(2) wayang kulit :: manifestation of the power of cultural art as the powerful method of socail commentry and effective political tool :-wayang kulit has proved that cultural art does mean more than only entertainment. Continuous -reinvention is one of the mysteries behind its sustainity.Uniquely ,wayangs are used as a mass of communication between the autherity and the general public in Indonesia. very closeness to common man is its real power.Thas Aw,a writer rightly says “ Before the advent of TV and before the spread of TV in Indonesia in the 1960s, the shadow theatre was probably the primary form of educational messages. It was the way the government disseminated things that they wanted to get across to people and it was also probably the main form of entertainment. And whereas you would have thought that nowadays with a TV in practically every household certainly in the cities it would be rendered superfluous, in fact it hasn’t and it’s lasted the course and is still a very, very important part of Indonesian cultural life. “ pallavi aiyer claims in The Hindu about its use as a effective tool in defferent perspectives from very early days to present time :- “Wayang is, in fact, thought to have been used by the so-called Wali Songo, or the nine 15th century Islamic scholars credited with spreading Islam in Java. It is, similarly, also believed to have been used by Christian missionaries for proselytising. Wayang and politics have also long been enmeshed. From the Islamic sultans of Java to modern-day nationalists like Sukarno and military dictators like Suharto, wayang has been utilised as both a legitimising and oppositional political tool. Even contemporary Islamist political parties like the Partai Keadilan Sejahtera (PKS) who have an explicit agenda to bring Indonesia in line with Shariat law, have been known to stage wayang performances in an attempt to boost their electoral fortunes. For example, the PKS organised a wayang centred on the life story of Bhima at the party’s national convention held in Jogjakarta in 2011. In Indonesia, stories centred on Bhima are often used by so-called champions of the common people. During Suharto’s reign (1965-1998), Bhima’s struggle against a cannibal king who dined rapaciously on his subjects was commonly deployed as a means to express concern about the corrupt character of the regime. In Jogjakarta, the PKS used examples from Bhima’s life to draw analogies with contemporary corruption and the need for an honest entity (with Bhima-like characteristics), read the PKS, to enact change. And so an extraordinary situation was created whereby a political party with an ostensibly “Wahabi” ideology identified itself with Bhima in order to persuade people to vote for it.” So in spite of very late arrival the grand acceptence of islam bythe greater part of indonesia could become possible due to help of wayang kulit also.sukarno got great help from this art-from in reshaping , integrating and safegurding the nation.None could deny the effectictiveness of wayang kulit as mass communication. These days secretaries are engaged by the government to encourage the story tellers of wayangs to transform ideas such as birth-control and rice-production in their tales;hence bringing the messeges across the public effectively.The wayang is also a convenient tool,particularly in the vent of election for winning the support and trust of the people.Pro-government and anti-government propagandas as well as heartfel grievance can be woven in to shadow-plays very easily.so the relanvance and power of wayang is ever axiomatic one.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 03:22:19 +0000
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