Festival showcases rich heritage of masks
Festival showcases rich heritage of masks
Tarko Sudiarno, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
As people, we interact with others, playing different roles and
requiring different masks in the process. When these masks are
transformed into art, the variety of expressions are countless.
This impression came to mind during Mask Interpretation, the
2002 Mask Festival last month in Yogyakarta, which featured the
traditional and contemporary art of masks.
The festival was borne out of a desire to keep records of the
art of masks through its development and changes with time. There
are plenty of archaeological and anthropological records tracing
the history of masks, starting from the discovery of ancient
manuscripts to various studies on expressions related to their
use in different parts of the world. These records will provide
the masks, which have a history that may be as old as mankind,
with a clear historical description.
During the three-day event, diverse forms were presented,
taking the participants to the adventurous world of the art of
masks.
Dance artist Martinus Miroto of the Banjarmili art studio in
Yogyakarta, staged his choreography, Megatruh (Sad Songs), which
was inspired by the total dedication showed by his dance master
Sasmitadipura. All his life, Sasmitadipura was known as a great
performer and master of classical dance at the Yogyakarta Palace,
and he devoted his entire life to art.
At the festival, Mugiyono Kasido of Surakarta performed his
creation, titled Bagaspati (From the Soul of the Sun). Known for
having a flexible body, the dancer, who has performed in many
countries, was inspired by the sun in creating his work.
During his creation, he portrayed how the sun is an
inexhaustible source of life to human beings. The sun serves as a
means of reflection and offers a valuable lesson on the meaning
of honesty, intensity and the significance of knowing, without
pretension, when to stop doing something. He ended his show by
turning his body the way the earth moves around the sun.
Other contemporary mask dancers that performed their works in
the event included Hanny Herlina of Jakarta in The Flapping of
White Wings, Didik Nini Thowok of Yogyakarta in Pejambon Dance
and Ida Manu Tranggana of Yogyakarta in Gray Mask.
Traditional mask dances presented during the festival included
the Barangan-style mask dance of Klaten, Central Java, featuring
the story of Joko Bluwo. This group captured the audience's
attention as some of its members were elderly.
This group was unique from others as some of the dancers also
played in a gamelan traditional orchestra. The host paid the
group members right on stage and once the money was in their
hands, it was distributed among them right away.
Another traditional dance troupe, Yogyakarta's Regol Gunungan
of Yogyakarta, presented a mask performance like a Yogyakarta
puppet show, with changes made to certain parts. For instance,
the performers -- the dancers and the gamelan players -- were
involved in intimate communication with the audience throughout
the show.
The festival had planned to feature a variety of mask dances,
such as the Jauk mask dance from Bali, the Cupak of West Nusa
Tenggara, the Hudok of East Kalimantan and the mask tradition of
South Kalimantan, but not all of the performers were available to
perform the dances.
"Two mask dance troupes, from South Kalimantan and East
Kalimantan, failed to show up because they could not get flights
to Java," said Clink Sugiarto, the event's performance
coordinator.
The Jauk mask dance troupe from Bali performed two dances at
the event: the Kembang Girang (Merry Flower) -- a newly created
piece taken from the Balinese Janger traditional dance, which
illustrates young girls' happiness, and Sunda Upasunda, a story
about two arrogant giants wanting to control the world.
A discussion on the art of masks also took place at the
festival, featuring mask observer Endo Suanda of Bandung and St.
Sunardi, the chairman of Sanata Dharma University's program of
cultural and religious studies in Yogyakarta.