South Sulawesi: Culture, history in focus

South Sulawesi: Culture, history in focus

Carla Bianpoen, Contributor, Jakarta

On March 5, an exhibition on the culture of South Sulawesi opened at Bentara Budaya Jakarta. It draws attention to the province's rich and varied arts and culture.

South Sulawesi is the province that constitutes the narrow, southwestern peninsula of the mountainous, orchid-shaped island, formerly known as the Celebes.

The land area of nearly 83,000 square kilometers is home to four major ethnic groups: the Mandar on the northwestern coast of the province, the Toraja mainly in the mountains, the Bugis almost everywhere and the Makassar on the southern end of the peninsula, spread along the coast and the mountains.

The exhibition is divided between the coastal areas, where the cultures were likely to absorb outside influences, and the more "closed" mountainous areas such as Toraja, which is among the most visited in South Sulawesi.

Tana Toraja, also known as the land of the heavenly kings, is known for its unique culture and ancient traditions. The death and afterlife ceremonies, based on strong animistic beliefs, are great feasts, with buffaloes sacrificed and the dead not interred, but coffins placed in caves hollowed out of high cliffs.

Torajans believe that their forefathers descended from heaven in a boat onto the mountain some 20 generations ago.

This is suggested in the art installation made by Toraja artist Mike Perusy. It is composed of a steep mountain, a ladder and two replicas of Torajan houses, Tongkonan, family houses built on stilts with the roof rearing up at either end to represent the prows of the first ship to arrive in the area with the Torajans' ancestors.

The houses all usually face north. Some say that this because it was from the north that the ancestors of the Toraja came. But others consider it the realm of the gods, the compass of life.

The Bugis and Makassar are famed as seafarers with their phinisi schooners. The exhibition shows some miniature replicas from Mandar, Tanaberu Bonerate, the island of Lae-Lae and Sunda Kelapa.

There are also some photos referring to the long travels of the schooners, plying the seas as far as Arnhem in the Northern Territory of Australia, to fish for trepang, a Chinese delicacy. The word "Marege", the home of aborigines, is found in Bugis and Makassar language.

Behind the fabled seafaring skills of the Bugis lies a heritage of exceptional literature, an example of which is the La Galigo epic myth that has inspired a contemporary stage performance to be world-premiered in Singapore.

The stall of the Pusat Studi Galigo/Hasanuddin University in this exhibition displays (and sells at Rp 150,000) the book La Galigo, Menelusuri Jejak Warisan Sastra Dunia (Tracing the tracks of the world's literature), a compilation of interesting papers of Bugis scholars, highlighting various aspects of the epic. The Galigo epic in the old archaic script is also on show, as well as a booklet on integration of the Chinese in Makassar, and some very old brochures on the oldest Muslim organization there, while a video on the bissu, an esteemed group of transgendered priests in the Galigo cosmology, shows their various ceremonies.

The pictures of the images on the cave walls in the limestone hills refer to the caves known as Leang Pettakere and Leang Pettae, situated in the Leang-Leang prehistoric park, but in Maros regency, as well as the caves in Pangkep regency.

Suggesting movement to ward off evil or danger, the handprints were made by blowing red haematite pigment over a hand placed flat onto a surface. Red was symbolic of life and blood, and was used for magical purposes. Most of the time, the prints were of whole hands. When hands occur lacking a finger or two, they indicate the passing away of members of the family, at the same time denoting a warning for the evil spirits to back off. Also depicted on cave walls is the babirusa (pig-deer or hog-deer) with long legs and tusk curving upwards like horns, an animal hunted until well into the 20th century.

A collection of Mesolithic tools includes the Maros Point, while a neolitic stone axe and bracelet and beads are from the metal period in this region. Famed silk cloths from the various regions of Sulawesi are also in the display.

There are also video presentations about the bissu, Toraja funeral rites and revitalization efforts with regard to traditional activities now on the verge of extinction, and on the city of Makassar.

While this second exhibition on South Sulawesi is a commendable attempt by Bentara Budaya to highlight the potential of this region, both touristically and artistically, is seems that to be more effective, more remains to be done to the quality of the content and the method of presentation.

Cultural exhibition of South Sulawesi, Bentara Budaya Jakarta, Jl. Palmerah Selatan, Central Jakarta, March 5 through March 13