Giving sound to that which has long been unheard
By Yogita Tahil Ramani
JAKARTA (JP): Reform embeds itself and elicits a voice from the most unlikely of places. Expressions of hatred, tragedy, regret and, most of all, rejoicing, graced three nights at Taman Ismail Marzuki, a primary venue for artistic and cultural performances located in Central Jakarta.
Bongkar (Unravel), which ended yesterday, featured legends Iwan Fals, Franky Sahilatua, metal group Slank, the Kantata Takwa band and current best-selling artists, Reza and Nugie.
Evergreen poets WS Rendra, Sutardji Calzoum Bachri, Leon Augusta, Danarto and the year's recent addition Butet Kertaredjasa were among the professionals and amateurs who gave heart-rending poetry recitals.
Gito Rollies, Oppie Andaresta, Indra Lesmana, Wong Aksan Cok Rampal, Dwiki Dharmawan, Trie Utami and Sawung Jabo sang and played to thousands who crammed the decorated, unfinished construction site of Teater TIM.
The drizzle-soaked, soccer field-sized muddy site was a telling arena for expressing the nation's beliefs and unstable emotions.
The message was clear, from the flying of a dozen silk Indonesian flags during an Iwan Fals number, to a stupa of steel resembling a grotesque Christmas tree with charred-looking foam bodies decorating it and a half-mast flag at its pinnacle.
It was a celebration of reforms already won, and a push for the goal of total reform.
Poet Sitok Srengenge told The Jakarta Post that TIM would no longer be an exclusive venue for art intellectuals and cultural observers.
"It is now a public forum, a forum for the people and by the people," Sitok said.
Poetry reading seemed as sweet as tax-free water, a kind common people have not tasted for long.
Sutardji's recital about relying more on telling faces than meaningless words was intense.
An excerpt read: Faces of the young with tired eyes, eyes tired of going through want ads/faces welcomed with kicks of boots/faces quietly suffering in terror, faces crying out and saying/one motherland, one nation, one language and one flag.
Danarto's poetry was a volatile mix of idealism and young love.
Tanda Cinta (The Sign Of Love) told of a lover's stifled passions and concerns due to war.
"I have a red mark on my chest oozing out blood/Would you like to kiss it?/ No. I'd rather fly pigeons or fly between the city of love and that of missing."
Jose Rizal Manua made his criticism in his piece, which included this line: Politicians are always so sleepy during meetings held to decide on State Policy Guidelines (GBHN) but are loudest when it comes to agreeing with uncompromising State Policies Guidelines.
F. Rahardi, notorious for his intellectual poetry, has long since been "censored off" for recitals at TIM. His recital was more the television news-reading of wit than simple poetry- reading.
Belalang (Locusts) was about the kinds of hama (plague) besetting the nation. He said that in Lampung, Sumatra, farmers cooked locusts swarming their fields and ate them with relish, while in Indramayu, West Java, mice eating away crops of farmers were caught, chopped and fed to ducks.
The punchline came with his irreverent definition of the "plague" on Jakarta.
"Hama Minata," said Rahardi, referring to Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata, who left his post as the Jakarta Police chief on Wednesday.
Something interesting happened during the poetry recitals.
Four victims of the 1984 Tanjung Priok riots came up on stage. The government said that the incident claimed 12 lives, but the four victims told the TIM audience that more than 400 were killed. They demanded the Armed Forces (ABRI) reinvestigate the case and that the then ABRI chief Lt. Gen. Moerdani and Jakarta Military commander Gen. Try Sutrisno to be brought to justice.
Music
Music played at the festival gave new meaning to the word unbelievable.
There was Slank, and then there was the rain.
Some 200 people gathered around the stage of the 7,000 spread out throughout the site, screaming and yelling Balikin (Give It Back) to Slank's hit, Balikin, when it was drizzling.
Lead vocalist Kaka had each foot on a speaker, singing Kamu Sudah Harus Pulang (You Have To Go Home Already) with Bimbim drumming the euphoria off the bongos.
The Gelombang Putih group of Franky Sahilatua, Cok Rampal, Jalu Pratidina, Iwang Noorsaid, Eki Lamoh and Dima sang sweet, melodious tunes to mind-blowing lyrics.
At one point, a man holding a gigantic flag raced down the site to the stage and swayed its beauty to Cok Rampal's singing of Tanah Baru (New Land).
The group sang other favorites like Menangis (Crying) and Gelombang Putih (White Wisps).
The climax of the festival began and ended with Kantata Takwa.
Nearly 7,000 people filled the arena in the three-day-long yearning anticipation for Iwan Fals and group.
In a blue long-sleeved shirt and jeans, with a totally shaven face and a blue Islamic cap on head, he seemed at peace with the raving crowds, waiting to listen.
He strummed tunes of some 10 songs, including Bongkar, Bento and Kesaksian (Testimony).
The singing of Bongkar was interjected with Rendra's recital of the famous Sajak Orang Kepanasan (Poetry of A Person In Heat). After every paragraph read, the crowd howled "O... oh ya oh ya oh ya Bongkar...".
Sung with simplistic, unfashionably non-yuppie tunes, Iwan's songs reflect the feelings and wants of the commoner, like the song Berikan Kami Pekerjaan (Give Us Work). This is the reason why he is dubbed the voice of the common people.
All in all, the celebration of reform conveyed a message which could not have been more aptly expressed than the telling lyrics of Bongkar: When love is cast off/ do not expect justice to be done/ pain becomes a mere show for them who are made to run in the race for positions.