I Made Bandem - Arts and Culture Management

Arts and Culture Management

As an artist, Bandem also learns and performs the dances and music of other cultures. While Bandem is well known for his creative directing in monumental works in Balinese performing arts, he also masters the Gagaku and Bugaku, the classical Japanese music and dance that he learned from his teacher Matsaro Togi, a national treasure of classical Japanese dance.

Furthermore, Bandem is also a culture engineer. His policy on preservation and development of the traditional Balinese arts and culture is formulated into a strategic development plan termed Sustainable Development with Cultural Orientation. One interesting interpretation of this policy is Continuity in Change, an aspect elaborated and practiced in many occasions including the Bali Arts Festival.

Together with Prof. Dr. Ida Bagus Mantra, the Governor of Bali (1978-1988), Bandem is among the founding fathers and driving force behind the Bali Arts Festival. This annual event has become a mental model for the preservation and development of the Balinese arts and culture as a whole. Currently, The Bali Arts Festival has entered its 27th year

Bandem has been actively involved in outlining the annual theme of the Bali Arts Festival from 1980 to 1997, as well as being executive producer and creative directors of numerous performances for the festival.

The successful impact of the Bali Arts Festival as means for arts and culture development has influenced the province of Yunnan in China to implement such festival. Bandem became the consultant for the festival particularly outlining preservation and development strategies for the arts and culture of minority groups within.

Bandem was also the Artistic Director for many Indonesian performances in numerous World Expos and other International Arts Festival. These include Expo Vancouver (1986), Expo Brisbane (1988), Indonesian Festival in USA (1990, 1991), Expo Sevilla (1992), Hanover Fair (1995) and Indonesia Japan Friendship Festival (1997).

For his role and influence in increasing quality of output and abundance of art masterpieces receiving great reviews in and abroad, Collin's Guide to Bali refers Bandem as the "Bali Art Czar".

In 1997, Bandem also accomplished the establishment of the Museum Gamelan (The Museum for Musical Instruments of Indonesia) within the dynamic compounds of the Indonesian Arts College (STSI, now ISI) Denpasar. The museum itself holds the largest collection of musical ensembles native to Indonesia, where all musical ensembles as well as the hundreds of various musical instruments being displayed are intended to become a medium for arts education. The museum is equipped with an archive centre that holds various forms of recordings, all representing documentation of the arts and culture. Other collections on exhibit include dance costumes, masks, shadow puppets, sculpture and paintings.

His devotion to fine arts is profuse and is advanced through active participation within the fine art scene. Together with his diverse network of arts and culture enthusiasts, Bandem established the first ever Bali Biennale; the biannual visual arts exhibition in 2005.

The holding of both the Pre-Bali Biennale in 5 cities in Java and 9 venues in Bali, as well as the Summit Event Bali Biennale in 9 venues in Bali as well as the Cartoon Pavilion is a reconstruction upon the traditional creative propensities of Balinese visual arts, as creativity is not grouped on the base of its customary aesthetic style, school and movement but is viewed from the perspective of Bali as a geo-culture unity that corresponds to the greater multiculturalism in today’s global society.

Bandem is the current chairman of the Bali Biennale Organizing Committee.

In 1994, UNESCO awarded the International UNESCO Music Council Award to Bandem as recognition upon his wholehearted attention and dedication upon the world of arts and culture as well as the implementation of his concepts.