Baarakan of Culture Liven Up Banjar Cultural Congress II

Banjarmasin, MelayuOnline.com—Banjar Cultural Congress II on April 4 – 7, 2010 was officially opened by the Governor of South Kalimantan, Ir. Rudy Ariffin. Taking place in front of South Kalimantan Governor’s Office, the opening was joyful. Banjarmasin people came in throughs and crowded the setting of the congress opening. They were waiting for the main performance of the congress opening called the baarakan to begin.

“Alhamdulillah, all Urang Banua from all regions are here in this Banjar Cultural Congress,” said Ir. Rudy Ariffin in his welcoming speech.

Banjar Cultural Congress II, he added, felt more special because all participants are representatives of Banjar community in Indonesia or abroad. Some of the participants were from Langkat, Serdang Bedagai, Kuala Tungkal Jambi, Tanjung Pinang, Batam, Surabaya, Semarang, Yogyakarta, Bandung, Jakarta, East Kalimantan, Pontianak, Kuala Kapuas, Samarinda, Mataram and Makassar. In addition, there were the representatives of Banjar community from abroad namely from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Perak, Malacca, Kelantan, Sabah, Serawak, Pahang and Johor Baru. Banjar Congress II of the year was a continuation of the Cultural Congress I which was held in November 2007.

“This second congress signifies that the result of Banjar Cultural Congress I is apparent. Therefore, we need to keep the spirit in the future,” said Rudy Ariffin.

Rudy explained that the continuance of Banjar culture to become it is nowadays owed to the support and contribution of all Banjar people who lived outside Banjarmasin. Although they were spread all over the archipelago, Urang Banua always support their living by always preserving Banjar cultural values.

“In the middle of global culture impact, Banjar culture still exiss in the daily life of Banjar people wherever they are. Therefore, as the Governor of South Kalimantan, I would like to give my greatest appreciation to all Urang Banua in this congress,” said Rudy who will end his tenure this mid-year.

In this occasion, Rudy took a chance to get himself acquainted with the representatives of Urang Banua community from all over the place and introduce them to one another as well as to the public of Banjarmasin. Not only the participants and Banjarmasin people, the congress was also attended by the Regional Executive Conference, Legislative and the Regional Representative of South Kalimantan. There were also the regents and mayors of all regencies in South Kalimantan as well as the Expert Staff of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Jakarta.

The Role of Cultural Congress

In its development, Banjar Cultural Congress takes a major role in determining the cultural policy of South Kalimantan government. Three years after the first congress, there had been three Government Regulations issued related to the preservation and protection for Banjar language, art and other historical and archeological remains. They are the Government Regulations No 6,7 and 8 which were authorized in 2009.

“Currently, Banjar language is included in the local content in all educational settings in South Kalimantan. Moreover, the area and the historical objects are also protected by the law,” explained Rudy Ariffin.

It was planned that the congress would be opened by The Governor of South Kalimantan and The Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ir. Jero Wacik, S.E.. However, Jero Wacik was unable to attend it for having to assist the Presiden’s visit abroad. Surya Yoga, the Expert Staff for Social Infrastructure of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, spoke on his behalf.

In his speech, Surya Yoga treated the strong relevance of the vision and mission of Banjar Cultural Congress I and II. In term of theme, Surya Yoga elaborated that the theme of Congress I was Banjar Culture as the Batang Tarandam (the submerged log). Today, after three years of effort to lift itself up, it should be obvious what kind of log it was and what should be done with the emerging log.

 

Expert Staff for Social Infrastructure of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Surya Yoga, delivering the speech on behalf the Minister of Culture and Tourism who was unable to attend the opening of Banjar Cultural Congress II

“It is apparent now whether the submerging log is an ironwood, teak or another kind of wood. Then what should be done with the wood? That is the point to be discussed in this second congress,” explained Surya Yoga.

Banjar Cultural Congress II was officially opened with the Governor of South Kalimantan waving a rice stalk to all points of compass.

Sasangga Banua

The theme of Banjar Cultural Congress II was “To Strengthen Banjar Culture, Gasan Sasangga Banua”. Through this theme, it was hoped that the congress could inspire and encouraged a social movement to support Banjar culture everywhere so as to develop and preserve Banjar culture responsibly. In the future, this value will be important for Banjar people in their association.

“There is a proverb saying haram manyarah waja sampai kaputing. This means that in giving meaning in their struggle, Banjar people never give up before they succeed. The same spirit must be implanted in the struggle in preserving Banjar culture,” explained the Committee Chairman of Banjar Cultural Congress II, H. Fitri Rifani, S.H., M.H, in her speech.

It was within that theme and spirit that, Fitri added, Banjar culture had the potential to be equal with other culture which dominate the people all this time. Therefore, the theme of this second congress was the continuation of the first congress which aimed to strengthen (manahapi) Banjar culture and support the region (banua) in all aspects.

The Joy of Baarakan

After being officially opened, the baarakan (carnival) of culture of all South Kalimantan added the enthusiasm of the congress opening. Baarakan symbolizes the enthusiasm of South Kalimantan people in preserving their cultural and traditional heritage. The congress participants and guests enthusiasticly enjoyed the baarakan despite the hot sun.

Basically, baarakan is an effort to introduce the richness of Banjar culture to the public. Various kinds of artworks and culture were performed in this baarakan. Some of the artworks were the Papantulan, Kuda Gepeng, Wayang Ging, Payung Ubur-Ubur, Payung Kembang, Tarabang players, Bendera players, Sasingaan, Nanag galuh banjarm rampak, Hadrah kuntau and gasing.

 

The Baarakan was performed continuously since 3 a.m. Central Indonesian Time. The baarakan participants were gathered from all regencies in South Kalimantan in hope that they would be broadcast by the media so as to open the opportunity for the region to develop them more intensely. (ATP/brt/20/04-10)

Translation by Apri Widiastuti (trns/29/04-10)

 

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