Folk Art as Social Practice and Harmonization: A Case of Buto Birowo Folk Art

Abstract

Buto Birowo is a form of performing art coming from rural area. The proponents tend to have homogeneous livelihood, education level, and social-economic status. As a performing art, it is a part of social practice undertaken by Lencoh people that accomodates the relation between modern, traditional, Islamic, and spiritual values. In Buto Birowo performance, the relation between actors and spectators occurs not only on the stage, but also in the activities related to the preparation of show, the collection of fund for purchasing costumes, the preparation of consumption for practicing activities, etc.Buto Birowo alsoimplies the religious and cultural dialectic process occuring naturally and intensely within community, particularly in Javanese rural people. This research used a qualitative research method with constructive-critical approach. This methodis implemented to construct knowledge based on Lencoh people’s thought in their participation in initiating the performing art. As a big cultural space, Lencoh Hamlet also consists of partial spaces encircled by agent activities and movements. In the context of Buto Birowo performing art, the agents move in the domains or spaces where the Buto Birowo performing art practice is created. The agents are holding a meeting to discuss the show, the practice to prepare the show is conducted in Art Association domain, while the Buto Birowo performing art show is held in Lencoh Hamlet domain publicly.The use of Boal’s theory in this research is not an sich spectator involved on the stage or performance venue, but involved in the process of initiating performance and the social context underlying the text of Buto Birowo performance.