Istiqlal Festival a crowd pleaser

Istiqlal Festival a crowd pleaser

By Aswab Mahasin

JAKARTA (JP): The Istiqlal festival is over. For almost two
months was the center of attraction, an entertaining learning
experience. About 11 million people reportedly visited the
Istiqlal Mosque, the center of the festivities. Except for a few
performances, almost all the festivities were free.

No wonder every program was packed. Even the discussion forum,
which was supposed to be a series of serious seminars, was
crowded with participants from Jakarta and elsewhere. Most were
university students, but there were also lecturers and members of
academia. At some important seminars, a television and telephone
network was provided for participants as far away as Medan in
North Sumatra and Denpasar in Bali. Even a remote pesantren
Moslem boarding school in Kalimantan could join the discussion.

Three main attractions, the beautifully ornamented huge Koran,
the Istiqlal edition, which took almost five years to complete
the artwork, and the photograph of Ramses II, exhibited by the
Malaysian embassy, were the main attractions. People were
intrigued by news reports on the history of the Pharaoh who was
drowned in the Red sea when chasing Moses. To convince the
public, the news came with a story that grains of salt were found
in the mummy. The centuries old Sunan Ampel drum was of course
another attraction. Other performances, like a Moslem fashion
show, music and poetry reading by poet-actor Rendra, rounded out
the festival.

Beyond Istiqlal there were other performances in Gedung
Kesenian Jakarta and Taman Ismail Marzuki, while at Balairung
Sapta Pesona, the auditorium of the ministry of tourism, post
and telecommunications, there were seminars and symposia, twice
to three times a week. It was a festival of popular culture.

And yet, there was an international aura. The exhibitions were
enriched with contributions from Moslem and non-Moslem countries,
like Great Britain which has a substantial Moslem population.
There was an international poetry reading, international film
show, and of course an international symposium. Islam is after
all a world religion.

Such a long and grand festival cost money: Rp 10 billion was
the price tag. This had to be raised privately since it wasn't
budgeted. The festival's success was of course also the success
of its fund raising. Indonesian society, especially the financial
community, is indeed rich.

There was some normal criticism about the topics discussed and
guest speakers. Some went too far by accusing others or by making
political allegations.

A festival is a festival. There is something to celebrate, and
that was the golden anniversary of Indonesian independence. The
word Istiqlal itself means independence. There were other
celebrations of course, but this one was specifically Islamic to
signify that Islam and Indonesia are a joint tradition, for some
even a joint identity. An identity is a process, you may have
captured it but you need to always remind yourself and even
recreate it, especially with the recent death of permanence.

The festival is also a reminder of populist tradition. There
is always the masses, the laymen, the ummah. And there is always
this folk tradition, egalitarian art, and even sophisticated
discussion, open to the masses. The symbolism was present at the
opening: The colossal number of drums which might have been
absorbed from Chinese culture but then became a call to prayer
and therefore a popular Islamic symbol; the mass of dancers and
their modern dynamic movements; the lonely flute amidst gongs and
gamelan; the chants of zikr and shalawat. All have created an
image of Islam, of soul and flesh, under the garb of modern
Indonesia.

Aswab Mahasin was chairman of the Discussion Forum of the
Istiqlal Festival.