Realizing RAMA, Realizing ASEAN - SPAFA Journal

Realizing RAMA, Realizing ASEANNicanor G. Tiongson

Performance at Thailand Cultural Centre, 22 March 2000

Realizing Rama, a contemporary dance production of the ASEANCommittee on Culture and Information, has completed its tour of allmember countries, eliciting rave reviews from a wide range of audiencesin Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Jakarta, Bandar Seri Begawan,Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Vientiane, Yangon,and Phnom Penh.

Known officially as the ASEAN FlagshipVoyage, this project was conceived in March 1997as a high-impact programme that would promotecultural awareness of ASEAN both within andoutside the region. Underproject director Nestor 0 .Jardin, it brought togetherfor the first time some ofthe most accomplished per-forming artists of ASEAN ina collaborative piece thatevokes the region in contentand form.

Reinterpreting an epic that has taken rootin most of the nations in Southeast Asia, Reali-zing Rama inquires into the theme of selfless lead-ership, which these countries need to help them

combat their most urgentproblems, such as graft andcorruption, exploitation oflabour, women and children,destruction of the environ-ment, drug trafficking andthe abject poverty of themasses. The libretto by Nica-nor Tiongson propounds the

26 SPAFA Journal Vol. 10 No. 2

notion that Rama becomes a true leader of the people onlyafter undergoing the exile ofself-purification, where he con-fronts and conquers the temp-tations of wealth, lust andpower. With Sita (his heart) andLakshmana (his mind) besidehim, he is realized as a leaderwhen he transcends ego andself, thereby achieving wisdomand compassion.

Denisa G. Reyes, artistic director

Seeking to define a South-east Asian style of music, In-donesian composer RahayuhSupanggah used traditionalinstruments from the regionas well as a variety of musicalidioms he came in contact within his experience as musician,composer and ethnomusico-logist. To this music, artisticdirector/choreographer DenisaReyes of the Philippines andco-choreographer Phatravadi

Mejudhon of Thailand createda dance-drama using a processof interaction with the perform-ers from nine ASEAN countries.Chosen for their mastery oftheir own traditional dances,these dance-artists demonstra-ted traditional movements andpatterns, then, with Reyes, ac-tively reworked and re-interpre-ted these to create a languageof contemporary expression

Nestor O. Jardin, project director

that transcends the traditional.As the choreography

picked movements, attitudesand stances from tradition, socostume designer SalvadorBernal researched the silhou-ettes, motifs, patterns, colours,textures and accessories of theold Rama dance-dramas from allover Southeast Asia before ab-stracting these and adaptingthem to suit the demands andaesthetics of contemporary dance.

Bernal's set, which con-sists of platforms and ramps,is intentionally simple andportable, and is dominated by a stylised lotus that assumesmultiple images and functionsfor every major scene. Lightingdesign by Virgilio S.J. Catoysupports the narrative, facilita-ting its flow, providing focusand creating moods.

Realizing Rama had itsworld premier at the GrandTheatre in Hanoi, Vietnam on 16December 1998, during theSixth ASEAN Summit Meeting.From September to October1999, it was performed in thePhilippines, Indonesia, BruneiDarussalam, Singapore andMalaysia. From March to April2000, it toured Thailand, LaoPDR, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Realizing Rama has beenlauded for its innovative chore-ography and for its stunningproduction values. It has alsobeen hailed as "one intelligenttheatrical masterpiece thatstrikes at the heart of our beingAsian". More than this, it hasproven beyond doubt that tradi-tion can be successfully trans-formed at the hands of artistswho know and respect it andtherefore can build on it to cre-ate works that can only be takenon their own aesthetic terms. Inthis production, it is not onlyRama who is realized, but a pro-duction style that is uniquelyASEAN.

All photographs by Nipon Sud-Ngam

SPAFA Journal Vol. 10 No. 2 27

Love PuppetsA candidate for the greatest love story ever told, the Ramayana is more than a historical romance. According to Garrett Kam's new book, Ramayana in the Arts of Asia, the ancient Indian epic reveals much about human psychology and the characters of the different countries to which it is spread. Phil Cornwel-Smithspeaks with the author.

T hanks to Garrett Kam's beautiful new tomefrom Asia Books, Ramayana in the Arts of Asia, you can now easily decipher the

modern relevance of its symbolism. It is alsofun to compare the national traits revealed invariations from India to Iran, Java to Japan, Burma to Bali, Tibet to Thailand.

Taking a fresh, unstuffy attitude, the Bali-based Hawaiian Chinese is also alert to politicalcorrectness. Feminism's big issue with Ramais that he suspects Sita of having StockholmSyndrome (captives falling for their kidnappers)and being seduced by randy Ravana. Still,Rama's prim sexism does prevent him fromgetting the girl, says Kam. "Even when Sita hasto prove herself despite all the evidence in herfavour, in the end she gets back at Rama bydisappearing into the earth by her own choice.'Hey, I've had enough of you'

"Somebody in Singapore did the wholestory from Sita's point of view," he adds, pointingout that Southeast Asian versions alreadymake her more assertive. "Lao women are veryindependent and strong-minded, and the Lao Sitadoesn't have to prove anything to Rama. Heaccepts her back, she doesn't disappear into the

earth; she does have the children, but it's acceptedthey're Rama's."

"The Thai Sita is also pretty strong andspeaks her mind. She really tells Rama off. TheCambodian Sita is the same," he says, contrast-ing it with neighbouring texts. "If you look at theMalay or Philippine one, the women are prettypassive, but it's a different religion. Because ofthe Muslim context, the mortals become muchmore human. The male heroes of Hindu originbecome less divine, more susceptible to emotion,and more likely to make mistakes."

That is certainly not the case here. "TheThai Rama essentially cannot make any error,"Kam has learned. "No matter how bad he treatsSita or anybody else, he comes up shining in theend with utmost respect."

So do people pick up on the Ramayana's relevance to their national psyches? "No, becausethey don't know other versions," concludes Kam."If they have something to compare it to, they'dsay, 'Oh, this says something about our culture.'But very few studies have dealt with this."

Armed with Kam's juicy plot insights, thecasual viewer can more easily enjoy the drama'ssubtler messages. Historically, these have been


given satirical resonance in commentaries bydalangs (shadow puppet masters) across South-east Asia, which are particularly topical inMalaysia.

"I found the political situation really doesreflect the Malay Ramayana-scandais beingcreated and people either having to prove them-selves or create evidence," says Kam.

"There are a lot of sub plots. Hanuman andLakshmana have to prove their loyalty toRama. It also comes from Malay history,the Hung Tua story, court intrigues, mur-ders, suicides... all very Shakespearean."

Cambodia's dark past gets equallyilluminated. "The fact that theKhmer Ramayana emphasisesthe conflict between Rama andhis sons and brothers, I thought,reflected the Killing Fields-familymembers turning on each other."

Omission can also be revealing."Conflict over the throne is missingfrom the Philippine, Lao and Bur-mese versions," says Kam of Rama'sexile on his half-brother's accession."Now what does that tell you about accession topower?"

Disenfranchisement was likewise the im-pulse behind a South Indian reversing the entireplot in the 1970s. "There's the feeling that theRamayana represents the invasion of the Aryansfrom the north, pushing down the darkerDravidians to the south, that all the ogres anddemons are identified with Southern Indians, thefairer-skinned, human and divine characters withAryans," says Kam. "He made Ravana and theogres the good guys, and Rama and the monkeysbad. His logic is very well defined. It still works."

Value judgements are most contradictoryin Hanuman, leader of the monkeys. "In India,he's supposed to be totally celibate but throughmost of Southeast Asia, he takes on many loversand fathers many children. When I told Indiansthey got very offended," says Kam. He himselfplayed Hanuman in 1978 at a dance conference

Sita puppet, Wayang Siam

(Malaysia)

in Hawaii. "My first encounter with the Ramaya-na was as a dancer in 1977," he says of a previousrole as Maricha, the ogre that turns into thegolden deer to tempt Sita.

"My teacher in Hawaii told me I can onlydance demon or monkey-what role you play isbased on physical characteristics. Of course, in19791 went to Java and my teachers said, 'No way,you can only dance refined male roles!"

A Hawaii arts graduate majoring intextiles, Kam became interested in batik,a fabric integral to Indonesian dance.

After moving to Java, he became ex-pert in its dance, which he taught atChulalongkorn University while re-searching this book. The project was

prompted by observing Balinesepainting (about which he's also writ-ten) . "They were used to painting 'tour-

ist episodes' and reproducing themen masse. I told them, 'wouldn't thisCambodian episode that's notknown in Bali make a wonderfulBalinese painting?"

His research involved fiveyears of adventures. In Luang Prabang, Laomusicians helped him locate obscure murals; inBurma, he met the country's only femalemarionettier; and a 1997 International Ramayana Festival at Angkor Wat enabled him to see differ-ent renditions amid ancient bas reliefs of thestory.

That compression of eras raised semi-resolved questions of how the fable developed."My theory is that during Angkor, it spread intoThailand," says Kam of its Siamese trail, "butafter the Thais attacked Cambodia ... the oldKhmer version got taken back to Thailand andrecomposed much later. That also had to berecomposed after the sack of Ayutthaya, based on other versions." There were further refine-ments under Kings Chulalongkorn andVachiravudh, only for the Ramakien (Thaiversion) to suffer 'sound bite' streamlining fortourists and mall-minded Thais.


Illustrated manuscript of jaina Ramayana

This is a long way from the classic SanskritrValmiki' version, which "was assembled from a lot of sources-literary, oral and performance-sometime between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC,"reports Kam, who toured two dozen locations inIndia in 1998.

"I timed it to be during the Deshara Festi-val," he recalls. "For a whole month prior, therewere performances in villages, in the fields, inthe streets. At the end, they burned enormouseffigies of Ravana, Indrajit and Kumbhakarna."

So what's the enduring appeal of theRamayana to literally billions of people? "It's a good story to begin with," says Kam. "There's a lot of adventure, magic, animal, human and di-vine characters. It's about love, war, everythingyou can think of ... yet it can be condensed injust a few sentences. You couldn't do that withthe Mahabharata (a complex Indian epic, adoptedby Indonesia). The Ramayana's more flexible."

As for its centrality to Thai culture andsociety, Kam stresses that "it's more than just a story. Vishnu, who incarnates as Rama, laterincarnates as Buddha, so there's a lineage.

"It's a whole way of looking at Asia," heconcludes. "There are all these cultures, religionsand languages - over two dozen are represented

in this book - and the only thing that unitesthem all is the Ramayana. As a weaver, I'mtrying to re-weave different traditions backinto a complete fabric that includes all the visualand performing arts and folklore. It should be a way to look beyond borders, not to concentrateon differences, but to see there's somethingeveryone shares."

Indeed, we can all identify with the charac-ters since they are also universal archetypes.It is startling to realize that Rama represents ourheroism, rectitude and refinement; Ravanaour lust, conspiracy and temptations; Sita ourfemininity, romance and dignity; Hanuman ourhumour, loyalty and bravery; Lakshmana ourintellect and asceticism. Each is an aspect of ourpersonality. Like all great myths, the Ramayana is a mirror to understanding ourselves.

Phil Cornwel-Smith interviews Garrett Kam, theauthor of Ramayana in the Arts of Asia in hisadopted home, Bali

Ramayana in the Arts of Asia (292 pages) byGarrett Kam, is published by Asia Books (6623912680, 662 7142794)


Research onEnvironmental

History ofIndonesia

The discipline of environmental history seeks a (historical) understandingof the many ways people have understood, changed, and been changedby the environments they inhabit. The discipline itself is not new, neither isthe material which has been around for generations, but it is now being re-organised in the light of recent experience on environmental issues. Threebroad research areas are distinguished by environmental historians: (1)understanding nature, or the natural environment itself (ecology); (2) thesocio-economic realm manifest in human modes of production, differentinstitutions, and decision-making; and (3) the conception of the environ-ment, which includes perceptions, ethics, laws and myth.

In 1993, the Royal Institute of Linguistics andAnthropology (KITLV) began a research projecton the environmental history of Indonesia. Theenvironmental history of Indonesia is a fairlynew specialization and like environmental historyin general has been drawing on a number ofother disciplines such as anthropology, and theirmethodologies, a move which is clearly reflectedin the multi-disciplinarity ofthe EDEN project aswell.

EDEN is the acronym for Ecology, Demog-raphy, and Economy in Nusantara. The first phase ofthe project (1993-1997), which focusedon the period of the earliest European contactswith Indonesia up to the end of the nineteenthcentury, was characterized by a geographicalapproach. Covering important themes in envi-ronmental history ofthe islands, the researchershave written on (parts of) Sumatra, Java,Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Sumbawa. The editedvolume Paper landscapes: explorations in the

environmental history of Indonesia is an anthol-ogy of topics investigated in that first phase oftheproject. Most ofthe researchers' books are in anadvanced phase of preparation, or publication.

In June 1999, EDEN entered its secondphase: three new researchers were appointed towork together with Peter Boomgaard and DavidHenley on themes in the environmental historyof Indonesia covering the period 1850 to thepresent. This time the project has opted for a more thematic approach through which certainsubjects, previously paid too little or no attentionat all, will be investigated, such as malaria,livestock, and fisheries. Since the time frame hasshifted to the modern historical period includingthe present, data collection by fieldwork inIndonesia will form an important part in most ofthe team members' research.

Peter Boomgaard, historian and the projectleader of EDEN, has written a book on tigers andpeople in the Malay world during the first phase


of the project. In the second phase, he will con-centrate on the subject of forest management,reforestation, and nature conservation in Java.His research will have a strong historical focuscovering a longer period, namely from 1600 to1950.

David Henley (social geographer) is addingthe final touches on his product of EDEN I, a bookon a number of environmental history themes ofNorth Sulawesi, with an emphasis on demogra-phy and economy. Within the framework ofEDEN II, he will undertake the task of investi-gating the history and effectiveness of malariacontrol in the Indonesian Archipelago, whichwill encompass both descriptive and analyticalresearch. Both traditional and more modernforms of malaria management in the colonial andpost-colonial period will be taken into account.In the summer, Henley will conduct and initialsurvey in two sets of fieldwork locations in NorthSulawesi (Minahasa and Bolaang Mongondow)and in Central Sulawesi (Lore and Palu). Besidethese locations, attention will be paid to Jakarta,where interviews will be conducted with peopleinvolved in malaria control efforts in the metro-politan area in the past, including health serviceofficials.

Martine Bar-wegen, trained inzootechnology atWageningen Agri-cultural University,has previously un-dertaken researchon animal hus-bandry in CostaRica and Kenya.Since June 1999,

she has been a PhD student focusing on a studyof livestock and land use in Java in the period 1850to the present. Her main research interest is toinvestigate the principal factors which haveinfluenced the utilization of livestock in small-holding systems - shedding some light on themutual influence of livestock and environment.

Next month, Barwegen will start her first six-month fieldwork period in East Java, whereshe intends to get an impression of the small-holding systems, the different livestock relatedactivities, and the time spent on them (with a fo-cus on women), as well as noting the changesthat have taken place since 1950. Archivalresearch in the national archive in The Hagueand the National Archive of Indonesia (ANRI) inJakarta, plus visits to governmental departmentsand universities in Java form the other part ofthe research.

Manon Osseweijer joined the EDEN II teamin October 1999. She is an anthropologist whohas undertaken her PhD research on localfisheries in the Aru Islands, Eastern Indonesia.While finishing her thesis, she has starred post-doctoral research under the aegis of EDEN.This covers the long-term trends in EasternIndonesian fisheries. The fisheries policy ofIndonesia places a heavy emphasis on themarine potential of Eastern Indonesia, which iswhy this region has been chosen for research onfisheries policy and management. In addition,Osseweijer would like to emphasize the wayknowledge of fisheries is developed along thedifferent levels of government administration onthe one hand, and local and non-local fisheries activities, and the interactions between them onthe other hand. Her research covers more re-cent history by comparing 'historical narratives'concerning regional fisheries and administrativeofficers during the last 80 years. Fieldwork tosupport one or two case studies is likely to takeplace in Maluku and Irian Jaya.

The EDEN 1 members, besides Peter Boomgaard and David Henley, were Freek Colombijn (Sumatra), Bernice de Jong Boers (Sumbawa), Han Knapen (Southeast Borneo), and Luc Nagtegaal (Java).

EDENEcology, Demography and Economy in Nusantara Royal Institute of Linguistics and Anthropology PO Box 9515, 2300 RA The Netherlands Email: henley@ rullet. leidenuniv. nl

Manon Osseweijer HAS Newsletter No. 22


Documents

Realizing RAMA, Realizing ASEAN - SPAFA Journal