Reminding Jakartans of Indonesia's cultural richness

Reminding Jakartans of Indonesia's cultural richness

Mario Koch, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

As more and more Indonesians, particularly Jakartans, get swept up by globalization, they are drifting farther and farther away from their artistic and cultural roots.

Recognizing the threat of many of the country's unique traditions disappearing forever, the Jakarta Arts Council organized the Art Suku II Kencan Budaya Nusantara, or Art Suku II Archipelagic Cultural Rendezvous, to help remind and return Indonesians to their roots.

The council invited artists from the ethnic communities of the Sasak from Lombok, the Kajang from South Sulawesi and the Talang Mamak from Riau to perform at the event, held at Taman Isamail Marzuki (TIM) in Central Jakarta from Nov. 17 through Nov. 19.

In addition to these artistic representatives from around the archipelago, the festival was enriched by participants from Okinawa, Japan.

During the day, an exhibition of handicrafts, screenings of documentaries, discussions and workshops provided visitors with the opportunity to learn more about these unique cultures and their arts, as well as to interact directly with members of the respective communities.

Visitors were able to try their hand at making traditional Kajang musical instruments from leaves, or to learn traditional Talang Mamak dances.

On Friday and Saturday evening, colorful music and dance performances attracted hundreds of spectators to the spacious auditorium at Graha Bhakti Budaya.

The performances commenced with the Batek Baris dance, a unique combination of different dances, Batek and Baris, staged by members of the Sasak community from Lingsar village in west Lombok.

The histories of these dances are difficult to trace, as there are no written records of when they first appeared.

At the core of the performance was the Batek dance, while the Baris more or less served to supplement the first dance.

Batek, a classical dance with a long tradition, depicts a raja or leader. It is performed by three people, all women, dressed up as men.

In contrast, the Baris seems to have its roots in the Dutch colonial period. It shows an army commander drilling eight soldiers, thus showing off their ability to always ensure the safety of the raja.

The strong Dutch connection of the dance is underlined by both the clothes and props the dancers use and the accented Dutch language in which the commander gives his orders.

This, together with the dancers' movements, which frequently appeared awkward, could lead observers to believe the dance was being staged as a parody -- but that is far from the truth.

"This Batek Baris dance is very old and can only be found in Lingsar village. It is an integral part of the pugewali ceremony, a religious event that takes place every Dec. 15 at Lingsar temple," Joe Hendra, who played the role of the army commander, told The Jakarta Post.

No less exciting were the three performances by the artists from Okinawa and the Kajang and Talang Mamak communities later on Friday and on Saturday evening.

In a foreword to the official program and in speeches given before Friday's performances, organizers made clear their concerns that motivated and shaped the festival.

Ratna Sarumpaet, chairwoman of the Jakarta Arts Council, talked about the many hardships Indonesians faced and the challenges presented by globalization.

In this context, she voiced her sadness about educated Indonesians more and more alienating themselves from Bahasa Indonesia and their fellow citizens by speaking English with their peers.

The chairwoman of the council's dance committee, Maria Darmaningsih, referred to significant changes in urban areas of the country.

She particularly worried about the innumerable shopping malls springing up like mushrooms in large cities, creating forests of malls and threatening to turn Indonesian culture into a faceless mall culture.

The main goal of Art Suku II was to show Indonesians how they can preserve their distinctive identity, and how feelings of national unity and togetherness can be fostered in the vast archipelago.

It is difficult to imagine anybody who witnessed the festival at TIM regretting not having instead spent that time at a mall, drinking coffee and chatting in English.

Art Suku II truly succeeded in emphasizing what Ratna Sarumpaet described as: "Our country's own cultural roots, which are strong, rich and versatile."

Jakartans can only hope for many more events similar to this one.