This blog is generated by my concern and anger toward the management of Asia-Africa Cultural Center at Braga, Bandung. After an incident with rock music, 11 young people died for nothing because of the lack of common sense from the people who ran the event.
I went there about 5 years ago when the place was just renovated. I always have this strong sentiment about heritage building and old landmark and was quite happy at that time when finally, I thought, it would be used for art center. It also seemed perfect with the environment of Braga which is full of nostalgia and very much associated with a refined life style of the '50's. I remembered that a week afterward there was going to be a Chinese New Year celebration and was quite eager to come. Anyway, as I went up to see the management, I saw a seed of problem as they didn't seem to have a clue about anything. When I asked the cost of the rent, some guy told me 'it could range to 4-5 million, but it can be negotiated'. I was discouraged. Ok, the building was fine, but not THAT fine, and compared to CCF Auditorium which provide grand piano, the price was just silly.
In 2006 I went there again in search of a venue for European Camerata's concert, and our team was greeted with a stupid display of arrogance by the manager, who still offered a price of 5 million rups, and told us that 'this is the building with the BEST acoustic.' (Oh, seriously). At that time the interior had changed a lot. It was dark, humid, smelly, and we were all welcomed in a dark corner without sufficient light and dusty tables. My boss immediately changed his mind (anyway, we went afterward to Aula Barat ITB and had a successful concert in May).
Last year a friend of mine, a guy from Algiers who just arrived in Bandung told me that one night he went inside that building when there's a celebration of some kind. He went up to the balcony and saw some kids on stage (apparently band player) talking about something, then in split second, everybody was fighting with each other. The smell of alcohol and cigarette was mixing with the youngsters hitting each other. Disgusted by the view, he went out for some fresh air, not without difficulty. Afterward he asked me, why would the government allowed that kind of event to be held?
So it wasn't supposed to be surprising when I heard the incident involving the death of 11 kids, but still death is really a too-high price to pay. I'm still wondering whether or not to write to newspaper about this or make a plea to the government if they would open up a tender for the management of the building. It would be a dream come true. Bandung is badly in need for a concert hall. We have the good, old, CCF Auditorium, but people always complained about parking. (Now it's worse with the non-reliable AC, but thank God it's going to be renovated). As the capital of a province, there's not really a single art center to support art development in the city.
And sadly, sometime the problem is just bad management. It's a luxury here to find such thing. I just hope there will be enough people at the city council that care enough with this and decide to make a change.
(Imported old blog, originally written on February 22, 2008)
