Ruang Kreatif Galeri Indonesia Kaya - Sajojo Dance Workshop

Sajojo is a welcome dance and often played in various occasions such as reception of important guest, reception of foreign tourists, and at traditional ceremonies. This dance can be danced by anyone. The dance movements prioritize the movement of the hands and feet. On 19-23 September 2016, CIOFF Indonesia in collaboration with Galeri Indonesia Kaya held the Creative Space: Sajojo Dance Workshop.
Sajojo Dance Workshop was attended by 14 participants divided into two sessions. Each session lasts for two hours, the first session runs from 4:00 to 6:00 pm and the second session runs from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. At the end of the workshop, all participants were joined together to perform at the opening of the event organized by Galeri Indonesia Kaya.

At the beginnning of workshop, there are 17 peopeles who attend this program, but over time, participants were reduced to total of 14 people. There were some participants who attend this workshop learn and practice the dance but couldn’t join the stage perfromance.

At the beginning of the training, participants were taught basic movement, so they could be famliar with the shapes and movements of the dance. Then, the participants were taught the dance movements, ranging from the less complicated to complex movement. Participants not only learn the movement, but also the details of each movement, blocking and configuration. At first, the participants experienced difficulties and a bit of stress because they have to memorize a lot of material and did it properly in a short time. However, because Sajojo dance has a carefree nuance in its movement, it made the participants felt cheerful and motivated. The workshop athmosphere were fun despite the amount of material to be learned in Sajojo dance. The participants practiced with passion and enjoy every process. On the last day of the practice, the participants trained a little harder than the previous days because on the last day, they have to run through the dance repeatedly in order to perform the dance perfectly.

Saturday morning, 10am, the participants had gathered at Galeri Indonesia Kaya and begin their preparations. The participants started apply their faces with makeup such as lipstick, eyeshadow and blush and don’t forget the final touch, the Papua facepaint. The participants were nervous. Before their performance, they tried to calm down and gather strength and self-confidence. At 2 pm, the audience began to arrive and the show was ready to begin. The Sajojo dance will be the opening of a mini concert of an indie band, Banda Naira. The performance was running smoothly. Perseverance, hard work, passion and discipline of the participants came to fruition. They display the Sajojo dance nicely and energetic.
This activity is covered by Galeri Indonesia Kaya. Galeri Indonesia Kaya staffs cover the rehearsal, tutorials movement and the short interview about Sajojo with choreographers, named Saul. The workshop was also covered by Berta Satu. Berita Satu was covering the situation during the workshop and also conductied interviews.

Written by : Alvita Rassya

Edited and published by : Galih Sadhira & Ghina Aulia Megaputri

Polewali Mandar International Folk and Art Festival (PIFAF)

Polewali Mandar International Folk and Art Festival (PIFAF) is an annual event known as a cultural festival. The festival is an annual event of  the Government of Polewali Mandar through the Department of Culture and Tourism. But there was something different this year, because the Department of Culture and Tourism was in cooperation with CIOFF Indonesia under the auspices of UNESCO to held the biggest culture festival, inviting 5 internasional delegates from Russia, Malaysia, Romania, India, and South Korea. Around 128 participants from 5 countries performed their traditional music and dances.
PIFAF took place for five days, started at 29th of August until 5th of September 2016, held in several venues such as Arena Sport Center, Pantai Bahari Polewali, Mampie Beach, Wonomulyo district, and Silk Village. The festival has the theme of “Knowing global culture and preserving local culture”, also held Sandeq Festival, Cultural Festival, and Polewali Mandar Expo 2016. Polewali Mandar District is the first district in West Sulawesi to ever held a cultural and tourism promotional event in international scale. There was no doubt that the West Sulawesi people would be very interested and enthusiastic about the festival.

Prior to the biggest event of Polewali Mandar International Folk and Art Festival (PIFAF), various preparations had been done by the committee from the Department of Culture and Tourism of Polewali Mandar District. One of them is by organizing a dance audition to choose the participants that would perform at the festival. The festival involved a lot of artists from various community and regions in Sulawesi.

    The opening of the festival started with art parade around the HS Mengga Stadion wearing traditional costumes. Besides international delegates, the parade also attended by participants from 16 sub-districts of Polewali Mandar which performed their culture from each district. The opening ceremony attended by Governor of West Sulawesi, Anwar Adnan Saleh with his Vice Governor, Aladin S. Mengga, member of House of District Representatives (DPRD) of West Sulawesi, Samsul Samad, Deputy Police Chief of West Sulawesi, Kombes Pol Drs. Tajuddin MH, Regent of Polewali Mandar, Andi Ibrahim Masdar with his Vice Regent, HM. Natsir Rahmat. The festival also livened by traditional music and dance performances of the participating countries, reforestation at Mampie Beach, gift exchange, and visit to Silk Village.

Collaborations of Indonesian traditional culture and International culture added colors and splendors in this annual event in Polewali Mandar. All elements of society showed enthusiasm by loud applauses and appreciation in each performance venue. Hopefully this event could be a good start and become an event that could be held continuously.

 

Written by : Ghina Aulia Megaputri
Edited and published by : Gayatri Larasati & Ghina Aulia Megaputri

Erau Adat Kutai and Folk Art Festival (EIFAF) 2016

Local cultural event of Erau Adat Kutai and Folk Art Festival (EIFAF) 2016 will be appointed as a form of preservation of heritage and of course as an event to introduce society and audience on the richness of the local cultural art. The local arts will be presented at four venues during the execution of Erau Festival which were in the stage at basketball court on the side of Mahakam, Erau Expo stage, parking lot of Aji Imbut Complex, and Pulau Kumala’s main plaza on the event of street performance. This year, Erau was livened by delegates from 9 participating countries which are members of CIOFF (International Council of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts). The 9 participating countries are United States of America (Idaho), Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Canada, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Taiwan. The local teams will perform alternately with the participating groups, and also several art groups from other cities of East Borneo. The participations of CIOFF member countries in Erau were an exchange and learning of the art of the art performances. This has the aim to introduce Tenggarong or Kukar, and also the culture of Kutai Kartanegara Ing Martadipura Sultanate to outside community.

            On the night before the opening ceremony, there was a welcoming dinner for the participants of EIFAF 2016. The welcoming dinner was held at the yard of Regent of Kutai Kartanegara attended by guests and opened by the Regent of Kutai Kartanegara, Rita Widya Sari, P.hD. The event was held to welcome the participants to the Erau Adat Kutai International Folk Art Festival (EIFAF) 2016 and to establish a relationship to present the role of culture in peace and friendship between nations, also cultural exchange, and social interactions.

 

The opening of Erau started with traditional ceremony called “Mendirikan Ayu”. “Mendirikan Ayu” is a symbolization of efforts to find or establish safety and peace. In the procession of “Mendirikan Ayu”, the Sultan wore traditional clothes and sat on the throne. 

            On Sunday, 21^st of August 2016, there was a ceremonial opening of Erau Adat Kutai International Folk Art Festival (EIFAF) at Rondong Demang Tenggarong stadion. The event was opened by Art Director of the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia, Prof. Dr. Endang Caturwati, S.St, MS. and also attended by the Ambassador of Seychelles for ASEAN, Nico Barito, President of CIOFF Indonesia, Said Rachmat, Network Director of Kota Pusaka Indonesia, the Governor of East Borneo, Awang Faroek Ishak together with Coordination of Leaders of East Borneo Provinces, Regent of Kutai Kartanegara, Rita Widyasari together with the Sultanate of Kutai Kartanegara, Ing Martadipura, all Kings and Sultans of Indonesia, Regents of East Borneo, Government of Sleman, Bantul, Gunung Kidul, Bandung district, public figures and officials, and members of CIOFF (International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts).

Before starting the ceremonies, the guest and officials did a Tepong Tawar tradition by the Sultanate of Kutai Kartanegara. On this event,the participants did a parade.  The opening of EIFAF 2016 was symbolized by lighting up 7 brongs (Big torches). One of the activities in EIFAF was Street Performance. The activity was held in Pulau Kumala, Tenggarong. The delegates from all countries had to do a performance. The performances managed to hypnotize the tourists of Pulau Kumala. After the performance, the delegates greeted the locals in Pulau Kumala.

            Besides Street Performance, the participants visited Kedaton Kutai Kartanegara on Tuesday, 23^rd of August 2016. The arrival of the participants was greeted by Aji Pangeran Ario Adjuar Poegar in front of Kedaton Kutai Kartanegara. The participants were presented with a sacred Kedaton Kutai Kartanegara dance, Topeng Kemindu. The Sultan of Kutai Kartanegara stated in his speech his hopes for the participants to be able to enjoy the activities arranger in the festival. The activitiy was then followed by performances from the participating team in front of the Sultan and the Crown Prince, and also the officials from each country. The countries presented a performance at Kedaton Kutai Kartanegara were Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, USA, Taiwan, Russia, Romania, and Ukraine.

            The following day, Wednesday, 24^th of August 2016, the participants and thousands of locals socialized with official from Kutai Kartanegara in a banquet (Beseprah) held around Jembatan Besi until Gunung Pendidik. Beseprah was part of Erau Adat Kutai and International Folk Art Festival 2016.

            The participants of EIFAF 2016 were also invited to reduce the effect of global warming. Together with Department of Culture and Tourism of Kukar and Bankaltim, the participants attended Green Tenggarong event held at tourist attraction site, Waduk Panji Sukarame, on Thursday, 25^th of August which was also part of Erau Adat Kutai and International Folk Art Festival (EIFAF) 2016. The activity of the event was planting of several fruit tree typical to Kutai.

            After EIFAF 2016 held for a week long, the Regent of Kutai Kartanegara, Rita Widyasari, P.hD officially closed the event. The peak of the event was the “Mengulur Naga” procession. The procession itself was held in the yard of Kedaton of the Sultanate of Ing Martadipura. A replica of a dragon will cruise down the Mahakam river and end up in Kutai Lama, Anggana. After that, another procession called “Belimbur” was done in the purpose of sanctification from bad influence, add spirits in developing the region, so that the environments are free from bad influence. All delegates and guests attended the closing ceremony of Erau Adat Kutai and International Folk Arts Festival.

Written by : Alvita Rassya

Edited and published by : Gayatri Larasati & Ghina Aulia Megaputri

Surabaya Cross Culture International Folk and Art Festival 2016

 Surabaya as the Capital City of East Java, known as the City of Heroes, and the second largest city in Indonesia. The total population of the city is more than 2.9 million and have diverse cultures. With the culture diversity character of the city, the Government and the Department of Culture and Tourism of Surabaya held a cultural exchange festival called Surabaya Cross Culture since 11 years ago. Before, groups participated in the festival were only the sister countries of Surabaya. In 2016, the Government of Surabaya organized a slightly different event and changed the name of the festival into Surabaya Cross Culture International Folk and Art Festival 2016 (SSIFAF 2016).

This year was the first year of cooperations between the Government of Surabaya and CIOFF Indonesia in support of the management of Surabaya Cross Culture International Folk and Art Festival 2016. (SCCIFAF 2016). The aim of the festival was to promote Indonesia espescially East Java Province and Surabaya, and also to promote “Visit Surabaya 2016”. The particiapants of the festival this year were International Groups from CIOFF Indonesia, Surabaya’s Sister Cities like Wuxi, Guangzhou, and Xiamen (China) and a group from Seoul, South Korea. Besides that, the festival also attended by participants from Sleman, Balikpapan, North Borneo, and Surabaya’s local group.

CIOFF Indonesia sent three of its members, Ghina Aulia Megaputri, Chika Nur Rachma K. Wasitova, and Rosmala Sari Dewi as executor and help during the festival. CIOFF Indonesia, lead by Said Rachmat invited several international delegates to participate in the festival. The groups are American Footworks Folk Dance Ensemble (IDAHO USA), Ansamblul Folkloric Studentesc “Martisorul” (ROMANIA), Polonia Ensemble (POLAND), Leigarid Folklore Society Group (ESTONIA), and Yang Ju Byul San Dae & Kin Hei Kyung Dance (SOUTH KOREA).

Surabaya Cross Culture International Folk and Art Festival (SCCIFAF) 2016 held at 14-16th of August 2016. The delegates participated in activities that surely caught Surabayans eyes. On the first day, all international delegates followed a parade and had the chance to ride a decorated Becak as a traditional transportation of Indonesia. Opened by Mrs. Risma, the Mayor of Surabaya, the parade started from Taman Bungkul, to Darmo street, Urip Sumoharjo street and Jalan Panglima Sudirman street, and ended in the Town Hall of Surabaya. After the parade, the delegates also got the chance to perform on a Street Performance activity at Tugu Bambu. The event then continued to a Press Conference of Surabaya Cross Culture International Folk and Art Festival (SCCIFAF) 2016 at town hall, and also followed by lunch. Mrs. Risma as the Mayor of Surabaya hosted the lunch and presented the delegates with various traditional cuisines, so that the delegates had the chance to taste Indonesian food.

    Performance stages in SCCIFAF 2016 were divided in several venues such as, Taman Jayengrono, Taman Bungkul, Tunjungan Plaza Mall, Royal Plaza Mall, and Ciputra Mall, and Gwalk. Besides that, the delegates also did an opening performance at Town Hall, and closing ceremony at Cultural Hall Building. Apart from traditional dance and music, the delegates also had the chance to present about the philosophy and descriptions of their culture at a workshop in Surabaya Museum Gallery. The students around the city of Surabaya also got the chance to learn the dance moves of the participants’ countries.

Besides introducing their culture, the international delegates also had the opportunity to get to know the face of Surabaya. They did a tour to Sungai Kalimas and cruising down with a boat, and did some souvenir shopping at Mirota, participated in “Malam Tirakatan” by visiting Plampitan Village, Maspati Village, Peneleh Village, and Ketandan Village. Surabaya is also known as the city of 1000 museums, so the delegates also visited Health Museum (Museum Kesehatan), Museum of Bank of Indonesia (Museum Bank Indonesia), and Monument of Heroes (Tugu Pahlawan).

Surabaya Cross Culture International Folk and Art Festival (SCCIFAF) 2016 captured the local and international media’s attention where the event was stated to be a successful event for cultural exchange. Happiness, pride, and friendships were established between Indonesia and participating delegates. The presence of SCCIFAF in years to come will surely be an event to be awaited by the locals.

Written by : Ghina Aulia Megaputri

Edited and published by : Gayatri Larasati & Ghina Aulia Megaputri

Pasir Putih & USACE Padjadjaran University goes to Vistula Folk Festival 2016

 

Pasir Putih USACE is a traditional art and culture community under the auspices of Padjajaran University. In 2016, Pasir Putih is in cooperation with CIOFF Indonesia to participate in a festival in Poland called Vistula Folk Festival. The members of Pasir Putih departed to the city of  Płock, Poland with 9 female dancers, 3 female musicians, and 3 male musicians, together with 1 CIOFF representative, Yunita Hardiyanti Gunawan.

 

Vistula Folk Festival 2016 was held on 23rd of August until 28th of August 2016. Several countries participated in the festival were Indonesia, Basque Country (Spain), Slovakia, Ukraine, and Poland. All five participating countries done some acquainting at the Town Hall, wearing their traditional costumes and brought their attributes and national flag. All the delegates socializing by taking pictures together, introducing their traditional games, and also playing music together to entertain the audience. After that, all participants gathered at the North Park to rehearse their performance.

The Opening Concert was held on Wednesday, 24th of September 2016, in the afternoon at the North Park. Opened by speech from the Artistic Director of the festival, Piotr Andrzey Onyszko, and started with a desflle of the delegates with the name board and the national flag of each country. Indonesia presented Greget Jawara and Topeng dance. The ceremony was closed with a final dance presented by all of the participants of the festival. The activities during the festival were quite busy but also fun. Pasir Putih USACE also had the opportunity to entertain children at an orphanage.

The Gala Concert was the highlight of Vistula Folk Festival 2016. The event was held at the Amphitheatre. All of the participating countries presented the dances they had not presented before during the festival to share their culture. Indonesia presented Enggang and Balian dance which then followed by Saman dance as the closing. The performance received great appreciation from the audience in the city of Płock.

Written by : Yunita Hardiyanti Gunawan

Edited and published by : Gayatri Larasati & Ghina Aulia Megaputri