also rejected the construction of the five-star hotel. There is a clear preamble behind this rejection. The decree of former DKI Governor Ali Sadikin when inaugurating TIM in 1968 mandated the development of TIM as a center for creative arts and entertainment arts. The preamble was held by Teguh Imam and other art activists in the TIM.

According to Imam, the construction of a 5-star hotel by DKI Governor Anies Baswedan contradicts Ali Sadikin's intentions. He sees Anies will put entertainment as a priority. And creative arts, as in many places, will only be complementary. This indication can be seen from Anies' policy of handing over the mandate to manage the PKJ-TIM which has been established for 30 years to PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro).

Imam's concern is justified. Jakpro is a regionally owned company (BUMD) engaged in property and infrastructure. It has nothing to do with creative and artistic life.

TEAM Revitalization (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

And the reason the DKI Provincial Government is building hotels to support the needs of artists, according to Imam, is absurd. Imam is worried that all business activities will dominate PKJ TIM rather than artistic activities.

And a 5-star hotel, it is feared that it will become a big wall that keeps artists away from their own homes. So, the PKJ-TIM muruah should have been returned in accordance with Governor Ali Sadikin's Decree. Whereas PKJ-TIM is a cultural enclave managed independently by artists and PKJ-TIM should not share the burden of DKI Jakarta's regional revenue (PAD).

"You can imagine that the atmosphere and climate of art in PKJ-TIM will be damaged and transform into a pseudo-crowd. The position of PKJ-TIM is no longer the pride of the artists," said Imam in a statement received by VOI, Monday, November 25.

"In essence, the PKJ TIM should not be used as an experiment in governance that risked a generation of art actors. If it fails, then a generation of arts will become extinct and will not be reversed," he added.

Noisy discussion

At first, this rejection was loudly voiced by several art activists at the discussion entitled PKJ-TIM Where Do You Want It to be Taken? which was held at the HB Jassin Documentation Center, TIM, on Wednesday, November 20. The discussion presented the Deputy Governor for Tourism and Culture of DKI Jakarta Dadang Solihin, as well as a number of cultural figures such as Radhar Panca Dahana, Imam Ma'arif, Taufik Ismail, and Abdul Hadi WM.

In the discussion, Dadang explained the reason for building a 5-star hotel as a benchmark for the future face of TIM. He meant that later the TIM would be seen as a center for international art and cultural activities.

In the middle of Dadang's explanation, the artist association TIM, who was present at that time, raised several times against the hotel construction. They feel that there has never been any discussion from the DKI Provincial Government regarding hotel construction to art activists.

Dadang then offered to coordinate with the Jakarta City Government Tourism and Culture Office to restart discussions about hotel construction. Some people there felt unacceptable. "It means that if there is no (discussion), (hotel construction) will continue," exclaimed one person.

The atmosphere is not conducive. The heat peaked when Dadang snapped. "Want it or not, there will be a discussion (of hotel construction)?" exclaimed Dadang.

The atmosphere heated up because the audience did not accept Dadang yelled at. Dadang immediately cooled the atmosphere. "I'm not angry [...] Cook, are you angry?"

Contacted separately, Dadang admitted that the shouting he made was a joke. "It's just a discussion with the artist. It's normal, just cut one sentence, after that we laughed, joked," said Dadang when confirmed by reporters.

"Those who were present refused. In refusing it, they actually asked why they weren't invited to talk first, then why did the management go to Jakpro," he added.

Furthermore, the rejection of the construction of a five-star hotel by art activists aroused reactions from members of the DKI DPRD. The head of the PDIP faction at the DPRD DKI, Gembong Warsono, stated that he would question the priority of building a five-star hotel to the Jakarta City Government Tourism and Culture Office.

If the construction of a five-star hotel is considered to be oriented only to business interests, Gembong will ask the relevant Regional Work Unit (SKPD) to write off the budget for the lodging development.

"When you talk about hotels, it's business. When you talk about business, you forget the cultural roots, the orientation is different. It's no longer preserving culture, but talking about profit and loss," said Gembong when contacted by VOI, Monday, November 25.

Gembong understands that free-spirited art activists will not want to be asked to stay at a five-star hotel, which is certain to have a high price. After all, there are already many inns scattered in the Cikini area.

"Anies' reason to build a 5-star hotel in the TIM revitalization project to facilitate artists is only a camouflage to cover up from the public that there is a business orientation there," said Gembong.

For your information, the TIM revitalization project began in July 2019. The total budget needed is IDR 1.8 trillion. The DKI Provincial Government has pocketed a budget sourced from the 2019 APBD of IDR 200 billion. The remainder will be submitted in the 2020 and 2021 draft budgets.

Revitalization phase 1 includes the building of the Amir Hamzah Mosque located in the Plaza Graha area. Meanwhile, for the Bhakti Budaya area, the Park Parking Building and Damkar Post have been carried out from July to December 2019.

The next stage, the revitalization includes the Library Building and Wisma TIM including a 5-star hotel (July 2019-December 2020) in the area of the former DPP 66 ARH office to the canteen. This revitalization project is planned to be completed in mid-2021.