Indonesia

Culture
Like most of the performing arts of the Orient, dance in Indonesia is believed by many scholars to have had its beginning in religious worship. Even today, many dances are considered sacred or can be traced back to their early spiritual associations. Among these are not only the temple dances of Bali, but also such seemingly profane dances, such as the Bedoyo Ketawang of Solo, performed only on such rare occasions that they are in peril of becoming lost for the lack of younger generation dancers able to perform them. Dance traditions today are as widely diverse as the various ethnic cultures of which they are part. wpe4A.jpg (17024 bytes)

Nurtured to refined perfection in the royal Javanese courts and princely homes the classical dances of Central Java are highly stylized expressions which have probably already attained their basic movements during the height of the Hindu-Javanese culture from the 8th to the 13th century, as temple reliefs of dancing maidens suggest.

wpe4D.jpg (15025 bytes) From the courts, those dances eventually reached the broad strata of the common people who gave them a more spontaneous form of expression. In the hands of the people, these dances provided a rich source not only for popular dance dramas, but also for social dances which often display clear erotic overtones, such as Tayuban or Ngibing. 
The bumbung dance of Bali which incidentally evolved into the beautiful "bumblebee dance" and Tamulilingan, a creation of Bali's late famed maestro of the dance, I Mario.

Other popular folk dances still display strong magic associations, such as the "kuda lumping horse dance". Whereas rigid discipline and artistry mark the dance of Java and Bali, those of Sumatra, Maluku and most of the other islands (one exception is the Gending Sriwijaya of South Sumatra) are characterized by their gracefulness and charm, a distinction which is further accentuated by the entirely different, non-gamelan, musical accompaniment. 

The old traditions of dance and drama are being preserved in the many dance schools which flourish not only in the courts but also in the modern, government-run or supervised art academies where at the same time the search is continually being conducted for new expressions, better adapted to modern times though based on the old traditions.
From graceful court and temple dances to charming folk dances and boisterous play, the performing arts of Indonesia offer an astounding range of types and styles for the visitor to study or enjoy, reflecting, as they do, the soul and traditions of the various ethnic groups who support them. wpe4E.jpg (16240 bytes)

Music, dance and drama are very often intertwined, such as the Ludruk Transvestite Theatre of East Java and the "Lenong" Folk Theatre of Jakarta, both known also for their slapstick humor and early Shakespearean simplicity on their stage settings. An important form of indigenous theatre is the puppets play, of which the most celebrated is the wayang kulit shadow play of Java where the characters are represented by the shadows of intricately carved and painted flat leather puppets, cast on a screen with the help of a torch (nowadays often substituted by an electric bulb). The puppet theatre has many forms and employs a variety of media.

In West Java, for example, the most popular form is the Wayang Golek, using carved and painted three dimensional wooden puppets.

Both the Wayang Kulit and Wayang Golek take their repertoire from the classical Indian epics but in Central Java, the wooden puppet theatre traditionally brings only stories derived from popular folk legends revolving around the spread of Islam. There are other forms still alive today, such as the Wayang Klitik and Wayang Krucil, each having its own standard repertoire.

 wpe52.jpg (15439 bytes)

The oldest form of "shadow" play is probably the Wayang Beber, in which the dalang or puppeteer simply unrolls a scroll bearing the scenes and figures of the story while he delivers his narration accompanied by a gamelan orchestra. A popular contemporary form of wayang theatre is the Wayang Wong, in which actors or dancers represent the characters in the story which is presented on a conventional stage.

wpe50.jpg (11887 bytes) Art

The crafts of Indonesia vary in both medium and art form. As a whole the people are artistic by nature and express themselves on canvas, wood, metals, clay and stone. The batik process of waxing and dyeing originated in Java centuries ago and classic designs have been modified with modern trends in both pattern and technology. There are several centres of Batik in Java, the major ones being Yogyakarta, Surakarta, Pekalongan and Cirebon.

Batik is also being produced in some other areas as in Bali where local designs are incorporated. Other provinces produce hand-woven cloths of gold and silver threads, silks or cottons with intricate designs. Paintings are numerous all over the country, both traditional and contemporary, woodcarvings for ornamentation and furniture, silver-work and engraving form Yogyakarta and Sumatra, filigree from South Sulawesi and Bali. These are but a few of the handicrafts found in Indonesia.

Libraries and Museums
Indonesia has about 20 major libraries, which are located primarily in the cities of Bandung, Bogor, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta. The National Archives and the Library of the National Museum are in Jakarta, as is the National Library, which includes a number of special collections. The Bali Museum is in Denpasar.