Presse: The Jakarta Post (anglais)

By J-Philippe

15 June 2006

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The Jakarta Post, June 15, 2006

Art school opens opportunity to fresh talent.

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Gianyar


Johan Wahyudi was pre­viously an eco­no­mics stu­dent at a pres­ti­gious uni­ver­sity in Yogyakarta. His parents wanted him to take the helm of their lucra­tive busi­ness some­day.
One day, he spent his school holi­days on Bali roa­ming every corner of the art vil­lage of Ubud. Johan was deligh­ted to see young arti­sans pro­duce qua­lity car­ving, pain­ting, sculp­ture and a vast array of han­di­craft items. The vil­lage atmos­phere tou­ched the very heart of this young stu­dent.

There was no denying the dilemma bet­ween wan­ting to be a smart busi­ness­man with bright future or opting for a less "money-orien­ted" pro­fes­sion as an artist. Back home in Yogyakarta, Johan could no longer resist the urge to nur­ture his hidden flair for art.

"At first, my parents rejec­ted my idea of lea­ving uni­ver­sity ’for the sake of art.’ But, finally they reco­gni­zed that it was not a proper place for me," Johan said. His parents even helped him find sui­ta­ble art ins­ti­tu­tes both in Yogyakarta and Bali.
Early this year, Johan ente­red the Sasana Hasta Karya art school in the middle of green rice fields in Gianyar regency, some 45 kilo­me­ters nor­theast of Bali’s pro­vin­cial capi­tal, Denpasar. "I feel happy to be here with other stu­dents from across the coun­try."

Johan, toge­ther with eight stu­dents from Bali, Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java and West Timor, is now enrol­led at the school.

"We focus more on pro­vi­ding stu­dents with prac­ti­cal expe­rience," explai­ned French-born J-Philippe , head of the school, while wor­king in his fur­ni­ture work­shop.
Developed by Catholic Priest Maurice Le Couture in l982, Sasana Hasta Karya was pre­viously aimed at pro­vi­ding class­rooms for talen­ted and needy young people wan­ting to learn more about car­ving.
The school was funded by and was under the aus­pi­ces of the Denpasar dio­cese. "But, we accept stu­dents from all reli­gions, cultu­res and social back­grounds."

Jean-Philippe, a gra­duate of the pres­ti­gious art school Ecole Boulle in Paris, joined the school as a volun­teer 15 years ago. "I fell in love with the school and asked my orga­ni­za­tion (Paris-based National Service Volunteers) to extend my pos­ting."

He is now chair­man of the school. Together with four Indonesian tea­chers and ano­ther volun­teer, Nicolas Blocquaux, sent by a French Catholic asso­cia­tion, J-Philippe showed rare com­mit­ment to the edu­ca­tion of local art stu­dents.

"We charge stu­dents very low tui­tion fees. Some are sent by chur­ches or other social orga­ni­za­tions," he said.

In the first year, each stu­dent has to pay Rp 50,000 (about US$5.50) in regis­tra­tion fees, plus Rp 75,000 for board and Rp 150,000 per month for school tui­tion.
In the second year, stu­dents have to choose a major pro­gram and pay Rp 250,000 for regis­tra­tion; Rp 75,000 for board and Rp 300,000 per month in school fees.

Rosyianus was sent by East Kalimantan Diocese.

"I want to learn more about car­ving and will start an art work­shop when I finish my stu­dies here," Rosyianus said.

The school offers four types of pro­gram -pain­ting, car­ving, fur­ni­ture and machi­nery. Each takes four years to com­plete.

The first year of the pro­gram is gene­ral tui­tion com­pri­sing art theory and prac­tice, as well as a gene­ral school cur­ri­cu­lum such as Indonesian and English lan­guage les­sons, civic stu­dies and reli­gion.

"There is a split of 30 per­cent on theory and 70 per­cent prac­ti­cal trai­ning," J-Philippe com­men­ted.

The school is open to junior high school gra­dua­tes.

"We accep­ted an ele­men­tary school dro­pout who was very skill­ful and talen­ted. We must be flexi­ble enough to pick the right stu­dents for the school and we defi­ni­tely need spon­sors to finance bright stu­dents like them."

Donations often come from chur­ches in Europe or elsew­here. "They mostly pro­vide funds to buy expen­sive machi­nery, elec­tric gene­ra­tors and other neces­sary equip­ment needed by stu­dents."

With such low tui­tion fees, the school has to work hard to raise more money to finance its ope­ra­ting costs. The school has opened a dis­play room exhi­bi­ting and sel­ling the work of both stu­dents and tea­chers.

A dining set, sty­lish wooden chairs, masks, sculp­tu­res, wooden boxes and a lot of pain­tings can be seen.

"We receive many guests and dona­tions from abroad but only a few Indonesians know of our school," he said. Sales of the pro­ducts are badly needed to pay tea­chers’ sala­ries and to run the school pro­perly.

This month, the school is regis­te­ring new stu­dents. "We are here not only to impart art know­ledge but more impor­tantly to shape their per­so­nal atti­tu­des, mental and phy­si­cal endu­rance, patience and per­sis­tence."

To do so, all stu­dents are requi­red to stay at the school’s modest lod­gings, living with friends from diverse back­grounds. In their spare time, they can grow vege­ta­bles, rice and raise cattle.

"The school aims to nur­ture tough, well-roun­ded artists rather than pro­duce ’ins­tant’ ones," said Jean-Philippe.



Sasana Hasta Karya School is at Jl. Mulawarman 92A, Gianyar 80515, Bali. For fur­ther infor­ma­tion, contact Jean-Philippe Haure, E. Herry Patrianto or Nicolas Blocquaux on tel/fax: (0361) 944422 or e-mail: alor­sin­do@­tel­kom.net

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