These days, women can take on roles that were once thought to be the domain of men — be it as the country’s president, a political head, a minister or the leader of a musical group. But in the art of shadow puppetry, women still usually only feature only as a pesinden; a singer who accompanies the live gamelan orchestra. However, some women have broken traditional conventions by taking on the principal position of puppet master — like Sofiah Peni Carito, from Pringtutul village, Rawakele sub-district, in Kebumen Regency, Central Java.
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After 20 years, the Lontar Foundation has decided on a major make-over as a modern multi-media Indonesian literary promotion agency. This means a new approach to marketing Indonesian literature in an age when printed books are losing out to the web. There is new interest in Indonesian language, literature and culture, in Asia and globally. This means a new lease of life for Lontar as it embraces on-line and print-on-demand technologies and brings in 21st century distribution concepts.
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Jambi province has been preparing local tourist sites and attractions as well as setting up support facilities and infrastructures in its effort to make the Indonesia Visit Year (VIY) 2008 program a success. Jambi Governor H Zulkifli Nurdin has brought all businesspeople dealing with the tourism sector in the province together calling on them to make concerted efforts to make the Visit Indonesia Year (VIY) and Visit Jambi Year (VJY) programs a success.
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Famed as one of the country’s pioneers of contemporary dance, choreographer and dancer Sardono Waluyo Kusumo has nothing to prove, yet he continues to be impeccably disciplined in his work. The rector of the Jakarta Institute of the Arts had returned from a two-day trip to Yogyakarta in the morning, then sat through back-to-back meetings, which had taken him through to his interview in a South Jakarta mall.
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Australia is currently sponsoring a three-week workshop and training program at the East Nusa Tenggara Provincial Museum in Kupang to help conserve fragile wooden and bamboo artefacts from Eastern Indonesia. Rare and precious cultural heritage items from Eastern Indonesia are commonly made of wood and bamboo, so it is anticipated the workshop will be of direct assistance to the Museum NTT in managing its unique collection. The program will be conducted from 1 to 18 April by Australian conservator Carolyn McLennan from the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.
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Tam Chen Siong, 36, an Indonesian of Chinese descent who is also known as Kanjeng Raden Tumenggung Hartonodiningrat, has enjoyed success in his efforts to preserve one of the country’s most treasured forms of cultural art. Tam’s father, Tam Hwa Seng, a businessman from Surabaya, and mother Phun Djoei Hing, hoped their second child would carry on the family freight business. If that ambition could not be achieved, they hoped he would at least follow in the footsteps of his grandfather; an architect who was involved in a number of projects in Surabaya. Tam, who earned a technical engineering degree from Petra Christian University in Surabaya in 1992, however, chose to become a master craftsman of kris (a wavy-bladed Javanese dagger).
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To ensure the survival of their art, theatrical actors and actresses in Indonesia need to explore their creativity. As did Iin Mutmainah, 31, a theatrical actress from Lampung, who since 2002 has performed as story-teller. Initially, Iin took up story-telling to earn some extra cash so she could continue her theater activities. But eventually Iin decided to set up a story-telling group called “Sanggar Dakocan” (Dakocan Studio). Through this group, Iin found a channel for her acting talent and has been able to carry out a story-telling campaign for kindergarten pupils and teachers.
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Islam is an easy target for misrepresentation. It has been misunderstood and misused for centuries by its ignorant followers as well as its “enemies”. It is no surprise then that questions about the nature of the religion have been reiterated over the past three decades. Does the faith recognize human rights? Is it compatible with democracy? Does it respect women? Is it tolerant? Can it cope with modernity and adopt its modern institutions? A bulk of scientific, philosophical articles have been written to answer these indicting questions, but the prejudices against the faith persist.
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Wayang golek, or wooden puppets, are usually presented on stage in front of hundreds of spectators, in a show that lasts all night. But in West Java, these puppets have ventured off the stage and into the souvenir and interior decoration market. Many of these puppets come from a hamlet located far away from the West Java capital of Bandung where they are often found. The Heubeul Isuk hamlet, some 10 kilometers from the Bandung regency town of Soreang and the Ciwidey tea plantations, has long been known as a center that produces wayang golek. Puppets from Heubeul Isuk are mostly made based on orders from puppet masters. The puppets meet the standards for performances, they are not just for decoration. This is why Heubeul Isuk puppets are more expensive
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Traditional miniature boat craftsman Djuhhari Witjaksono is happily spending his retirement days creating models of old ships alongside jobless youths. In his residence on Jl. Brawijaya in Mojokerto, East Java, he keeps dozens of books on traditional boats from all over the world. His library collection also includes books on the history of the Majapahit kingdom and Adrian Horridge’s The Prahu, a book on traditional sail boats of Indonesia. Once an active scout, the 77-year-old remembered the words of world scout chief Robert Baden Powell: “Walk until you come to a land, sail until you come ashore.”
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