Culture is not just about dances or traditions, it also encompasses noble values passed through generations that characterize our nation. The Bill on Advancement of Culture needs to emphasize protection, development, utilization, and empowerment so as to foster a resilient Indonesian culture.

One of the biggest issues that plague Indonesia’s creative sector is the lack of an ecosystem which supports the arts management and development initiatives in a good manner. The Law on Advancement of Culture ensures the government’s support and the widest public participation in order to foster that favorable ecosystem together.

It is hoped that the government and artists’ initiative will not only nurture sympathy, but also enhance Indonesia’s position internationally in pursuit of respect toward the nation. The president has given a mandate to set up an endowment fund for arts and culture, and my responsibility as the Minister of Finance is to realize it.

We will globalize Indonesian culture so that it can receive more attention and develop. We are preparing the Culture Endowment Fund.

The policy is an appreciation for the donors that have reduced the government’s burdens through the donation. It is so unfortunate that the companies which have funded arts and culture activities do not take advantage of this incentive.

It is hoped that the tax incentive can attract more philanthropists so that artists can have more freedom in choosing and working on their ethical artistic vision as well as in expressing their creativity.

The arts play a major role in fostering and maintaining the community’s resilience in the face of crises. It means that supporting arts to survive will in turn help the whole community to survive during the pandemic, reducing the burden of other responsible parties.

The state should actively address the violation of artistic freedom in a fair and thorough manner as well as provide protection for the victims and support their recovery adequately. As a result, the protection of artistic freedom will be improved.

In parallel with advocating for better policy for artistic freedom, the strengthening of public institutions is of the same importance, and it includes the strengthening of the national government, local government, police, and any other law enforcement agencies.

If there were a more systemic approach to the enforcement, the cases would be able to be addressed more comprehensively. In promoting the rights, there have been many regulations which normatively ensure artistic freedom. Nevertheless, the harmonization of laws is still needed. From the institutional perspective, there have been institutions responsible for the tasks, whereas from the cultural perspective, we need to ensure that all law enforcers understand and follow the applicable regulations.

We need to foster a learning environment where we can together support critical thinking, and where we can question hegemony coming out of patriarchy, or even other dominating powers that we thought of as given.

Women and non-binary people pay taxes as well, so there should be protection for them in order to be able to perform arts activities in freedom. However, gender inequality is still a very systemic issue in the arts ecosystem.

Support is needed from the arts community itself. The community has a strong bond, so when fellow community members closest to each member support the discourse, it will be easy to create an arts ecosystem which embraces all genders.