Jakarta International Kite Festival: Flying for peace

By Charlie Stevens

JAKARTA (JP): If you passed through the area around the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta last weekend, and you happened to glance up into the gray Jakarta sky, you would have noticed a swarm of strangely shaped, brightly colored objects swooping and diving or simply hovering around the top of the famous monument.

The final invasion, you may have thought, as all your suspicions were suddenly confirmed. But in actual fact it was the Eighth Annual International Kite Festival, an event that brought six countries and 11 provinces together to fly for world peace.

The theme of this year's festival was Spirit of Peace on Earth and Sky and brought a strong message during a tumultuous time in the nation's history.

The festival, which has been operating since 1993, drew a crowd of thousands, instilling hope among the organizers that the festival is regaining its popularity.

"The festival was a lot more popular before the crisis, although this year the turnout has been much better," said Sari Madjid, one of the founders of the Indonesian kite association known as Le Gong which is the organization responsible for the event.

The international kite flying community is a tight-knit group with national clubs making regular visits to their counterparts in other parts of the world. With the strong tradition of kite flying in Indonesia, it was imperative that Indonesia form its own association.

"Many foreign clubs were interested in Indonesia, and clubs around the country wanted to be represented internationally, so we formed the Indonesian kite association in 1990," said Sari.

"The name 'Le Gong' comes from the musical instrument, like that found in the gamelan."

Kite flying is thought to have originated in China before being taken by Chinese settlers to India. It was then brought down through Malaysia to Indonesia and across to the Pacific islands. Only later was it adopted by the West.

"Kite flying was, for the most part, introduced to the West by Eddy Diamond, who promoted the diamond-shaped kite which is based on the Indonesian fighter kite," said Dutch kite enthusiast Bart van Assen, or De Vliegerende Hollander (the Kite-Flying Dutchman) as he likes to be known.

"And now you have huge jumps in kite design. Kite surfing, for example, is a big sport these days. It's a bit like windsurfing but you have a big kite instead of a sailboard and you can do jumps of up to 10 meters. It was promoted by a very famous kite flyer from New Zealand called Peter Lynn," said the Kite-Flying Dutchman.

The Western approach to flying kites, while exciting and skillful, is quite a departure from the gentle philosophy of kite flying in Southeast Asia.

"In the West there are a lot of technological advances in kite flying. But in Indonesia it comes much more from the heart," said Sari.

"Flying kites is like giving thanks to the gods. In Bali, for example, we fly kites to give thanks after the rice harvest, because when the kites are high in the sky they are closer to the heavens."

Ezanee, from the Malaysian Airlines Kite Club, who claims to have been flying kites "seriously" for 12 years, also said that kite flying in Malaysia is always done at harvest time because the conditions at this time are just right.

"During the harvest period there is a lot of wind. Farmers and village people have always loved to fly kites at this time," he said.

Some of the most spectacular specimens jostling for airspace at the festival were the "Chinese dragon kites" which featured 20 or 30 kites joined in brightly colored trains that wound and snaked their way up high into the sky.

A big part of the festival was the competition between the provinces of Indonesia. The competition was divided into various categories for two-dimensional kites, such as the Indonesian fighter kite, and three-dimensional kites which are a lot more elaborate and often sculpted into three-dimensional images of goddesses or animals.

"Each section is divided into two main categories," said Sari. "First we see how the kite looks on the ground, its quality and color, and then we see how it flies and how its color looks against the sky."

The club that took the first place for both the 2D and the 3D categories was Tulung Agung, East Java, which received a first prize of Rp 400,000 and a trophy.

The awards ceremony was held at Hotel Sabang near Monas. The competition, however, seemed to be more of an excuse for people to get together, share airspace and show off their handicrafts.

Ezanee, from the Malaysian team, was keen to point out the skill involved in making good kites.

"The frame is very important," he said. "You have to use the right bamboo. It's best to use thorny bamboo because it's very flexible and elastic.

"It takes about one week to make and decorate a kite properly."

And given the number of kites that came crashing to the hard ground at the hands of many hundreds of amateurs who gathered at Monas Park, the quality of the frame is indeed an important factor. It was also just as well that Monas is such a spacious venue, or there may have been some sore heads. Still, to get upset at such a thing would have been against the spirit of the event.

"The main reason we hold the festival at Monas is so that all people can come and enjoy without having to pay. We have a philosophy behind kite flying: One sky, one world, one earth, one family," said Sari.