By Rivaldi Ihsan
A few weeks ago, my writing about ethnomusicology was published in one of the online media. With the theme of management/management of traditional arts in the OMPS music group in Batam City. It crossed my mind for a moment, to the Nan Tumpah Art Community commonly abbreviated as KSNT (Komunitas Seni Nan Tumpah) located in Bumi Kasai Permai Housing Jalan Kalimantan Dalam Blok AA No. 31, Korong Kasai, Nagari Kasang, Batang Anai District, Padang Pariaman Regency, West Sumatra. KSNT is an art community that adheres to a modern art management system focusing mainly on theatre arts, as well as other arts; such as music, dance, literature, and not forgetting art and cultural literacy.
In short, KSNT was established in 2010 by several theatre artists from West Sumatra. One of the artists who initiated the art community, named Mahatma Muhammad with the nickname Mahatma, is a director, playwright, poet, and essayist from West Sumatra. His name is quite familiar and respected among national artists, especially in the field of theatre arts. He holds a bachelor's degree in theatre arts from ISI Yogyakarta and a master's degree from ISI Padangpanjang with an interest in theatre art creation. In this article, I would like to discuss how the principles of modern art management work at KSNT, and what the achievements of KSNT's modern art management are.
Before this article goes further, I would like to talk about the principles of KSNT's modern management. I would like to tell a little story when I participated in observing the rehearsal process, as well as watching live at the Silek Art Festival West Sumatra event. In 2018 at the ISI Padang Panjang arena theatre. The title of KSNT's theatre performance at that time was ‘alam takambang jadi batu’.
When I observed KSNT's rehearsal and performance process. I concluded that KSNT has learnt some of the main principles of modern arts management. This is evident in the nine years of KSNT's existence that it still survives and is sustainable and worthy of being taken into account until now, in the world of theatre performance art in West Sumatra and nationally. The proof is also proven by the fact that many of the younger generation of West Sumatra from high school to university students are interested in joining KSNT.
KSNT's modern management principles include an organisational structure consisting of a director, secretary, production manager and treasurer, documentation manager, and housekeeping manager. The formation of the structure was carried out through an agreement among KSNT members through a large meeting at the end of each year such as handing over positions, discussing work programmes, and evaluating performance within KSNT. In addition, KSNT has also been registered with an official legal entity to support legitimacy from the local government, so that KSNT has official legal protection. As well as facilitating KSNT's journey to get more capital from private and government sponsors. All of this was made possible by the founders of KSNT, who had high integrity in the development of West Sumatra's theatre arts.
KSNT's short-term programmes include Nan Tumpah Akhir Pekan (NTAP), which is held on Saturdays and Sundays and is open to the public, including art and culture discussions, film viewing, and book/art review. Then the Ke Rumah Nan Tumpah (KRNT) programme which is held once every four months involving the local community in the KSNT basecamp area. Activities include traditional Minangkabau art performances such as randai, indang, workshops, and art and cultural literacy. This programme prioritises children, teenagers and adults.
Meanwhile, for long-term programmes such as KSNT's flagship programme is Nan Tumpah Masuk Sekolah (NTMS) which has been held since 2011 involving all West Sumatra high schools. In this work program, KSNT invites the younger generation to appreciate and participate in theatre performances presented by KSNT in open public spaces or in performing arts buildings in West Sumatra. Then there is the Pekan Nan Tumpah (PTN) programme, which is a once-in-two-years, week-long art festival held mid-year at Taman Budaya Sumatera Barat. This festival involves all artists from both performing and visual arts in West Sumatra. The advantage of this festival is that audience management is at the centre of KSNT's attention. The audience is required to buy tickets as a form of appreciation and respect for the artists who have undertaken a long-term training process to produce quality artworks that are performed at the PTN event.
In addition to the work programme, there is one main motto of KSNT that I find very interesting to note, namely ‘Saraso Sasuaro’ which means one sense of community ownership and one voice in running the community. This means that in running an art community, there must be a sense of ownership, togetherness, and in line with the commitments agreed upon by all KSNT members. ‘The goal is none other than to create an atmosphere of solidarity, togetherness and kinship among KSNT members,’ said Mahatma.
The formation of KSNT's modern art management is certainly through the stages of the process of commitment, hard work, consistency, process, and each individual is required to create works of art in turn and so on. Of course, the results of the members' artworks become the benchmark of KSNT's success. Commitment; each member of KSNT has a contract agreement at the beginning of the meeting during membership recruitment. KSNT has a routine rehearsal schedule and performance schedule that must be accounted for by all individual KSNT members. Hard work includes from within each individual must practice deepening the acting, script writing, and artistic stage performances outside the KSNT rehearsal schedule. Consistency is the discipline to be on time during rehearsals and performances. The process/rehearsal is carried out together to complement each other by discussing the focus of interest in each member according to the needs of the KSNT performance. Each KSNT member is also required to create a work of art, which could be in the form of a script, poetry, music, and so on.
From the explanation above, it is clear that there is a difference between traditional arts management and modern arts management. The difference lies in the professionalism of the official organisational structure with a legal entity, permanent membership, the schedule of the rehearsal process has also been determined, and performances have been arranged by the production manager and treasurer. As for traditional arts management, the rehearsal schedule is fixed. However, it can still be flexible at any time to change the schedule according to the agreement of the members, and the owner of the studio/community with those who have an art performance.
The membership/personnel is usually still related to the family, and the membership is also not fixed, it can change from one member to another, it can leave and enter or return according to the needs of the performance. Members can be removed here and there, and the tendency of the sanggar (community) is to look for jobs that focus on ceremonial entertainment only to make money. Usually, those who manage the financial system are still closely related to the art community owner. The profit for the studio owner is greater than for the members. Of course, the emphasis is more on the artistic concept than the idea of the artwork. It also emphasises the principle of family intuition rather than professionalism in art practice.
