Central Java Water Festival Promotes Environment

Salatiga, Central Java - Reggae, rock and percussive music, shadow puppet performances, chill-out tents and creative arts workshops will grace Senjoyo in Central Java next month, with more than 10,000 people expected to attend a three-day environmental festival.

The Festival Mata Air (Festival of Water) is a collaborative effort between communities, nongovernmental organizations, artists and individuals aiming to raise awareness about environmental conservation.

Now in its fourth year, the upcoming event will highlight the springs of Senjoyo, which provide water for nearby communities.

The springs, or mata air , are being exhausted by local governments, farmers, textile companies and even a nearby military base. The springs still have enough water to meet current demands, but their levels have dropped dramatically.

“Everyone`s basically sucking water out of them,” said Vanessa Hyde, a festival organizer from Planting for Life, an environmentally focused community of artists and volunteers. “A lot of people are taking from them but no one is really looking after them.”

Hyde said art was an effective medium for bringing attention to environmental issues and inspiring communities to take action. “Everyone can get involved in different types of art and it`s something everyone can appreciate,” she said.

A festival highlight will be the Jakarta-based experimental percussion group Kuno Kini, which fuses traditional Javanese beats with reggae and contemporary dance rhythms. The group uses a mix of traditional instruments from all over Indonesia and modern drums.

The opening night will feature a performance by a shadow puppet troupe, Wayang Kampung Sebelah. This troupe is unique in that it uses traditional means to tell contemporary stories, fusing the old with the new, just like Kuno Kini. Its characters are not only villagers, but sex workers, students and politicians.

Wayang Kampung Sebelah composes its own contemporary music as opposed to using gamelan to provide a soundtrack for its stories.

“The atmosphere of the festival will be very creative and vibrant,” Hyde said. “Our networks are varied. There are young punks, circus groups, people getting dressed up and fire dancing.”

Making a festival of this diversity and magnitude a green one is no simple task.

“We struggle with this,” Hyde said. “There`s not a lot of access to things like solar panels or generators that you might find in other countries to be able to go all out and make it completely green.

“All of our decor and installations are made of recycled materials or organic materials. We don`t buy anything new, unless we have to. We use a lot of bamboo and reused rubbish.”

In keeping with that concept, a street parade with the theme “Costumes Made of Trash” will be held on the eve of the festival.

Planting for Life is also encouraging all contributing artists to convey an environmental theme in their creations and performances.

As part of the festival, Senjoyo will host a regional forum on water management to give locals a voice in deciding a course of action to protect the springs.

This year, funding has been particularly tight for Planting or Life. The group`s major sponsors are the Ford Foundation and AusAID, and a number of smaller sponsors are helping the festival keep afloat.

“We`ve done some fund-raising because we were under with our budget,” Hyde said. “We`ve mainly received funding internationally this year, which is a bit different.”

The group has been involved in other activities to promote environmental issues in the area, and on Sunday it organized a successful cleanup of the river and springs in Senjoyo. More than 200 volunteers took part in the activity, which was held in conjunction with the global Clean Up the World event.

Senjoyo sits on the outskirts of Salatiga, a small city surrounded by forest and mountains. Planting for Life recommends those coming in from out of town look for accommodation in Salatiga. For those who want to really get into the green spirit, camping is allowed by some of the springs. Angela Dewan

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.com

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