Museum makes brave attempt to revive traditional games<\/p>\n
By Rita A. Widiadana<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It's Ani's turn to be a "blind man". Her eyes
\nare blindfolded with a big, yellow handkerchief, while another 10
\nchildren stand around her.<\/p>\n
Ani's friends stand around her in a circle and tease her.
\n"Blind man... blind man, what are you looking for?" shout the
\nchildren. "I am looking for my lost stick," answers "blind" Ani.<\/p>\n
Then one child steps into the circle, he turns Ani around four
\ntimes and then he steps back. The children scream and run away
\nwhen Ani reaches out to catch them, but it is very dark behind
\nthe blindfold.<\/p>\n
Tono is clumsy, making him an easy target. He is caught and it
\nis now his turn to be the "blind man".<\/p>\n
Ani and her friends are playing hai buta, blind man.
\nThis "find me, catch me" game was once performed by millions of
\nchildren around the globe. Roman children played this game 2,000
\nyears ago and called it murinda. Chinese kids called it tsoo,
\ntsoo. In England, children called it blindman's bluff.<\/p>\n
However, the game is no longer popular among today's children.
\nIt was only performed by these Jakarta school students during a
\ntraditional game competition at the National Museum last Sunday.<\/p>\n
The game is part of a one-month exhibition and competition of
\nIndonesian traditional games to run from Feb. 25 through March 25
\nin an attempt to introduce Jakarta's youth to the country's rich
\nindigenous toys and games.<\/p>\n
The event is jointly organized by the directorate general for
\nculture of the Ministry of Education, the National Museums and
\nthe museums from Indonesia' 27 provinces.<\/p>\n
Director General for Culture Edy Sedyawati said at the opening
\nceremony last week that Indonesia's valuable cultural heritage
\nincludes diverse traditional games.<\/p>\n
"Traditional games embody high moral values. They also served
\nas a way to hone children's emotional and intellectual competence
\nas well as to enhance their social skills," said Edy.<\/p>\n
According to James Dananjaya, professor of anthropology and
\nspecialist in folklore at the University of Indonesia, most
\ntraditional games are rapidly disappearing under the heavy
\npressure of industrialization and fast technological progress.<\/p>\n
"Times are changing. People keep adjusting to current
\nconditions. Even in villages, it is hard to find children playing
\ntraditional games. They prefer to watch television programs," he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Historically, traditional games reflected social and cultural
\nlessons in certain communities. "Each game portrayed a close
\nrelationship between a community with its surroundings,"
\nDananjaya explained.<\/p>\n
People might find marble games, kites, and many other games in
\nalmost every country in the world, explained Dananjaya.<\/p>\n
Anthropologists believe that the basic function of games is to
\nintensify human experience in ways that are relatively safe while
\nproviding entertainment and excitement.<\/p>\n
Dananjaya explained that, originally, games were divided into
\nthree categories: games of physical skill, games of chance and
\ngames of strategy.<\/p>\n
Games which require vigorous physical activity, such as tugs-
\nof-war, marathons, wrestling and ball games were closely related
\nto communities that lived in tough environments.<\/p>\n
Games of strategy, such as card games and chess, were usually
\npracticed by communities that had developed complex social
\nstructures.<\/p>\n
Games of chance, such as dominoes monopoly and other games
\nlike Nini Thowok and Jaelangkung are usually found in societies
\nthat strongly embraced mystical beliefs.<\/p>\n
They equipment employed in these folk games was usually made
\nof natural materials like wood, bamboo, stones, fruit, animal
\nbones.<\/p>\n
"Don't expect urban kids to make a toy cart from orange peel.
\nSuch materials can hardly be found in big cities, " he said.<\/p>\n
Adults must realize, he said, that children live in their own
\nperiod of history. "Don't blame them if they don't like and don't
\nunderstand how to play those centuries-old games because they are
\nnot part of the past," Dananjaya said.<\/p>\n
The ongoing exhibition on traditional games serves more to
\nremind adults of their childhood experiences.<\/p>\n
Gunarni, 65, seemed quite eager to show her granddaughter how
\nto play congklak, an ancient game originating from the African
\ncontinent displayed at the exhibition.<\/p>\n
Congklak, also called mancala in Egypt, is played by two
\npeople. The materials needed are a one-meter board with 12 holes
\nin two rows and two larger holes used as barns. Each player has a
\nnumber of stones or seeds that are distributed about the playing
\nboard. On each move, each player must make estimates involving
\nnumerical skills and good judgment in order to capture the
\nopponent's pieces.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, this game varies in every province. In Central
\nJava, people called it dakon, menciwa in West Nusa Tenggara,
\nnograta in Central Sulawesi and makaotan in North Sulawesi. In
\nCentral Sulawesi and South Sulawesi, the game is performed in
\nfuneral ceremonies.<\/p>\n
"By playing this game, children were naturally trained in
\nmaths and various strategic moves in. It is the first time for my
\ngranddaughter play congklak," Gunarni said.<\/p>\n
Robby, an employee in a computer company, regretted that he
\nnever taught his son how to play marbles, gasing (tops) and other
\ntraditional games.<\/p>\n
"We felt that we had already given them a lot of toys, video
\ngames and electronic things. I thought they were happy. Now, I
\nknow it is not enough," Robby said.<\/p>\n
The exhibition, held in the left wing of the National Museum,
\ndisplays hundreds of items used in traditional games from
\nIndonesia's 27 provinces.<\/p>\n
Among toys on display are anjing-anjingan (puppets shaped like
\ndog) from West Java, which is popular among Sundanese children,
\nKakebau (puppets shaped like buffalo) from Lampung.<\/p>\n
A wide variety of kites, such as Layang Kuway and Sri Bulan,
\nkites made by people from Riau and West Sumatra are also on
\ndisplay.<\/p>\n
Decorative congklak boards from Central Java along with
\nsimilar instruments from Jambi (Permainan Gunung), makaotan from
\nNorth Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Hamzuri, a member of the exhibition committee, said that
\nduring the one-month period, the National Museum will also hold
\ncompetitions of traditional games, including galah asin (guard
\ngames), egrang (stilt walking), gasing and congklak.<\/p>\n
"The games, held every Sunday morning, are intended for school
\nstudents from around Jakarta," he said.<\/p>\n
One of the main goals of the exhibition is to introduce
\ntraditional games to school students around the country.<\/p>\n
"It is expected that the traditional games could be included
\nin school curricula as local content," he explained.<\/p>\n
To achieve the goal, the organizing committee also held a
\nnumber of workshops and training sessions for local elementary
\nand junior high school teachers.<\/p>\n
In cooperation with a private radio station, the committee
\nalso plans to carry out a game competition for the public --
\nyoung executives in particular.<\/p>\n
"We are trying to persuade yuppy groups to come and to
\nappreciate the museum. Besides, they are mostly young parents who
\nwill bring their kids along to the museum," Hamzuri said.<\/p>\n
Dananjaya, however, said the organizing committee should
\nimmediately take action to ensure the work of this valuable
\nexhibition is not wasted.<\/p>\n
"Many times, valuable exhibitions were just finished without
\nany continuing efforts to take the results to the public. It is
\nsuch a waste of energy," Dananjaya said.<\/p>\n
But this begs the question: Can today's world of short
\nattention spans and throwaway consumerism accept these pro-active
\ndiversions of the past, or will the traditional games and toys be
\nforgotten as soon as the one-month exhibition is over?<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/museum-makes-brave-attempt-to-revive-traditional-games-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}