Political parties use traditional arts to draw votes

Political parties use traditional arts to draw votes

By Rita A. Widiadana

In the hope of free and fair polls in June, artists have drawn
from the new and the old to challenge the mood of apathy
reflected in past elections and to educate the electorate. This
article offers a perspective on the use of traditional arts to
convey political information. A second article will describe the
work of a private organization which assists societies far away
from cities, from where most of the political jargon emanates.

JAKARTA (JP): Since the beginning of history, statesmen,
politicians, religious leaders and educators have utilized folk
performing arts and literature to address public concerns about
politics, social values, morality and religion.

Noted anthropologist James Dananjaya said it is therefore not
unusual that political parties are now exploiting traditional
performing arts to attract votes.

Political campaigns, said Dananjaya, professor of anthropology
and folklore expert at the University of Indonesia, are now
colored by diverse traditional performing arts including reog
Ponorogo, tayuban dance from East Java, wayang kulit (leather
puppets), ketoprak (Javanese folk theater) and others.

"Some political parties have even held Liang Liong, Barongsai
dragon festivals of Chinese origin, once banned by the New Order
government, to draw votes from Chinese Indonesians," Dananjaya
said.

Traditional performing arts, oral literature like story
telling, poem recitals and folk theater have significant roles in
Indonesian society, he explained.

"There is nothing wrong with using traditional performing arts
for political purposes. It is actually a part of the educational
process for the masses," Dananjaya said.

Such artistic products function as a potential means for
education, communication and, more importantly, as an effective
social control and a cohesive tool to strengthen people's sense
of solidarity.

Indonesia's past leaders, from Hayam Wuruk and Gajah Mada in
the Majapahit Kingdom, and Sultan Agung from the Islamic Mataram
court to the New Order government and Golkar Party have used
traditional arts for their political interests, he said.

"Golkar and former president Soeharto, however, adopted
traditional arts as their political vehicles in a very ... very
vulgar way," he said.

In the past, kings, princes and the power circles disseminated
their programs and messages, through art mediums like wayang
kulit performances, in subtle modes of expression. The audience
could enjoy the performances without realizing that they were
actually being encouraged to adopt new values, he explained.

The New Order government, Dananjaya believes, was not as smart
as the past rulers.

Performances of wayang orang (traditional Javanese theater),
wayang kulit and traditional dances to more popular dangdut music
were heavily loaded with political messages and government
programs.

Noted scholar Umar Kayam communicated in a recent seminar,
Traditional Performing Arts, Ritual and Politics, in Yogyakarta
that Golkar and the New Order regime went too far in politicizing
traditional arts.

"The New Order linked arts and power in made-to-order art
performances to celebrate certain events," Kayam was quoted by
the Panji Masyarakat weekly as saying.

Traditional arts were forcefully used as propaganda
instruments to intimidate people, he said.

To cite examples, dancers of gembayangan (tayub), a folk dance
from East Java province, in Nganjuk were told to change their
colorful and lavish costumes to only yellow kebaya, blouses and
attire.

Dancers who rejected the order would not be granted "licenses"
from local regents to perform in their regions.

Other reports revealed that in Central Java, puppet masters
were also asked to paint their puppets yellow, the symbol of
Golkar. Many dalang acted as the government's megaphones.

Jabatin Bangun, head of the ethnomusicology department at the
Jakarta Arts Institute (IKJ), said traditional arts is
communicative and close to the people.

Folk art, because of its communicative power and flexibility,
"can be easily used and be manipulated by the authorities,"
Jabatin said.

In West Sumatra, for instance, the Minangkabau ethnic
community has bakaba, a mixture of oral literature, music, dance
and theater, to spread news, messages and to convey various
issues to community members.

Derived from an Arabic word khabar, literally news from
heaven, bakaba means "guidance from above". Bakaba deals with
diverse subjects from stories of heroism, religious teachings,
war, love and morality. In its development, bakaba was used to
address current issues like family planning and education.

"A bakaba performance given by an inspired story teller will
have a great affect on the audience because of his respectful
position in the Minangkabau society," Jabatin said.

The story teller is usually an artist, a community leader and
often a spiritual teacher.

"Every word has symbolical significance aside from the purely
entertaining aspect of the show. People will likely adopt and
believe in whatever is conveyed by the artist," Jabatin said.

Oral literary works have been used by several groups,
including the Lontar Foundation, to conduct voter education
programs for rural people in a number of provinces in Indonesia.

Dananjaya added that traditional arts could be practically
used to maintain national stability.

"Traditional arts reflects the genuine feelings and
aspirations toward any issue in a community. It also channels
people's dissatisfaction and criticism on everything which is
against their interests," said Dananjaya.

Understanding people's real aspirations could certainly ease
the social and political tension in the country, he added.

"Unfortunately, the government and many political leaders do
not want to listen to the people's voices."