Folk arts give villagers political education

JAKARTA (JP):Don't let party leaders cheat you... choose a party that never deceives you. Use your rights in the coming elections to bring our country to a brighter future.

This poem was read by a traditional poet and storyteller during the Mendu folk poetry recital in a remote village in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. The recital was part of a voter education program to prepare locals for the upcoming elections.

A line taken from Seloko-Dul Muluk, a folk poem from Jambi, Sumatra, mirrors the expectations of villagers in Jambi: choose a party that we trust because nobody dares to force us anymore.

A few years ago, no storyteller or artist in Indonesia's rural areas would have had the courage to deliver such bold and persuasive words, especially in the presence of local officials.

But times have changed. Words and phrases like reformasi (reform), demokrasi (democracy), pemilu jurdil (fair and just elections), KKN (the acronym for collusion, corruption and nepotism) and money politics are on the lips of most villagers these days.

One may wonder how these people, who live in remote and isolated locations, came to understand this new political jargon and use it in daily conversation?

Many villagers in remote areas are illiterate and only speak the local language. Television news, radio programs, newspapers and other source of information are often unavailable.

Few people realize rural and traditional communities have a powerful and effective means of communication, namely folk art traditions, including poetry, song, storytelling, folk theater, dance and music.

For rural and traditional communities, such centuries-old traditions primarily serve as a means to disseminate messages and ideas.

The Jakarta-based Lontar Foundation used these diverse and rich folk arts as an entry point to begin political and voter education programs in rural areas.

The chairwoman of the foundation, Adila Soewarmo, said political debates and pre-election coverage and programs in newspapers and on the television and radio only worked effectively for middle to upper-class urbanites who had an adequate educational background.

"What about the uneducated, the poor and those who live in faraway places and who make up more than 70 percent of the country's 220 million population. They are the majority of voters in the next elections," she said.

"Educating these vulnerable groups of communities is very crucial if we want to create a democratic nation in the future," she said.

To reach village communities and Indonesians at the grassroots level, alternative means of communication must be employed.

"Traditional performing arts and oral literature have long been proven as the most influential means to address the public about social values, religion and education," she said.

Last December, the Lontar Foundation, in cooperation with the Asia Foundation, local non-governmental organizations and networks of provincial artists, launched voter education programs in dozens of villages in 18 provinces in Java, Bali, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and Sulawesi.

The message of the programs is clear: The upcoming elections are different from previous ones. People should no longer be intimidated to choose a certain party. They are now free to vote for any of the 48 parties contesting the general election.

"In every province, we use various forms of traditional performing arts and oral literature to disseminate the messages and educate voters," she said.

The program involves hundreds of traditional artists performing 20 types of folk art and literature, including Didong in Aceh, Gendang Guro-Guro Aron in North Sumatra, Bakaba Batusangkar in West Sumatra, Wayang Gremeng in Central Java, Kecapi Suling Cianjuran in West Java, Gejean Singaraja in Bali, Bonet Timor in East Nusa Tenggara and Batik-Batik Selayar in South Sulawesi.

Program coordinator Jabatin Bangun said when the program began in each village people were suspicious that it was organized by Golkar.

"In previous years, villagers underwent traumatic experiences, especially before and during elections," Jabatin, a noted ethnomusicologist, said.

He said that in earlier elections, if villagers did not follow the orders of local officials, including village chiefs and subdistrict officials, often the instruments of the ruling Golkar, they risked losing their social and economic benefits. Access to health facilities, credit schemes and infrastructure development would often be cut.

"Only after they were sure that the program was nonpartisan did they warmly accept it, including village chiefs and regional officials," he said.

A folklore expert and professor of anthropology at the University of Indonesia, James Dananjaya, said the program was good and effective as long as it did not have any vested interests.

Traditional performing arts like wayang (shadow puppet), folk theater, dance, poetry and storytelling have long been used as propaganda by authorities or other parties seeking to achieve certain goals, he said.

"Both the Old and the New Order regimes frequently manipulated the contents of native performing arts to further their interests," Dananjaya said.

Fostering indigenous art forms for educational purposes and to improve people's awareness of their rights are positive steps, he said.

The organizers of this voter education program should not expect to see instant results, he added. "These efforts may pay off in the next five to 10 years."

Adila said the current voter education program was just a beginning. "We are just a small element in the process of the social and political education of the Indonesian people." (raw)