International kites fly over Indonesia

International kites fly over Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): Go to Ancol in North Jakarta and check the sky.
There are dragons, birds, snakes, butterflies, lobsters, sailing
boats and just ordinary kites flying aloft.

Ancol's Marina beach has been full of color since two days
ago. Kite flyers from all over Indonesia and 13 other countries
have gathered there for the 1995 International Kite Festival.

The variety of kites may be the most interesting thing to see.

Traditional kites made from dry leaves from the Muna regency
in South East Sulawesi are one example. Known locally as khagati,
the handmade kite with a string made from pineapple fiber is not
only different because of the material it is made from, but it
also has a bow-like attachment which produces sound when wind
blows through it.

All the materials used in this kite are native to Muna
regency, said Lasjkar Koedoes of South East Sulawesi local
authority's office.

Lampung also produces a whistling kite. A delegation of this
southern Sumatra province has attached a variation of the
whistling bow made from cloth on their kites. The difference
between Lampung's bow, locally known as uli-uli, and that of
South East Sulawesi is that the Lampung one can produce three to
seven pitches, while the Sulawesi one is more like the sound of
wind.

The Lampung kite has previously participated in international
kite festivals overseas, such as in the United States, France and
the Netherlands.

Mascot

The Baru Klinting three dimensional kite made by a team of
kite lovers from Muntilan, Central Java, is another variety. A 17
meter dragon kite is their mascot. It takes four persons to
launch it and two persons to handle it once it is airborne.

Participants of 13 countries: Australia, Austria, France, Hong
Kong, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the
Philippines, Singapore, Sweden and the United States, are
bringing with them modern kites.

Three Australians, for example, demonstrated yesterday their
skill in kite-flying using double-directing ropes. With good
teamwork and surely a lot of practice, the two men and one woman
team made their tailed-stunt kites perform airplane-like
maneuvers. Stunt kite-flying is really hard work, because not
only two hands are needed to skillfully handle two ropes, but a
person is required to run back and forth all over the field as
well.

The festival, which will be opened officially by the Governor
of Jakarta today and has its last day in Jakarta tomorrow, will
today hold competitions in kite fighting, creative kites, rokaku
(six angular kite) challenge, display of international and
nationally made kites, attraction of stunt kite-flying and
revolution kites, a kite that uses four-directing ropes and a
workshop.

Tomorrow, programs will include rokaku challenge for
youngsters, national kite making competition, international
creative kite attraction, national kite fighting competition,
national stunt kite competition, workshop and night flying
attraction.(als)