Tradition, Kreasi Baru and Ethnotainment: Three Representational Kakula Spheres Among the To Kaili of Central Sulawesi

Abstract

After Indonesia’s proclamation of independence in 1945, the government has had a continuous role in the construction of a national cultural identity. Following nationalistic cultural policies during the authoritarian Orde Baru (New Order) period (1966-1998), composers throughout the nation began creating new works developing traditional instruments and ensembles. After 1998, a new national era known as Reformasi (reformation) ended over three decades of National oriented cultural policies. This paper analyzes the use and development of the kakula (gong-row instrument and ensemble) among the Kaili of Central Sulawesi within national cultural policies. Divided into three main sections, the first part looks at the practice and continuity of the kakula ensemble traditionalised (Santaella, 2014) within the new national Indonesian framework. The second part analyzes the post-independence developmental works of the composer Hasan Bahasyuan and the expansion of the kakula ensemble within the new national genre of kreasi baru (new creation), as an approach through which Central Sulawesi asserts its presence as part of Indonesia’s development of a national cultural identity with a Javanese-dominated hegemonic culture (Sutton, 2002). The third section looks at the compositions of the prominent group “Ensamble Modero Palu” active mostly during the reformasi era and conceived as a post-nationalist kakula within a new post-colonial framework. Conceptualised by the music director Amin Abdullah as ‘ethnotainment’, the ensemble presents and represents a contemporary expression of Kaili-ness through the performing arts.