THE
INDONESIAN EMBASSY IN YARRALUMLA
AT
GLANCE
The Building
The building of the Indonesian Embassy at 8 Darwin Avenue, Yarralumla, was
begun in 1971 by the Australian architect, George Holland. The Ambassador and his staff moved into it in August 1971,
but the official inauguration took place in February the next year on the
occasion of President Soeharto’s visit to Australia.
The
main office building is just like any other modern structure but the annex, an
exhibition hall, and the steps leading to a terrace in front of the hall with
hand-carved Balinese sculptures are most attractive, a contribution to
Canberra’s tourism objects.
Extensions
and alterations to the Embassy were completed in 1984.
The sculptures along the steps and
around the terrace.
At
first sight the statues may look queer, unnatural.
Indeed they are not just decorative ornaments and are not carved in
naturalistic style. They
represent personalities from two ancient Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata; old Hindu stories that have been adopted by the Indonesian people
for centuries and which the common people considered as legendary stories
linked with the ancestors of their own kings.
Both
stories actually related to the Hindu religion and were used in the teaching
of the religion. Although the
Indonesian people (except the Balinese) left that religion in the 16th
century and are at present mostly Moslems (a small percentage are Roman
Catholic or Protestant and Buddhist), they have not banned these two Hindu
epics. They still tell or write
them in verse and in prose; many comic books have been published dealing with
them; fragments of the stories are performed in the shadow play, or wayang
kulit, and they are performed on stage, like an opera, with acting, dancing
and singing or in open air theatres, as traditional ballet festivals under the
tropical full moon. Indeed, these
two ancient stories are for the Indonesian artist a source of inspiration that
never dries.
Nowadays
in the Hindu religious teachings they are left out, but morals that are not in
contradiction with those in Islam (or the other religions) have been retained
in the narratives of the puppeteer and in the dialogues of the dramatis
personae. The core of the
morality in both stories is the eternal fight between good and evil in macro
as well as in micro-cosmos. And
in the whole story, and in each fragment and in each side story (born out of
the fertile mind of the Indonesians themselves), in the beginning evil always
seems to win, but since God’s blessing is absolutely for the good, in the
end evil will be totally defeated.
Courage, self-reliance and patience, and justice and wisdom are some of
the most important traits of the heroes. But however brave and loyal and true
and wise they are, in both stories not one hero is pictured as being perfect;
each personality is just like living human beings with weaknesses, faults and
errors.
Therefore,
when the Indonesian Embassy has these statues on display beside the steps and
around the terrace, it is not just to show the visitors how beautiful Balinese
stone carving is, or just as decorative ornamentation to break the geometric
lines of the businesslike office buildings, no, there is a deeper meaning
behind it: that the Indonesian people are working hard to build up their
country and are doing their best to keep pace with modern science and
technology without ever losing their foothold on their own strong culture; and
that the Indonesian people have a high and noble ideal, the Pancasila, and
that they are laboriously climbing up the steps to achieve the actualisation
of that ideal - a just and prosperous society based on the five philosophical
principles:
Belief
in God, One and Almighty; Humanitarianism, civilised and just; National Unity;
Democracy guided by the wisdom of consultation in representative bodies; and
Social Welfare for the whole Indonesian people.
After
climbing the steep narrow steps with the statues on either side, the visitor
passes through a plain and modest stone gate, a humble imitation of a Balinese
temple gate. Automatically
he stops. Straight in front
his eyes meet an attractive building, an Indonesian pendopo, surrounded by a
pond with small fountains, just enough to express movement, life, but without
distracting the attention of the visitor from the main objects: the pendopo, and again the sculptures around the terrace.
The visitor is kindly invited to inspect the statues of princess Shita,
prince Rama and the ape hero, Hanuman, from the Ramayana and Bhima, Arjuna and
other heroes from the Mahabharata.
“The pendopo” (the hall) and
the display of articles of arts and music.
The
pavilion housing the Indonesian musical instruments and other articraft is
built in the style of a traditional Javanese pendopo, but of course adapted
with modern technology. Another
difference is the glass walls. In
tropical Indonesia, a pendopo is open on all sides. One will easily recognise the similarity with the
superseding roofs of Balinese temples, old Javanese mosques, and other
traditional buildings in Indonesia.
1.
The Gamelan musical instruments.
How
old is the gamelan music? Nobody
knows for sure yet. But in the
reliefs of the old Hindu-Javanese temples in Java, dating from the 7th
and the 8th centuries, one can already recognise some pictures
representing gamelan instruments.
Most
instruments in a gamelan orchestra are percussion instruments, but there is
also a type of violin, the rebab, a string instrument called chlempung or
siter, and the flute. A complete orchestra consists of two sets of
instruments, different in tone scales, the pelog and the slendro. The main instruments are:
-
For the conductor:
the kendangs (drums);
-
For the main melody: 2 or 3 kinds of bonangs; 3 to 4 kinds of genders; 3
kinds of sarons; and 1 gambang (resembling a xylophone);
-
For rhythm and metrum: demung; ketuk, kempul and kenong; the gongs;
-
For the introduction and to draw a classical melody to
the end, the orchestra usually makes use of the rebab.
-
The flute and the chlempung are also used to play the
main melody with variations.
The
conductor does not stand in front of the orchestra with a baton in his hand,
but he conducts the orchestra with his drums.
(The
gamelan instruments in the hall at the Embassy are from Central Java.
Balinese gamelan instruments are quite different in form, in tone, and
timbre or tonal colour, and the music is also different).
An
expert gambang or gender player can give a solo performance on his instrument;
and in West Java, especially, a duet of kecapi (harp) and flute in the quiet
evenings can be enchantingly beautiful; melancholic and yet sometimes
frivolous and playful; or be sad, yet teasingly amusing……
2.
Angklung music.
The
instruments are made of bamboo. Each
instrument consists of three bamboo pipes of different length and different
width but in the same note in different octaves. Each member of the orchestra holds the instrument in
his left hand and shakes it with his right hand when it is his turn to
produce the tone. At
present there are also angklungs in the diatonic tone scale (c-d-e-f-g-a-b-c)
to play western music or contemporary Indonesian melodies.
For the accompaniment, there are special instruments with three or four
tones: c-g-d major accords, etc.; a-minor accord, etc; d-dominant-septime
accord and so on.
Since
each member of the orchestra handles only one or two angklungs, he cannot play
a melody on his own; on the other hand he has to concentrate and submit
himself completely to the group.
3.
Leather wayang-puppets.
A
complete set of leather wayang puppets (wayang kulit) and the screen to play
the puppets on are placed in one of the corners of the hall.
The puppeteer, called the dalang, sits on a mat in front of the screen
and holds the puppets against the screen.
A lamp, the blenchong, hanging above the dalang will then cast shadows
of the puppets on to the screen. So
the audience on the other side of the screen can only see the shadows moving
and fighting without seeing the hands of the puppeteer.
A
wayang kulit performance traditionally starts at 8.00 p.m. and finishes at
sunrise the next morning. A full
orchestra and usually two female singers accompany the performance.
The dalang or puppeteer tells the story in a melodious narration (half
singing half speaking), do the talking of the puppets with changes in his
voice, move them with his skilful fingers; he lets the puppets dance and walk,
and run and sing and fight. The
schooling of a dalang takes many years of learning and training.
He has to memorise the stories; he has to learn to sing the melodies,
he has to memorise the special sentences and expressions in old Javanese; he
has to master the different voices of the personalities in the story and he
has to learn how to move one or two puppets in each hand.
And above all, the dalang has to learn philosophy, psychology, and
sociology. He even has to know
about current affairs that he could slip into the dialogues of his special
puppets; and he must be able to make jokes to keep the audience awake.
Nowadays
the stories are from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, not only fragments from
the original Hindu stories but hundreds of side stories “made in Indonesia”.
However, the wayang play does not come from India.
The Indonesians had it long before the arrival of the first Hindus in
Indonesia. The original
Indonesian wayang performance was a religious rite, dating from the time when
the religion of the Indonesian was a mixture of dynamism, animism and ancestor
worship. Puppets are cut rudely
out of buffalo skin to represent their dead ancestors.
At night an old wise man gathers his people around him to tell them of
the heroic adventures of their ancestors and to teach them their wisdom.
To dramatize the story, the leather puppets are moved between a lamp
and a screen. Probably the
shadows moving mysteriously on the screen were to represent the souls of the
departed ancestors.
The
Ramayana and Mahabharata stories are also performed on stage like an opera.
The actors wear fantastic costumes.
They do the acting and dancing and singing and the dialogues, but the
introduction at the beginning and between the acts is done by the dalang who
sits amongst the orchestra in the orchestra pit.
The
most recently created form is the sendratari, a ballet based on indigenous
Indonesian dances themselves. Actually
the word sendratari is an acronym consisting of three words: sen – seni =
art; dra – drama; and tari = dance.
While
the wayang orang is usually performed on the stage of a theatre (at
festivities in a pendopo), the sendratari is initiating a new tradition, to be
performed in open-air theatres by moonlight.
And while the open air theatre on the grounds of the 1,100 year old
Prambanan temple near Jogyakarta restricts its ballet festivals to fragments
of the Ramayana (because the whole story is told in the reliefs on the walls
of the main temple), other open air theatres like the one at the Taman
Ismail Marzuki cultural centre in Jakarta and the largest open air theatre
in East Java, the Candra Wilwatikta
Garden, are willing to perform
ballet based on the Mahabharata,
besides the Ramayana, and even on
historical events like the rise of the
kingdom of Majapahit, etc.
4.
Puppets from West Java.
There
are also “wayang” plays that use wooden puppets, the wayang golek, being
most popular in West Java. Samples
of the golek are on display in the hall showing their costumes that bear some
resemblance to the costumes of the wayang orang.
5.
Wayang orang costumes.
In
one of the showcases you can see samples of the costumes of the wayang orang
actors: a headdress, ornaments for the ears, etc.
6.
Woodcarvings.
Most
famous are woodcarvings from Bali and from Jepara in Central Java, but it must
be stressed that those are not the only two places where woodcarving has been
handed over from generation to generation.
Bali woodcarvings are mostly ornamental: statues of men and women, real
animals and mythological animals, but recently also larger items such as
screens or room-dividers and wall-decorations, landscapes, etc.
Jepara on the other hand has been known for its boxes, and other small
articles (jewel boxes, cigar/cigarette cases, nest of small tables,
bookstands, magazine stands) and nowadays also furniture.
But Malang and Madura in East Java have been producing furniture in
antique style with fine woodcarving since time unknown.
While the eastern-most part of Indonesia (Irian Jaya province) is also
extremely well known for its wood carving, especially by the Asmat tribe.
7.
Silverware.
Tea
and coffee sets, smokers sets and other silver articles of high quality are
produced in Jogyakarta, while filigree in gold and silver has its centres in
West Java and in Kendari, South-East Sulawesi.
8.
Leather goods.
Fine
leather goods are made in Jogyakarta, but Surabaya in East Java has recently
specialised in another kind of leather product.
9.
Batik painting.
The
art of Batik painting also dates from time immemorial, i.e., from before the
contact with Hindu culture in the 1st century A.D.
Batik painting (and now Batik printing) is spread throughout the island
of Java, each area with its own special style, colour and quality.
Well-known centres of batik, each with its own “identity” and quite
distinguishable from products of other places, include Jogyakarta, Surakarta,
Wonogiri, Lasem, Banyumas, Pekalongan, and Tasikmalaya.
At present new centres have been opened but their products do not have
a special type. In the meantime,
younger artists are introducing new styles and new techniques.
However, the basic technique of batik painting remains the same.
In
the exhibition hall the visitor can see the traditional instruments and tools
for batik painting and for batik printing, and also some samples of batik
clothes.
10.
Traditional costumes for wedding ceremonies.
The
motto in the Indonesian Coat of Arms is “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” that means
“Unity in Diversity”. This
motto dates back to the 15th century and is quite true for
Indonesia. The Indonesian Nation
is one that can boast of an old history, but also a colourful bouquet of
ethnic groups. And like
everywhere else in the world: women and colours; women and gracefulness; and
women and charms are inseparable. An
Indonesian reception attended by guests from all over the country is like a
fashion show in fairyland. And
especially the costumes of the bride and bridegroom, they are so colourful and
excitingly beautiful.
11.
What is not on display.
Indonesia
is too large; the cultural riches are too overwhelming, and the exhibition
hall too small. The Embassy
cannot bring the whole of Indonesia in the pendopo.
Not all the samples of musical instruments or articraft, and
photographic material, and costumes, and samples of diamonds and other gems,
and the delicious fruits, the wonderful orchids and other flowers, etc. etc.
Nor the products of modern industry like textile, transistor, radio,
etc.
But
there is also a part of the Embassy that is not the office and cannot be put
on visual display: the friendliness and hospitality of the Indonesian people,
their peaceful attitude towards other people, their love for beauty: beauty in
Nature, beauty in products of the Arts, and, above all, beauty in the Heart of
Man….. because all beauty comes from God.
