Jakarta, January 22, 2025 – The Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency recognizes music as one of the 17 subsectors that require support. In line with this commitment, Deputy Minister of Creative Economy/Vice Head of the Creative Economy Agency, Irene Umar, attended a meeting with the Indonesian Jazz Forum, a platform for jazz music festival founders.
Held at the Sapta Pesona Building, Central Jakarta (22/1/2025), Irene, accompanied by the Deputy for Media Creativity, Agustini Rahayu, listened to the stories of jazz enthusiasts who strive to sustain and remain committed to preserving jazz music festivals despite the challenges.
At the start of the discussion, Deputy Minister Irene emphasized that the Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency is dedicated to working together with all 17 creative economy subsectors to foster sustainable growth. She even described Kemenkraf/Barekraf and its subsectors as creative economy warriors.
"I want to understand the commitment of each jazz festival and its musicians so that we know how we can help and match them with other subsector programs," said Irene.
Supporting Irene’s statement, Deputy for Media Creativity, Agustini Rahayu, highlighted the strong link between creative economy initiatives and music, presenting opportunities for jazz to play a role in creative economy marketing programs.
"Many of our creative economy marketing initiatives are music-related, such as incorporating traditional musical instruments like the sasando into jazz compositions or other forms of collaboration. We see music as a diplomatic tool to promote Indonesia. Specifically, jazz music can help us reach countries that have a strong appreciation for jazz," explained Agustini Rahayu.
Chico Hindarto, Chairman of the Indonesian Jazz Forum, stated that the purpose of the meeting was to explore opportunities for collaboration and contribution to Kemenkraf/Barekraf programs. However, after hearing firsthand about the struggles of jazz festival organizers, Irene gave special attention to their resilience. Chico expressed his intention to open more avenues for jazz musicians to contribute and sustain their presence in the long term.
"Our initial goal was to understand how we can contribute to the creative economy. We aim for a long-term impact, not just for the next five years, but for continued sustainability. We truly appreciate that the Deputy Minister understands the challenges we have faced. We hope that our collaboration and contributions will not stop here but will also help nurture the next generation of jazz musicians," Chico explained.
Kiagoos Irvan Faisal
Acting Head of Communications Bureau
Ministry of Creative Economy/Creative Economy Agency
