Jaganen Lemahmu, Wangunkan Budayamu; Keep your Ground, Keep your Culture

In the beautiful twilight, Ketjil Bergerak, Tegalgendu Youngsters and USER UGM spend the day by talking and laughing. Drinking hot tea and eating some snacks such as nasi kucing, deep fried tofu and satay in the edge of the city. Are we only hanging out and chirping nonsense? No. We call it quality time of hanging out. Instead of spending time with nothing, we gathering and talking about our project: Mural Tegalgendu. A beautiful idea by Ketjil Bergerak who involves us to join. People might think that mural is in line with vandal which ruining the beauty of the city. No, not that. We are not vandal. We gonna treat the wall as our diary. So, our journey will be closed by making a diary about our concern to Kota Gede’s cultural heritage as our focus and Jogja’s development as our big theme.

Imagine your shouting voice embroider in the wall. It is not really great wall actually. Just a space in the edge of main street of Tegalgendu, Kota Gede area. Here, we engrave our aspiration for our beautiful city about a forgotten culture which caused by modernity.

Ketoprak Ongkek. Yes, it is the grandious theme of our journey. It is a forgotten traditional performing arts since no one play it again. Oh, so sad. How could we lost a beautiful heritage here. Based on our research, we find that it is an endemic of Kota Gede. No other place playing this kind of Ketoprak. But wait..before we go further, do you understand what is Ketoprak?. Ok, sure. Not all people know it. Ketoprak is a traditional theater which involves speech, movement and art within. Then, what makes Ketoprak and Ketoprak Ongkek different?. Sure, let’s peel the core.

First, the name of Ketoprak Ongkek is unique. Ongkek is a Javanese word means to move your shoulders up and down. So that it is the difference with common Ketoprak which no use any special point as like that. Second, it is Kota Gede’s heritage. It was Kota Gede people who create and play it. (interview with Bu Giri, maestro of Ketoprak Ongkek). Third, to watch the show and finish the chapters, we must follow the player to go around the city. First chapter might be played in a Kampung, next chapter gonna be kampung B and next in the Kampung C and so on. That’s so near with society. People gathering together, watching the different show and the most important is to strengthen the relationship between societies each kampung to other kampung people. Later, the instruments and costumes are really simple. The common Ketoprak will need many complex costumes and properties also music instruments. Meanwhile Ketoprak Ongkek need only long sleeves costumes (they are not allowed to use the open shoulder clothes as common ketoprak). Furthermore, it is only about 5 instruments such as saron, demung, kendhang, peking and kempul meanwhile traditional common Ketoprak might need more than 10 instruments. The story is about the society itself. They are not taking too much heavy privat-sphere-business such as kingdom or nobleman thingy. It can deliver the material about the problem in the society or even to inform something to society meanwhile common Ketoprak might play the kingship business.

After spend the time in research, we discuss about how to execute the project. It is gonna be challenging to pour our wild creativity since the research gives us broader perspectives about Kota Gede’s special performing art. In a cold night, we slurped our hot tea and talk the further plan. It ends in the concept, job sharing and blue print of mural sketch which will be shown to the public by our hand in the wall.

No more waiting. We need to execute the mural because we are too excited with our project. In the end of April, we start to pour our cans of paint. Started with blocking every inch of the wall by fuchsia color and draw the background picture. We make symbols of geometric measurement as a symbol that what we make in our live sometimes just stop in the theory. Sometimes, the reality far away from our great plan. Yeah, thats what we call: life. 

Blocking the wall

We reveal the diary of Ketoprak Ongkek's reborn in Kampong Tegalgendu, Kota Gede, Yogyakarta

This is the most complicated part. We took our weapon; hundreds of paper and spray paint. First layer made by blocking with white one to strengthen the second layer. Second layer, we brush with different color. Blue, darker blue, yellow, orange, green, black in the layers till it shaped a figure. Hmmm.. so complicated doesn’t, it? (but its fun. hehe)

Preparing the stencil

Measuring the plan

Brush your wild creativity

Keep going, keep steady

The last, engrave our words in this wall of aspiration. Jaga Lemahmu, Wangunkan Budayamu. The first line means that land business is a crucial issue nowadays. Numbers of people increasing every year because of birth rate or mobility. It means that we need more and more space. Moreover, Undang Undang Keistimewaan DIY (Yogyakarta’s Provincial Particular Law) which mentions about people without the leter of ownership will never be able to claim the land. Again, it means that there will be more and more people lost their land. Let’s play the logic. When there is no more land, no more local value able to stand in this dynamic era. That’s why we keep the last line: Wangunkan Budayamu. To keep our culture since it is our identity. So, Ketoprak Ongkek should be kept since it is local heritage of Kota Gede people as their identity.

Jaga Lemahmu, Wangunkan Budayamu

Born

The Masterpiece

Five weeks of processing our great project is enough to carve incredible experience and friendship between us. We start in a excitement, we finish it in a joy. Furthermore, we relieve that we can think critically to respond the society’s by our unique way.