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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Ondel - ondel

Ondel-ondel is a form of folk performance using a large puppets. It originated from Betawi, Indonesia and is often performed in festivals. The word ondel-ondel refers to both the performance and the puppet.
Ondel-ondel, the puppet, is about 2.5 meters tall with ± 80 cm diameter, made of woven bamboo. It is constructed in such a way so that it easily lifted by one person from the inside of the puppet. The puppet is usually dressed in brightly coloured garments, and in some occasions, in traditional Betawi clothing. The puppet's mask face is typically made of wood, and the hair from dried palm tree leaves that has been shredded lengthways. An ondel-ondel can either be of the female or male gender. The wooden mask of the male puppet is traditionally painted red, while the female painted white.

Gamelan Bali

A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included.
The term refers more to the set of instruments than to the players of those instruments. A gamelan is a set of instruments as a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together – instruments from different gamelan are generally not interchangeable.
The word gamelan comes from the Javanese word gamels, meaning "to strike or hammer", and the suffix an, which makes the root a collective noun.
In Indonesia, gamelan usually accompanies dance wayang puppet performances, or rituals or ceremonies. Typically players in the gamelan will be familiar with dance moves and poetry, while dancers are able to play in the ensemble. In wayang, the dhalang (puppeteer) must have a thorough knowledge of gamelan, as he gives the cues for the music. Gamelan can be performed by itself – in "klenengan" style, or for radio broadcasts – but concerts in the Western style are not traditional.

Kabayan

Kabayan is a popular character from Sundanese culture, which eventually became also accepted as a Indonesian character. His stories were considered funny and humble, but also smart. Kabayan stories has been carried since ancient times by oral tradition. His stories mostly depict the sundanese people lives in the developed world around it.

North Maluku

North Maluku (Indonesian: Maluku Utara) is a province of northeastern Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, which are split between it and the province of Maluku. Maluku province used to cover the entire group. The planned provincial capital is Sofifi, on Halmahera the largest island, but the current capital and largest population center is the island of Ternate while the largest settlement on Halmahera is Tobelo.

Papua

Papua comprises most of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands. Its capital is Jayapura. It's the largest and easternmost province of Indonesia. The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea. In 2003, the Indonesian government declared the westernmost part of the island, around Bird's Head Peninsula, a separate province; its name was first West Irian Jaya and is now West Papua.

North Sulawesi

North Sulawesi (Indonesian: Sulawesi Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It is on the island of Sulawesi, and borders the province of Gorontalo to the west (originally a part of North Sulawesi until 2001 when it became its own province). The islands of Sangihe and Talaud form the northern part of the province, which border Davao del Sur in the Philippines.

West Sumatera

West Sumatra (Indonesian: Sumatera Barat, abbreviated to Sumbar) is a province of Indonesia. It lies on the west coast of the island Sumatra. It borders the provinces of North Sumatra (Sumatera Utara) to the north, Riau and Jambi to the east, and Bengkulu to the southeast. It includes the Mentawai Islands off the coast. The capital of the province is Padang.

Lampung

Lampung is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra and borders the provinces of Bengkulu and South Sumatra. Lampung is the original home of the Lampung people, who speak a distinct language from other people in Sumatra and have their own alphabet. Its capital is Bandar Lampung.

West Java

West Java (Indonesian: Jawa Barat; Sundanese: Jawa Kulon; acronym: Jabar), with a population of over 43 million, is the most populous and most densely populated province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java.

Jakarta

Jakarta ( formerly Batavia) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of 661 square kilometres (255 sq mi), and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre. It is the most populous city in Indonesia and in Southeast Asia, and is the tenth-largest city in the world.
Jakarta attracts many domestic immigrants who bring their various languages, dialects, foods and customs.
The "Betawi" (Orang Betawi, or "people of Batavia") is a term used to describe the descendants of the people living in and around Batavia and recognized as an ethnic group from around the 18th–19th century. The Betawi people are mostly descended from various Southeast-Asian ethnic groups brought or attracted to Batavia to meet labor needs, and include people from different parts of Indonesia. The language and Betawi culture are distinct from those of the Sundanese or Javanese. The language is mostly based on the East Malay dialect and enriched by loan words from Dutch, Portuguese, Sundanese, Javanese, Chinese, and Arabic. Nowadays, the Jakarta dialect (Bahasa Jakarta), used as a street language by people in Jakarta, is loosely based on the Betawi language.

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Bali is renowned for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Indonesia

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over many beautiful ethnic group.