Traditional Toys Revival: Yogyakarta, Central Java

By Barrie | August 14th, 2007 | No Comments

The usually quiet compound of the former campus of the Indonesian Fine Arts Academy (ASRI) on Jl. Gampingan Yogyakarta appeared merry as children amused themselves happily during a festival recently held there on the evening of July 29.

In one corner, several children could be seen joyfully beating miniature gamelan instruments. Although each played a different rhythm — sometimes with almost no discernible pattern — together they sounded like they were producing a children’s tune.

Not far from them, a different group of children was spotted as they beat an old elongated wooden mortar, locally known as lesung, with wooden sticks, or alu. Some of these would-be drummers were dressed in Javanese traditional costumes.

Other children were scattered here and there throughout the compound. Some were playing with various traditional toys while others were engaged in traditional games. Still others were simply running or wandering around, watching other children as they played with or raced traditional toys.

Among these toys and games were the egrang (bamboo stilts), gejok lesung (mortar drumming), tandem bakiak (wooden clogs), and another type of bakiak made from halved coconut shells strung together with a rope.

“These toys are rarely played these days. If nothing is done about it, I am afraid they will soon disappear for good,” said KPH Wironegoro, chairman of the Yogyakarta-based Seni Nusantara Foundation (YSN) that organized the festival.

Held for three days over the recent full moon, Wironegoro said the festival was to be held monthly during every full moon, which falls on the 15th day of every month according to the Javanese calendar.

Apart from the toys, a number of traditional toy makers from Pandes hamlet of Panggungharjo village, in Sewon subdistrict, Bantul regency, were also invited to sell their products and demonstrate their craft.

The craftspeople displayed such toys as othok-othok (a bamboo toy that produces sound), klunthung (also a bamboo toy instrument), manukan (toy bird and cage), blimbingan (paper starfruit-shaped mobile), kepet (handheld fan), kitiran (windmill), angkrek (dancing doll made from cardboard) and paper puppets.

The most expensive toy among the above was sold for only Rp 2,000.

Other toys made from more expensive materials were sold at higher prices ranging from Rp 15,000 to Rp 45,000 each.

These include tin planes, jaran kepang (hobbyhorse made of carton and fiber) and saronan (toy gamelan instruments) called slendro, pelog and doremi.

Creative advisor Timmy Hartadi said the festival was indeed being held to help revive the disappearing traditions of Padhang mBulan — a Javanese term that literally means “moonlight”.

In the past, Timmy said, adults and children alike used to stay up under the light of the full moon until late at night to socialize with the surrounding community through various traditional games and toys.

Unfortunately, he said, instead of playing together with their peers out-of-doors, today’s children preferred to spend most of their time indoors.

“They prefer to play video games or to enjoy other modern types of entertainment, which prevents them from socializing better with other kids in the neighborhood,” said Timmy.

In fact, he said, a tradition like Padhang mBulan was born from and was rooted in certain values that had philosophical, deep meanings.

“Traditional activities for play including games, songs and toys are the result of a structural transaction between human beings and the environment,” said Timmy. “They create a pattern of social interaction that involves the deepest depths of the human heart.”

Wironegoro, the son-in-law of Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X through his marriage to eldest daughter GKR Pembayun, concurred with Timmy’s statement. He also hoped that reviving old traditions through the festival would help the SYA’s plan to creating a living museum on the former ASRI campus.

The campus, which according to Wironegoro occupies a 1.3-hectare plot, is soon to be turned into a museum called the Jogja National Museum (JNM), with YSN as its operator.

“We plan to hold a soft opening by the beginning of next year,” he said.

In addition to the monthly Padhang mBulan festival — and as a prelude to the museum — a newly refurbished building called Situs Kriya was opened recently at the old ASRI compound. Situs Kriya is to be a multifunction venue for events related to the arts.

“This is also a hotspot area. Everyone is welcome to access the Internet here for free,” said Wironegoro, expressing hope that the facility would also help attract more visitors, especially after the museum was open.

He said the compound was chosen specifically, mainly because of its historical significance as the birthplace of many of Indonesia’s noted artists.

Among these are the late master painter Affandi and the late Soedjojono. Other alumni of the former campus include Joko Pekik, Heri Dono, Agus Suwage, Eddy Hara, Nyoman Gunarsa, Nasirun, Hendra Gunawan, Butet Kertarejasa and Djaduk Ferianto.

“With regard to the development of Indonesia’s contemporary arts, this is truly an historical building that deserves to be named a national heritage,” said Wironegoro.

He added that even the large banyan tree in the compound deserved the same heritage status for its age; the tree is believed to be over 200 years old.

“So, basically what we have here is naturally an interesting site to visit,” he said.

By turning it into a living museum — one that does not only display static works by artists of the past, but also presents traditional performances and plays as well as modern pieces by living artists — he said the facility would attract many visitors, including those of the younger generation.

“And children in this case are our future market. That is why we organized the Padhang mBulan festival as an initial step to socialize the JNM, with the hope that they will be regular visitors in, say, five to 10 years,” Wironegoro said.

Sri Wahyuni