Asian Transformations in Action - Api-fellowships.org

REFIGURATION OF IDENTITIES AND FUTURES IN TIMES OF TRANSFORMATION 139cultural hegemony (translated by Fushiki).]“Suatu gerakan ideologis untuk menjaga kehidupansosial budaya Bali agar tetap eksis sekaligus kokohmenghadapi tantangan internal dan eksternal”(Putra Darma 2005, 316).[An ideological activity that is going to protectthe social and cultural life of Bali for its eternaland solid existence when faced with internal andexternal challenges (translated by Fushiki).]ajeg: a new protectionist ethos in the discourses onBalinese cultural identity (Noszlopy 2005, 179).This discourse has been readjusted and reframedfor the 21 st century by academics, local governmentand the mass media, specifically the Bali Post, asthe discourse of Ajeg Bali. Ajeg Bali, a Bali that is“upstanding,” “stable” and culturally autonomous,follows in the wake of the correct practice of adat(Noszlopy 2005, 180-181).What is real the meaning of Ajeg Bali? Before a truemeaning of Ajeg Bali could be arrived at, the opinionof leaders has extended the keyword in the mass media.The word was received by the people and practicedwithout being doubted. The concept of Ajeg Bali hasnow become “something one has to do as ‘Balinese.’”It is only in the last few years that Ajeg Bali has becomea popular ethos with the local people. Many culturalactivities are done as representations of the Ajeg Balimovement. It is also related to the religious ethos oraesthetics, especially with Agama Hindu (Hinduism).How do artists respond to Ajeg Bali? A few yearsago, they did not recognize the concept of Ajeg Bali.Nowadays, artists who are highly educated want totalk about Ajeg Bali themselves and want to put it intopractice. This is an interesting phenomenon. Life withthe local identity/ethos of “Ajeg Bali” was introducednot only by intellectuals but also by artists, especiallytraditional gamelan 1 players. When they play gamelansin some rituals that society wants to perform, theysuggest the most “suitable” gamelan for the ritual. Theability to make suggestions comes from the knowledgebrought about by their higher educational attainment.They sometimes change the social behavior in a local sitelike a desa (village). In these places, very local behaviorsometimes replaces the standard, mainstream style.In addition to the situation detailed above, problemswith Ajeg Bali complicate local politics. Many culturalevents concerned with Ajeg Bali are organized bylocal governments. In my research, I followed someperforming arts lomba (competitions). Sometimes thecompetition became a transactional stage for politicalpowers where who received the honor from the lombawas more important than artistic representation. Theprincipal political interest within a desa is the one whoparticipates in the dance, music and other things, andno one notices what is important in the piece or itsaesthetics. In this situation, there are certain criteria forentering the competition, but these no longer considerethos or aesthetics.The contribution of ISI to Balinese performing artsInstitut Seni Indonesia-Denpasar or ISI-Denpasar(Indonesian Arts Institute in Denpasar) is one of thenational universities of the arts and music. Most of thepeople who take an academic role or form the politicalnucleus of the current Balinese performing arts scenegraduated from this university. This university wasestablished as a vocational school of Balinese traditionalarts and has now become an institute of Indonesianarts. In the era of the academy, this university had itsgraduates perform surveys of the local performing arts,and these reports became a basic, important recordabout contemporary Balinese arts in those days. Afterbecoming STSI-Denpasar (Sekolah Tinggi Seni Indonesia-Denpasar), the university functioned as an institutionthat mainly produced artists creating performing arts.Many graduation works were produced and a publicexamination was held every year. Now the Institute issending out highly educated artists who give guidanceto younger generations of artists.Graduates’ creations and social evaluations of/reactions tothe InstituteI analyzed the trend in graduation performancesand tried to investigate how this trend was tied tosocial changes. The reason for this analysis was that Iexpected the university to have played a role in the AjegBali movement. From 1988 to the mid-1990s, manystudents who majored in karawitan (traditional music)at STSI-Denpasar chose theater sendratari (seni dramatari, dance drama) for their graduation performances.Then, starting in the mid-1990s, many students didtheir graduation performances as dance pieces. Thenfrom 2000 onward, many students did their graduationpieces not in the karawitan style but in the konser(modern concert) style. This implies that not only hasthe karawitan style been abandoned but that the piecesdo not “use” traditional gamelan instruments. I wasvery surprised by this result, because the Institute is acenter for the study of traditional music, but many of itsstudents no longer use the karawitan style. This situationAsian Transformations in ActionThe Work of the 2006/2007 API Fellows