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Storytellers chime in on nationalism
Kelompok Dongeng Kebangsaan (Tales of Nationalism Group) blends in narration, video footage, monologues and music to tell story in a show at the Galeri Indonesia Kaya in the Grand Indonesia mall, Central Jakarta
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span class="inline inline-none">Kelompok Dongeng Kebangsaan (Tales of Nationalism Group) blends in narration, video footage, monologues and music to tell story in a show at the Galeri Indonesia Kaya in the Grand Indonesia mall, Central Jakarta.
What makes Jakarta the city it is today? It is a long story that involves an epic battle equal to that of Waterloo, the invention of the steam engine and Batman.
At least that's what the Kelompok Dongeng Kebangsaan (Tales of Nationalism Group) presented to an audience at the Galeri Indonesia Kaya in the Grand Indonesia mall, Central Jakarta, over the weekend.
Titled From Jakarta to Indonesia, the story begins back in the mists of time when Jakarta was still a swampy town built around the Sunda Kelapa Port, and it continues through the ages as the town grew and developed with associated changes in name.
'Each name has its own story. Even the names of different areas have their own stories. Jatinegara, for instance, is mentioned a lot in literature and songs, and for a number of reasons that people have forgotten,' filmmaker Garin Nugroho, one of the group's co-founders, said during the narration.
Jatinegara in East Jakarta, which was known as the Meester in days gone by, was the fortified territory of the Dutch colonial regime.
In 1811, the area suffered an attack from British forces and their allies, which lasted 10 days. The area where the dead bodies were buried was called Rawa Bangke (the corpse swamp), but in more recent times, the name was changed to Rawa Bunga (the flower swamp), which seems to have buried the history and story of the place along with the dead.
The Meester train station was the gateway to modern Indonesia, with the introduction of steam trains by the end of the 19th century.
'Jatinegara was also the birthplace of Wage Rudolf Supratman,' said Garin, referring to the creator of the national anthem, Indonesia Raya.
The performance continued by showing how Indonesia was formed by pop culture, with the Hotel Indonesia (now the Hotel Indonesia Kempinski) in Central Jakarta at the heart of it.
In his narration, Garin explained that Indonesian violinist Idris Sard and emcee/singer Bob Tutupoly got their initial training on the road to becoming world-class entertainers at the hotel's Nirvana club, which provided an opportunity for international exposure.
The pop lifestyle, which was often undermined, was 'in fact, a brick in building the character of the nation'.
'It changed the perspective, the way of thinking in Jakarta,' Garin added.
The tale then flowed in line with the emergence of Jakarta's pop-music hero, Benyamin Sueb, and fictional heroes in movies and comics ' the new era of civilization.
'While we still remember the theme songs of Batman movies, people said the stories of superheroes wouldn't sell in the country' Garin said, inviting the audience to ponder the subject after musicians and singers performed Seal's Kiss from a Rose, which featured as the theme song for Batman Forever.
The performance was an ensemble of narration, video footage, monologues and music, which followed one after another without losing a beat, pinning the audience to their seats for 60 minutes.
The idea to combine various forms of art to deliver these stories first arose when Garin and the late singer/songwriter, Franky Sahilatua, visited East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) to attend a political education event ahead of the 2009 election.
At that time, they realized that people craved a more interesting tool for political education, the kind that was used by our forefathers to pass on their wisdom and knowledge to younger generations, or by seafaring merchants who spread knowledge of different religions to the people.
Through storytelling, Garin said, people could gain greater insight into things that were going on. 'Everywhere we go, we try to tell a story related to that place. The audiences love that. They sing along to the songs and then explore further for the historical facts contained in the story.'
Not only was the presentation style novel, some of the venues where the group has performed have also been unique. In NTT, for instance, they performed in the middle of a soccer field, while in Bojonegoro, East Java, a clearing in a forest was their stage.
Interestingly, the group has no permanent members. For Saturday's show, Garin brought together actress Cornelia Agatha, singers Edo Kondologit and Sigit Diop Saputra and violinist/singer Ismi 'Mia' Halida.
'We met for the first time yesterday [Friday] for the rehearsal,' Edo said.
The singers belted out the songs, mostly golden oldies, to better describe the story.
And as the audience sang along and clapped their hands to 'Lagu Gembira' (The Happy Song), at the end of the performance Garin summarized what makes Jakarta the country's capital.
'It is the city of struggle, of survival, hope and promise, where heroes were born. In this election year, let us elect a leader who understands the values behind becoming a nation.'
' Photos courtesy of Galeri Indonesia Kaya
