Indonesia, the largest archipelagic country in the world, is made up of 13,466 islands, big and small. Since they are separated by the sea, there is an amazing variety of people, arts, and cultures, as well as flora and fauna.
Bali may come to mind when you think of Indonesia but in addition to its wealth of cultural marvels, other islands such as Sumatra, Java, Jakarta, Sulawesi, and Papua are rich in their particular traditions.
Angklung
This traditional Indonesian musical instrument is made of two to four bamboo stalks suspended in a bamboo frame bound with rattan cords. A special black bamboo is used, cut in a way that leaves enough growth above ground so the root continues to grow, during two weeks when the cicadas sing.
A master craftsman whittles and shapes the bamboo so it will make a sound when the instrument is shaken or tapped. Several players meet to play together as each instrument makes only one note. Traditional angklung use the pentatonic scale but in 1938 an instrument using the diatonic scale was invented, called “angklung padaeng.”
The instruments are played during ceremonies such as rice planting, harvesting, and circumcision. The techniques are transmitted orally from generation to generation and because it is a collaborative act promoting imagination, memory, and responsibility it is now taught in educational institutes.
Three Genres of Traditional Dance in Bali
Three types of dance—sacred, semi-sacred, and dance meant to be enjoyed at get-togethers—are traditional in Bali. Male and female dancers dress in brightly coloured costumes made of fabric decorated in gold with floral and faunal motifs and brightened even more with gold-leafed and jewelled accessories. They dance according to stylized movements symbolizing various cultural and religious values.
The dances are inspired by nature and symbolize particular customs and religious values. Different movements include a basic posture with knees outward and stomach held in; movements for various tempos; dynamic changes; transitional movements; and changing facial expressions and eye movements expressing happiness, sadness, anger, fear and love. These dances are done to the music of the “gamelan,” a traditional ensemble using metallophones and drums.
Skill, charisma, humility, and discipline are necessary, combined with a special spiritual energy. Traditional Balinese dances provide participants with a “special cultural identity grounded in the understanding that they are safeguarding the cultural heritage of their ancestors.”
Indonesian Batik
The techniques surrounding the hand-dyed cotton and silk known as Indonesian batik are symbolic and usually culturally derived. The fabric is fashioned into garments worn by both men and women from the beginning of their lives to the end.
Infants are carried in batik slings with designs on the fabric promoting good luck, while the dead are shrouded in funerary batik. Everyday batik motifs are used to create garments for business attire and there are special designs for ceremonies such as marriage and pregnancy. A wonderful range of designs taken from the floral and faunal worlds is also used to dye batiks for puppet theatre and other art forms.
The garments play an important role in annual ceremonies such as the ceremonial casting of royal batik into a volcano.
The cloth is dyed by craftspeople proud of the tradition who create designs on the fabric using dots and lines of hot wax which resists vegetable and other dyes. The wax is removed with hot water. There is a wide array of patterns, reflecting a variety of influences, including designs taken from Arabian calligraphy and European bouquets. The Chinese phoenix, Japanese cherry blossoms, and Persian peacocks are often used.
This craft is usually handed down within families and is intertwined with cultural identity.
Saman Dance
Part of the cultural heritage of the Gayo people of Aceh province in Sumatra, this unique dance is performed by boys and young men sitting on their heels or kneeling in tight rows. Each dancer wears a black costume lavishly embroidered with colourful Gayo motifs symbolizing nature and noble values.
The leader sits in the middle of the row and initiates the singing, mostly in the Gayo language, offering guidance. Themes are religious, romantic, or humorous.
Dancers clap, slap their chests, thighs, and the ground, click their fingers, and move their heads and bodies in time to the rhythm, either in unison or in opposition to the moves of the opposing row of dancers. All movements symbolize daily life in the natural environs.
The Saman is performed at religious holidays and at various ceremonies cementing relationships such as weddings. The Gayo people invite people from other villages to see their performances but because some village populations are dwindling and also because of the expense involved in preparing for performances, the dance is slowly being replaced with other forms of entertainment.
Wayang Puppet Theatre
Elaborate puppets and complex musical styles play a leading role in this ancient form of story-telling. Originating on the island of Java, it flourished for 10 centuries at the royal courts of Java and Bali as well as in rural areas and has spread to other islands such as Lombak, Madura, Sumatra, and Borneo, where various local performances have originated.
The puppets are made by hand. There are two styles: three-dimensional wooden puppets and flat leather puppets projected in front of a screen lit from behind. Both have costumes, various facial features, and articulated body parts. The master puppeteer manipulates the swivelling arms with slender sticks attached to the puppets.
Singers and musicians play complex melodies on bronze instruments and gamelan drums. Wayang stories inspired by indigenous myths abound. Stories from Indian myths and Persian tales are also performed.
The repertory and performance techniques are transmitted orally within families of puppeteers and musicians as well as the puppet-makers. Wayang Puppet Theatre is still very popular even though video, television, and karaoke have been introduced.
Susan Hallett is an award-winning writer and editor who has written for The Beaver, The Globe & Mail, Wine Tidings, and Doctor’s Review, among others. She is currently the European editor of Taste & Travel International. Email: [email protected]
