Ritual Arts Research Articles

Martial and Ritual Arts Groups in the formation of Political Parties in Timor-Leste

Martial and ritual arts groups are a set combination of sports activities in both physical and spiritual accomplishments to protect or defend themselves. This activity was banned a few years ago and decriminalized recently in 2022. However, the existence of these two sports activities reveals a significant controversial debate. This article attempts to analyze the relationship between the presence of political parties, especially the history of parties in Timor-Leste, then continues with a critical analysis of the relations of these groups in the formation of Political Parties in Timor-Leste in the current developments. This article used a secondary data approach, collected from the report documents from the government, non-governmental organizations, and academic publications from similar research. The results of this study indicate that there is indeed an interest in political parties. However, despite the motivation that mobilized this organization’s mass into political party affiliation, the influence of martial arts and ritual groups began to be the backbone of political parties’ support.

“Ritual and Magic” in Buddhist Visual Culture from the Bird Totem

Despite numerous research findings related to medieval Chinese Buddhism, the witchcraft role of bird totems in Buddhist history has not received sufficient attention. In order to fill this gap, this paper analyzes how Buddhist monks in medieval China developed a close relationship with bird-totem worship. This relationship has been documented in Buddhist scriptures, rituals, oral traditions, biographies, and mural art. Although bird-totem worship was practiced in many regions of medieval China, this paper specifically examines the visual culture of bird totems in Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism. Furthermore, some details of this culture were recorded in Buddhist texts and images. According to these works, various bird-totem patterns and symbols are believed to be effective ritual arts used by Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist monks to influence nature and the supernatural through ritual and magic.

Relasi Kuasa Michel Foucault dalam Perspektif Musik dan Pertunjukan

The Komunitas Lima Gunung is a forum for traditional artists who live in mountainous areas around Magelang, namely Merapi, Merbabu, Andong, Menoreh, and Sumbing. This community was initiated by Sutanto Mendut as a medium of communication between traditional artists and an effort to keep traditional arts alive, both related to ritual arts which have certain packages in their performances and profane art that is free of creation. This research uses a cultural approach paradigm. Case study and ethnographic research design in the Komunitas Lima Gunung. Primary data sources were obtained from the artists of the Komunitas Lima Gunung, and secondary data sources were obtained from exhibition catalogs, media publications, and cultural observers. Data collection techniques were carried out through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and document studies. Data analysis was carried out interactively back and forth from various phases, namely data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The result of this research is that the cultural subversion promoted by Sutanto Mendut and the Komunitas Lima Gunung requires an alternative culture or a counter culture culture. Cultural subversion initiated by Sutanto Mendut and the Komunitas Lima Gunung rejects the domination and hegemony of certain cultures over other cultures. Instead, it gave rise to many versions of culture from various communities. The various versions of culture are not only an identity, but also a source of inspiration for various creations, both discourses, expressions, and cultural products. Culture is also able to support the life force of its people in the midst of the state's neglect of its people. People become more independent of the state so that they have a high bargaining position. Ideally, through culture, the people can be reached back to their ownership.

An analytical study of the ritual ceremonies in Iranian performing arts, a case study of Travellers

Rites and myths are important parts of the identity and the culture of every nation. Iranian rites and performing arts, as a part of Iranian art and culture, which has always got attention throughout history, can help us recognize ancient Iranian culture and history. Cinema, among other interactive arts, has sometimes been able to portray ritual arts well. Travellers movie, made by Bahram Beyzai, is one of the most prominent examples of the visualization of ritual arts in Iran, because the movie consists of three parts, like the three theaters, in which the rites are portrayed as the main story of the movie, and the Persian culture and customs have been exhibited. This paper, which its research method is descriptive-analytical, examines the standing of rites and ritual arts in Travellers movie and analyzes its atmosphere regarding to performing rituals. Its scene design changes as the script process, so that the application of elements such as light and color, and their intensity and reduction in different mental conditions, from pleasure to mourning, has been considered wisely, and the atmosphere has a dramatic impact on the audience in different scenes. The lighting and the coloring of the scenes in the movie, indicates a tribute to beliefs and faith in rites and ritual arts.

Tau Tau dalam Ritual Tradisi Maccera Manurung di Desa Pasang Kabupaten Enrekang

Maccera Manurung tradition ritual is a traditional culture that still exists today in the village of Pasang, as well as the ethnic identity of Massenrempulu. In the Maccera Manurung tradition, especially in the village of Pasang, there is the art of Tau Tau which makes the Maccera Manurung tradition in the village of Pasang different from the traditions of Maccera Manurung in other regions/regions that hold it. This research examines the art of Tau Tau in the Maccera Manurung tradition ritual in the village of Pasang as one of the traditional ritual arts, namely in terms of urgency and function. This research is a qualitative research using data techniques such as observation, interview, and documentation. The data validation technique used is triangulation, with an interactive model analysis technique. The results of this study indicate that: 1). Tau Tau art in the Maccera Manurung tradition ritual in the village of Pasang is very important and urgent because it is a complement to the ritual, namely as the personification of To Manurung; 2) The Tau Tau art in the Maccera Manurung tradition ritual in the village of Pasang has several functions, including: as a means or means of rituals, as a means of fulfilling the spiritual-religious needs of the village community, as a means of expression of spiritual-religious experiences of the residents of the village community, and as new in the activities or behavior patterns of the village people collectively.

BARONG USING Optimalisasi Seni Pertunjukan sebagai Obyek Pariwisata Budaya Using

Barong Using is a performance art which is native to the Using community. Barong Using is used as a sacred necessity for clean village rituals. Rituals are held twice a year. The Ider Earth Ritual on the 2nd of Shawwal and the moon village salvation ritual were recited. The cultural development of bringing the art of barong performance functions as a sacred and profane need. There are efforts to optimize the art of barong performance by the use of tourism. The problems contained in this study are related to discussing (1) the history of Barong Kemiren's performance in which it examines ritual processions with socio-cultural values; and (2) efforts to optimize the art of barong performance later using communities in 1996-2018 as the use of tourism. The research method used is the historical research method by using a cultural anthropology approach to study cultural change and using structural functionalism theory to analyze the shift in barong function socially as a result of tourism. The results of this discussion, the optimization of the art of barong performance is packaged in the interrelationships of the five pillars that support the development of tourism and creative industries, namely, the state, art and ritual actors, supporting communities, industry, and religious leaders. These pillars can provide the right input so that a good response emerges from entrepreneurs, bureaucrats, cultural practitioners, and practitioners of traditional and ritual arts. Now the art of barong performance has undergone many changes starting from the structure of performances and interludes which accompany.

Venerating Vēṭṭaykkorumakan (Son of Śiva and Pārvatī) through Ritual Arts

Vēṭṭaykkorumakan is considered to be the son of Śiva and Pārvatī, born when they had assumed the form of a hunter and huntress. Although Vēṭṭaykkorumakan is considered as an incarnation, according to the narratives that are written in the local vernacular Malayalam, and known in the Malabar area of Kerala, he is considered to be only a hero too. Beside the tantric rituals that are usually performed for the deities, Vēṭṭaykkorumakan is venerated through two distinct rituals in Kerala, namely the Kaḷameḻuttuṃ Pāṭṭuṃ ritual in the southern part of Kerala, and the Teyyam ritual in northern Kerala. This article will discuss these two rituals in detail to examine how they are closely linked with theatre. Traces of the story of Śiva and Pārvatī assuming the form of a hunter and huntress in the Mahābhārata, and its influence in Sanskrit Literature and on other art forms, are briefly discussed also.

The art of being Indian

Abstract The arena of children’s publishing in India sees the convergence of at least two ‘traditions’ or streams of illustration art. The first is the product of artists and illustrators who emerge from urban art colleges with an appreciation of naturalistic drawing and realism. Historically, this tradition grew under colonial institutions with the advent of printing technologies and matured alongside the growth of literature for children. Translating itinerant conventions into the Indian subcontinent, illustration for children continues to be significantly inspired by European and American influences. More recently, children’s illustration in India has seen the migration of a number of folk art styles from often rural and ritual settings to the pages of picturebooks. Distinct from the urban illustrator, the creators of these artworks are schooled in a formal aestheticism that remains largely independent of realist conventions. These indigenous styles of representation now occupy a distinct space in the postcolonial field of children’s publishing as more folk artists turn illustrators. As a practitioner with formal art college training, I begin with a brief description of my background as an illustrator and an introduction to children’s publishing in India from this perspective. I then turn to vernacular idioms and trace historical currents that contextualize a transformation of these practices from collective ritual arts to vehicles of individual self-expression. Finally, I explore the emergence of a few practitioners in children’s publishing, and examine books and works of folk art illustration. My article sets out to explore the following questions: how are these image-making practices seen and read by audiences? As bearers of indigenous ways of depicting and seeing their worlds, do folk artists somehow represent a more authentically ‘Indian’ voice? And what of the interaction between these two currents of illustration in India? What dialogues and hybrid practices lie ahead?

A Study of the Diaspora Problem in Japanese and Korean Performing Arts Based on Joseon Tongsinsa 朝鮮通信使: Focusing on Cross-Cultural Examination of Musical Tsubame つばぬ (2002) and Changgeuk Jebi 春燕 (2004)

This article is a study on Warabi-za’s Musical Tsubame つばぬ and Korean Changgeuk Company’s changgeuk Jebi 春燕 based on Joseon tongsinsa 朝鮮通信使 (Korean delegation) with the theory of cultural translation. Changgeuk Jebi is a recreation of musical Tsubame. Korean director and composer translated Tsubame into Korean performing arts changgeuk. Both performances dramatized the story of Joseon woman who lived in Japan, but it was found that the tragic emotion of main characters has been more emphasized as it was culturally translated into Korean changgeuk Jebi. And this paper analyzes this transformation with a diasporic discourse. In the process of the study, this paper examined similarities and differences between two shows focusing on their structure, stage space, bodies of singers on stage and audiences’ response of East and West using cross-cultural methodology. As a result, it was found that Tsubame showed a self-reflective attitude on Japanese militarism but still maintained Japanese chauvinist way of thinking. On the other hand, Jebi asserted Joseon woman as diaspora with empathy not only to criticize Japanese invasion but also to console victims of war with Korean traditional ritual. It had a great effect on Korean, Japanese, and German audiences and helped them to realize the violence of militarism and self-examine the ordeals of Korean history depicted through Korean traditional ritual arts. Therefore this article commented that Jebi accomplished “glocalization” by embracing Japanese culture on stage and expressing awareness against recurrent wars and diaspora.

Resistance, Symbolism and the Language of Stateness in Timor-Leste

On gaining independence in 2002 after a protracted struggle against Indonesian occupation, the sovereign Timor-Leste state began to assert its sovereignty in a range of discursive and expressive media. These assertions developed a distinct ‘language of stateness’ that is the focus of this article. This East Timorese expression of state sovereignty draws heavily on the legacy of the Timorese resistance struggle and on a variety of other sources of symbolic power such as flags, buildings, logos, and uniforms. Yet these efforts have been contested by a range of non-state actors in Timor-Leste and the shape that this language of stateness has taken now evokes complaints from martial arts groups (MAGs), ritual arts groups (RAGs), and veterans' organisations that seek to ‘become like the state’ themselves, and who also employ a ‘national language of stateness’ in the form of flags, graffiti, and official buildings. While not challenging the idea of an independent East Timorese state per se, these groups question the prerogative of the state to use and define the language of stateness. In this article I explore the way the state and its challengers use ‘languages of stateness’ and how this shapes their ambivalent stance vis-à-vis each other, with both sides often drawing upon a discourse of the fulfilment of the millenarian promises that have for a long time been tied to the achievement of independence.

Seeing the eyes of god in human form: iconography and impersonation in african and hindu traditions of trance performance in the southern caribbean

ABSTRACTThis article links analysis of the body and of visual culture within religious studies through comparative examination of two southern Caribbean ritual traditions: Shango, or Orisha Worship (African), and Shakti Puja, or Kali Worship (Hindu). Both are centered upon subaltern ceremonies of trance performance and spirit mediumship. The article examines a primary difference in the impersonation of divinity evident between the two traditions—performing with one's eyes open on the African side versus closed on the Hindu side—and accounts for this contrast in terms of inverse relations between religious iconography and use of the body as a vehicle of ritualized form, referred to here as inverse conventions of “iconopraxis.” However, this level of differentiation is built upon a deeper, but no less cultural use of the body as a tool of entranced ritual praxis shared by each tradition. Each tradition therefore exploits similar phenomenological affordances of the human body in order to cultivate alter-cultural experiences of ceremonial ecstasy that, in turn, are modulated by differing conventions of iconopraxis. The analysis highlights the polymorphous nature of embodiment in accounting for similarities and differences of cultural symbolism in the ritual arts of trance.

‘Who is My Friend, Who is My Enemy’? Youth and Statebuilding in Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste was shaken by a violent national crisis from April 2006 to April 2008. This article examines the role that youths played in the crisis by providing an empirical mapping of the groups involved and the dynamics provoking youth participation in violence. Martial arts groups, ritual arts groups and bairo youth groups were dominant in the street violence that left Timor-Leste in turmoil, notably in Dili. The presence and agitation of their members helped to escalate and perpetuate the crisis. This was facilitated by the sheer scale of the groups' memberships, a fluid socio-cultural situation caused by political unrest, and widespread discontent among a young generation detached from the solidarity of Timor-Leste's resistance era.

Fictional Oungan: In the Long Shadow of the Fetish

My active encounter with the ritual arts of Haitian Vodou occurred in narratives of aggression and protection recounted by clients in a mental health clinic serving Haitians in the Boston area. However, the objects referred to were not the public forms, such as sequinned flags, painted drums and veve, or ground drawings, usually emblematic of the ritual corpus. What emerged in these sessions were descriptions of wanga—instrumental objects and materials associated with private “magical” work to transform human situations. Unequipped to counter the influence of such forms on their own terms when they were experienced as harmful, I resorted to the standard clinical repertoire, including psychological evaluation, counseling, and, in liaison with consulting psychiatrists, psychotropic medications. These professional strategies were often ineffective and even, occasionally, destructive. It was not simply a matter of my own ambivalence toward the Eurocentric theoretical foundations of my profession, or my limits as a non-Haitian therapist, which undermined my efforts. For several years after leaving, I continued to receive calls from other clinicians, both Haitian and non-Haitian, of varying theoretical persuasions, whose efforts to help the same clients had been similarly thwarted. Compared to the interpersonally charged, antiaesthetic, and often concealed wanga that I had encountered through their impact on people’s lives, the visually captivating and public Vodou flag, or drapo, a focus of my later doctoral work (see my “For the Flower of Ginen”), seemed easy. During the initial stages of my research, however, when I worked with the oungan (Vodou priest) and flagmaker Clotaire Bazile, it was the intimate and potent objects he assembled for travay, for private work with clients, not the shimmering sequinned drapo, that were in evidence. Described by K a ren Brown as “reifications of problematic relational situations” (“Serving the Spirits” 210), 1 these forms, such as hanging bottles, cloth figures, tied bundles, and mirrors, gradually became inseparable from my growing recognition of Bazile’s talents as a healer and of the bitter trials undergone by many who consulted him, including people recently terrorized by the postcoup military regime in Haiti. However, these working objects also continued to trigger sorcery fears associated with my previous clinical work and internalized colonial and postcolonial representations of the oungan as the malevolent and/or fraudulent creator and manipulator of destructive wanga. 2 Unable, by virtue of experience, to contain the power of these objects exclusively within psychological, socioeconomic, semantic, or other explanatory models of Western social science, I was also aware of their resonance as fetish within the colonial discourse that legitimated conquest and slavery. As Suzanne Blier explains in “T ruth and Seeing,” the term,

Fictional Oungan: In the Long Shadow of the Fetish

My active encounter with the ritual arts of Haitian Vodou occurred in narratives of aggression and protection recounted by clients in a mental health clinic serving Haitians in the Boston area. However, the objects referred to were not the public forms, such as sequinned flags, painted drums and vèvè, or ground drawings, usually emblematic of the ritual corpus. What emerged in these sessions were descriptions of wanga--instrumental objects and materials associated with private "magical" work to transform human situations. Unequipped to counter the influence of such forms on their own terms when they were experienced as harmful, I resorted to the standard clinical repertoire, including psychological evaluation, counseling, and, in liaison with consulting psychiatrists, psychotropic medications. These professional strategies were often ineffective and even, occasionally, destructive. It was not simply a matter of my own ambivalence toward the Eurocentric theoretical foundations of my profession, or my limits as a non-Haitian therapist, which undermined my efforts. For several years after leaving, I continued to receive calls from other clinicians, both Haitian and non-Haitian, of varying theoretical persuasions, whose efforts to help the same clients had been similarly thwarted.

Grotowski Blazes the Trails: From Objective Drama to Ritual Arts

The past 21 years constitute a period longer than Grotowski's entire work in the theatre, even if we add his training as actor and director. He spent I8 years in the theatre, including 1 years (1957-1968) as a director. We must take note of these facts to avoid misunderstanding. Grotowski's work since 1985 represents the closure of a 30-year creative journey-the achievement and crowning of a lifetime. This is the fourth period of his work. The first, the of Productions, lasted from either 1957 (the year of his directorial debut, Ionesco's The Chairs, at the Stary Teatr in Cracow) or 1959 (the founding of the Teatr Trzynastu Rzqd6w in Opole, which later evolved into the Teatr Laboratorium) until 1969. The second period was the of Participation (known as Active Culture or Paratheatre, 1969-1978), the third the of Sources (1976-1982). The fourth period, the Ritual Arts, corresponds to the work he has been doing in Italy. The short interim period after the Theatre of Sources, when he was working in California, is known, to use his term, as Drama. It is possible to associate this term Objective Drama withJung's unconscious or T. S. Eliot's correlative, but it would be more profitable to link it to the distinction between objective art and subjective art made by G.I. Gurdjieff (1877-1949) (see Gordon 1978; Bennett I973). Subjective art relies on a randomness or individual view of things and phenomena, and thus it is often governed by human caprice. Art, on the other hand, has an extraand supra-individual quality, and it can thereby reveal the laws of fate and the destiny of man. * The term Objective Art appeared in 1921, completely independently