Festival to celebrate oral traditions

Festival to celebrate oral traditions

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's national motto Bhineka Tunggal Ika,
unity in diversity, was empty political rhetoric for the New
Order regime during the last 30 years, says a literary expert.

Pudentia MS, chairwoman of the Association of the Indonesian
Oral Tradition, said the quotation taken from the famous old
Javanese kakawin (narrative poetry) titled Sutasoma was meant to
be used by the authorities to bind social, cultural and ethnic
differences as national assets.

The words Bhineka Tunggal Ika symbolically refer to
Indonesia's diverse ethnic communities with their social,
religious and cultural backgrounds, along with their rich
traditions and linguistic wealth.

"Yet, the slogan has been coopted by political leaders and
bureaucrats for their own interests," said Pudentia in
conjunction with the upcoming national festival on oral
traditions, performing arts and regional languages to be held
between September and October l999.

The one-month event will be opened in Denpasar, Bali, and will
continue in several cities, including Pontianak (West
Kalimantan), Tanjung Pinang (Riau) and Jakarta.

The festival is aimed at revitalizing the country's oral
traditions, regional languages and traditional performing arts.

The country's pluralistic traditions were standardized in
accordance to the taste of those in power, Pudentia said.

Efforts to foster and to preserve the richness of the
country's culture and traditions were artificial, she added.

The government, however, continues to boast about its efforts
to promote traditions by holding annual festivals or extravagant
performances of local dances, parades, etc.

"What most officials consider is preserving traditions is just
about asking local artists to perform and wear traditional
costumes on stages," said Pudentia.

Preserving and cultivating local traditions means
understanding philosophical values and communities which support
them.

As an example, Indonesia has a wealth of oral traditions
(songs, poems, stories) which previously functioned as important
agents for the transmission of knowledge, customs, history, moral
philosophy and religious teachings.

These traditions also serve as outlets to express people's
feelings and aspirations, to bolster cultural identity and to
entertain.

Among the oldest and almost extinct oral traditions are wayang
beber (Central Java), cokek (Jakarta), the theatrical tradition
of Makyong (Riau, North Sumatra and West Kalimantan), didong
(Aceh), rabab Pariaman and bakaba (West Sumatra).

"These traditions have played significant roles in the lives
of millions of locals," Pudentia said.

The artists, story tellers and musicians who conveyed these
artistic forms were highly esteemed persons within their
communities. Many of them were influential village chiefs,
priests and even shamans.

"People would likely follow any advice or message delivered
by these artists because they acted as moral guardians
to their communities," she said.

During the New Order regime, the roles of these artists and
traditional leaders were gradually eliminated and were replaced
by government-appointed district heads and regents who acted like
"local kings".

Bureaucrats' arrogance and lack of understanding about local
cultures and their social and religious backgrounds have often
created serious tension between government officials and
villagers.

Many programs were implemented with top-down approaches
without paying attention to the real needs and aspirations of
the affected communities.

"These are the results of people's dissatisfaction toward the
government, which is now leading to possible disintegration," she
said.

Almost all problems occurring in troubled provinces like
Kalimantan, Irian, Aceh, and Maluku stemmed from the ignorance of
local culture and traditions.

"It was wrong for governments to exclude traditional leaders
and communities in the development process," said Pudentia.

Mohamad Sobary, a scholar from the Indonesian Science
Institute, said the New Order government thwarted democracy in
all forms of the lives of the people, including in politics, the
economy and the arts.

"There is no denying that the flourishing traditional arts in
that era were those coming from Java, because Java is the center
of power and the former presidents were Javanese," Sobary said.

Wayang kulit (leather puppet), wayang orang (traditional
Javanese theater), and other Javanese art forms were the
preferred entertainment for high-ranking officials and the inner
circles.

"Wayang stories centered on the lives of keraton (palace), the
nobility and feudalism," Sobary said.

This clearly mirrored the political pattern adopted by the
former regime. Many officials liken their personalities to those
in wayang stories. Former president Soeharto was attracted to the
wise Semar (a semi-godlike creature). Other officials aligned
themselves with Bima and Arjuna (the brave Pandawa brothers in
the Mahabharata epic).

Folk arts, which exist among the common people and lower-class
communities, especially from outside Java, found no place or
support in the New Order period.

"In the current reform era, it is time for the government
and related parties to democratize the arts and allow all kinds
of art products to develop evenly," Sobary said.

In Indonesia today, oral and traditional performing arts must
compete with print media, radio, television, film and various
other sophisticated communication means. But with strong
political will from the government and interested institutions,
preservation of this valuable heritage is possible, he said.
(raw)