Dayak festival features contemporary arts

Dayak festival features contemporary arts

Bambang Bider, Contributor, Pontianak, West Kalimantan

The audience became silent all of a sudden, touched by a verse
spoken in the Dayak Kantu' language during the closing ceremony
of the 2003 Gawai Dayak Week festival.

West Kalimantan deputy governor Lorensius Herman Kadir, who
had chanted the verse, broke the silence and said, "Gawai next
year should be better." Kadir himself is a Dayak Kantu'.

The 2003 Gawai Dayak Week, which was officially kicked off by
West Kalimantan governor, H. Usman Ja'far, on Tuesday May 20,
lasted for six days.

It featured a number of activities such as the Baliatn
customary rite, a male and female group blowpipe shooting contest
and pop music performances. Other contests included a Pangkak
top-spinning contest, a fairy-story-telling contest, a male and
female tug-of-war contest, a sculpturing contest, a Mrs. and Miss
Gawai 2003 contest, a rice-pounding contest, a contest on shield
drawing and a uniquely Dayak cuisine contest.

Gawai is the Dayak people's thanksgiving celebration, when
they express their gratitude for the year's harvest.

As the tradition is celebrated every year in May, the West
Kalimantan tourism board has included it in the province's annual
calendar of events for tourists.

Originally, the celebration began as a rite conducted
separately by each Dayak sub-ethnic group in Kalimantan, with a
different name for each. The celebration is known as Naik Dango
among the Dayak Kanayatn, while it is Nyareakng among the Dayak
Bakati' Riok, Dange among the Dayak Kayaan and Gawai for the
Dayak Iban.

Under the auspices of the West Kalimantan tourism service,
Gawai has become an occasion to promote artistic creativity and
cultural tourism. The joint secretariat of the Dayak Art for West
Kalimantan, which provides dance workshops for every Dayak group
in Pontianak, coordinates Gawai.

Chairman of the joint secretariat Yohanes Bambang said, "Gawai
week is a platform for the Dayak people to demonstrate their
artistic abilities. It also shows the diversity of the Dayak sub-
ethnic groups in West Kalimantan."

Bambang also said Gawai Dayak 2003 would help conserve the
identity of the Dayak people in the modern and cosmopolitan
world.

"Despite the difficulties, we must learn to love other
people's cultures, because culture reflects our own identity. We
must be able to discover our own identity in the changing times,"
he said.

This year's Gawai festival featured contemporary Dayak art, a
departure from the traditional norms as was also reflected in the
dances, costumes and songs. The songs were similar to modern pop
songs, while the costumes -- despite the predominant beads
particular to Dayak textiles -- revealed richer patterns. The
dances, which are usually inspired by the Dayak people's daily
activities, rural lifestyles and nature, had also been
contemporized.

"We have come up with artistic performances that cater to the
general public. It is not possible for us to present monotonous
traditional dances, as the audience will get bored. Besides, such
dances are closely linked to rites that can only be presented to
the public after we have fulfilled special requirements," Bambang
said.

Generally, the younger Dayak generation is very fond of
contemporary music and dances, and the festival was highlighted
by songs in the local vernacular presented in dangdut (a blend of
Malay and Indian tunes and rhythms), house, country or easy-
listening music. The dances were contemporary, but without
abandoning their original traditional significance.

Bambang said the theme of this year's festival, peace, was
especially chosen because of the occasional ethnic conflicts that
broke out in the province.

"We know West Kalimantan was torn by ethnic conflicts long
before similar conflicts broke out in Ambon and elsewhere. It is
hoped that art and culture will be able to contribute to the
reconciliation efforts now underway," he explained.

Meanwhile, chairman of the organizing committee of the
festival Fredrick Kuyah said, "Almost every year we invite our
brothers and sisters from other ethnic groups. This year, members
of the Madurese, Malay and Chinese communities participated in
the Dayak Cultural Display," he said.

Nico Andasputra of the Pontianak Dayakology Institute said,
"There are various ways through which people express their
concerns about a problem. Artists are no exception -- they have
the capacity to develop tolerance among people," he said.