OUR ARTS and CRAFTS
Performing
Arts
1)Music
Indonesia
is home to hundreds of forms of music, with those form the island of Java
, Sumatra and Bali being frequently recorded.
The traditional music of central and East Java and Bali is the gamelan.
In 1965, a law was passed (Panpres 11/1965)
banning Western-style pop or rock music. On June 1965, Koes Plus,
a leading Indonesian pop group in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, was imprisoned
in Glodok, West Jakarta , for playing
Western-style music. After President Soekarno resigned and PKI disbanded,
the law rescinded. Glodok prison
was destroyed to be replaced with a large shopping mall.
Dangdut is a very popular
style of music with an accompanying free dance style.
Kroncong is a musical
genre that uses guitars and ukuleles as the main musical instruments.
This genre had its roots
in Portugal and was introduced by Portuguese traders in the 15 th century.
In West Java, Popular musical styles
include Degung and Angklung
2)
Dance
It is not difficult to see a continuum
in the traditional dances depicting episodes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata
from India , through Thailand , all the way to Bali . There is a marked
difference, though, between the highly stylized
dances of the courts of Yogyakarta and Surakarta and their popular variations.
While the court dances are promoted
and even performed internationally, the popular forms of dance art and
drama must largely be discovered locally.
During the last few years, Saman
dance from Aceh has become rather popular and it's often performed on
TV.
3)
Drama and Theater
Randai is a folk theatre tradition of
the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra , usually performed for
traditional ceremonies and festivals. It incorporates music, singing,
dance, drama and the Silat martial art,
with performances often based on semi-historical Minangkabau stories and
legends.
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Visual Arts
1)Painting
Indonesia is not generally known for
paintings, but there are unique works of art, primarily the intricate
and
expressive Balinese paintings. They often express natural scenes and themes
from the traditional dances.
Some foreign painters have also settled in Indonesia . Modern Indonesian
painters use a wide variety of styles and
themes. Calligraphy, mostly based on the Qur'an , is often used as decoration
as Islam forbids naturalistic depictions.
2)Sculpture
Indonesia has a long-he Bronze and Iron
Ages, but the art-form particularly flourished in the eighth to tenth
century,
both as stand-alone works of art, and also incorporated into temples.
Most notable are the hundreds of meters
of relief sculpture at the temple of Borobudur in Central Java. Approximately
two miles of exquisite relief sculpture tell the story of the life of
Buddha and illustrate his teachings. The temple
was originally home to 504 statues of the seated Buddha. This site, as
with others in Central Java , show a clear
Indian influence.
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Architecture
For centuries, the most dominant influences
on Indonesian Architecture were Indian, although European influences
have been particularly strong since the nineteenth century.
Like much of Southeast Asia, traditional
buildings in Indonesia are built on stilts with the significant exceptions
of Java
and Bali . Notable Stilt House are those of the Dayak people in Borneo,
the Rumah Gadang of the Minangkabau people
in western Sumatra, the Batak people in northern Sumatra, and the Tongkongan
of the Toraja people in Sulawesi
. Oversized saddle roofs with large eves are, such as the homes of the
Batak and the tongkonan of Toraja, are
often bigger than the house they shelter. The fronts of Torajan houses
are frequently decorated with buffalo horns,
stacked one above another, as an indication of status. The outside walls
also frequently feature decorative reliefs.
The eight-century Borobudur temple near
Yogyakarta the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and is notable
for incorporating c.160 relief panels into its structure, telling the
story of the life of the Buddha. As the visitor
ascends through the eight levels of the temple, the story unfolds, the
final three levels simply containing stupas and
statues of the Buddha. The building is said to incorporate a map of the
Buddhist cosmos and is a masterful fusion of
the didactic, the monumental and the serene.
The nearby temple complex at Prambanan
are amongst the best preserved examples of Hindu temple architecture in
Java. Built in the ninth century, the temple complex comprises eight main
shrines, surrounded by 250 smaller shrines.
The Indian influence on the site is clear, not only in the style of the
monument, but also in the reliefs featuring scenes
from the Ramayana which adorn the outer walls of the main temples, and
in the votive statuary found within.
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Crafts
Several Islands are famous for their
batik, ikat and songket cloth. Once on the brink of disappearing, batik
and later
ikat found a new lease of life when former President Soeharto promoted
wearing batik shirts on official occasions.
In addition to the traditional patterns with their special meanings, used
for particular occasions, batik designs have
become creative and diverse over the last few years.
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