Jakarta International Kite Festival: Flying for peace

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.