Friendship Force Surabaya : on how we Introduce our Beautiful Heritage to our Friends from Abroad (Sacramento, that is)

Last month we (me, mas Firman Guendut and mas Prima Klampis Ireng Batik ) had the opportunity to give small presentation about batik. The highlight for this session wasn't entirely about the batik itself because Friendshipforce Sacramento delegations had already had a batiking session in Surakarta. Rather we introduce the most traditional way of preserving batik fabric using natural ingredients and 'ratus' , old-style preservation incorporating incense 'fragrant' smoke , the practice that even Indonesians hadn't seen in years.
Well, why preservation intrduction, then ? why not batiking itself ? 
It was just because prior to their arrival to Surabaya, they'd visited Surakarta first and they had their batiking session there. And i think to have continuation of the topic, i think i have to find related but not exactly the same topic with our friend's in Surakarta.

 Photo Credit : All of these beautiful illustrations was Rendy Tjitrawardhana 's from his album : FF SBY-Sacramento, Day 2 - Art & Culture Day .
Contributing presentation material : Ibu Noorlailie Soewarno Tjahjadi with late-night discusion and grammar-checking.

 

 

 

 

Wayang Beber : Our Own Tradition Slideshow

Who have seen this "Wayang Beber" by the eyes? Do you know that word, 'wayang beber' anyway? 
Well, i did, recently. 

For the first time i really take considerable time to enjoy this unique tradition. Wayang Beber is a traditional slide-show you could imagined pages of comic-book looks like, centuries ago. Made on traditional vellum or bark-tree (recently, on specially-treated canvass), it largely depicting (part of) classic stories of Mahabharata & Ramayana. Every important scene in each of the stories, drawn to give a clearer imagination of what's happening. 
And of course, it was narrated by "Dalang" , respectable story-teller in live-animated style, changing voice and gestures indicating different characters in related scene. 
  
Saw this masterpiece in front of my store, that happened to have some kind of fair for small-scale industry. This beautiful wayang was made in Sukoharjo, small town of Central Java region.

Speaking about this wayang, it was quite small . in the area of apprx. 60 x 90 cm, it was full with details. And i mean details. insanely ornate details, And colors. And you have to understand : to give the audience clearer identity of every persons in those pictures, every character have to be drawn with consistent indication of characters. whether it was headdress, mask, weapons, dress code, etc. 



Siapa yang pernah melihat wayang beber ?

Untuk pertama kalinya saya melihat (memperhatikan dan memegang) wayang beber produksi sukoharjo, kemaren pada pameran industri kecil di atrium Royal Plaza Surabaya. Wujudnya memang serupa lukisan dekoratif , tetapi pasti kita sadar bahwa ‘lukisan’ ini sedang mengabadikan satu momen pada kisah tertentu.

Layaknya slide-show, satu cerita pewayangan (umumnya Mahabharata atau Ramayana) dibagi menjadi beberapa gambar/slides yang akan dibuka (dibeber) di depan pemirsa-nya, dan diberikan narasi oleh Ki-Dalang nya yang sering menyertakan bumbu-bumbu dialog berbagai karakter yang digambarkan di lembar tersebut, sering dengan mengubah-ubah warna suara dan intonasi, sehingga kita dengan mudah membayangkan beberapa karakter dalam penuturannya.

Wayang beber yang saya lihat ini cukup kecil, sekitar 60x90 cm , tetapi detail sekali pengerjaannya. Setiap karakter/tokoh yang selayaknya hadir dalam ‘scene’ itu, digambarkan dengan teliti beserta detail-detail identitas masing-masing, sehingga pemirsa dapat meng-identifikasi’ siapa tokoh yang sedang dilihat.

Craftmanshipnya juga memperlihatkan detail yang luar biasa. Bahan wayang beber ini kain/kanvas tipis sekali serupa kertas lama, warna yang ditampilkan luar biasa, dengan 3-5 gradasi warna untuk setiap detail yang penting, serta outline yang tipis yang mengingatkan saya pada Rotring 0,1 andalan dahulu. Hue (karakter warna) keseluruhan wayang beber ini dapat dipesan, apakah berupa coklat tradisional seperti di gambar-gambar saya ini, atau hijau-biru botol seperti wayang antik. Menarik sekali.

Item : Wayang Beber
Dimensi : (appr) 60x90 cm
Pembuat : Srikandi Dewi Handicraft
Lokasi : Parangjoro Grogol, Sukoharjo Jawa Tengah