Optimizing Curatorial Rules in Performing Arts Festival: Strategy to Sustain Cultural Values in Disruptive Era

Indonesia as a multicultural country has a rich range of performing arts. These assets encourage artists and the government to conduct festivals, exhibitions, and cultural exchanges. However, the programs are not always managed optimally, particularly with regards to curatorial management. This paper presents a study aiming at: (1) identifying the roles of curator in conducting performing art festivals to sustain the culture; (2) investigating challenges faced by the curators in doing their tasks. A descriptive qualitative method in the form of a case study was employed using three instruments, namely field observation, interview, and documentation. The collected data were analyzed to define the principles of curatorial management and its role in conducting performing art festivals. It was revealed during the interviews that there were no standard operational procedures (SOP) yet in doing curatorial tasks, so the curators identified and undertook tasks under their own initiative. Some curators stated that their lack of curatorial knowledge made them lack the confidence to invite the well-known artists. As a result, they tended to invite the artists based on pre-existing familiarity. A further challenge was the lack of official authority which hampered the execution of curat. Keywords: Cultural value sustainability, Curatorial roles, Disruptive era, Performing Arts Festival