Residents enjoy the scenery at Tandon Ciater reservoir in Ciater, South Tangerang, on Sunday (22/1). The reservoir, which was made jointly by the South Tangerang City Administration and the Jakarta Provincial Government, is used as a watershed area to help control floods. It is also used as a public space and a green open area.
Last weekend, the 2017 Tandon Ciater Festival was crowded with more visitors than the Tandon Ciater venue typically attracts on weekdays. Pencak silat and lenong (traditional Betawi comedy theater) artists from Jakarta and South Tangerang gathered for the Pencak Silat Festival and Lenong Betawi Festival.
Advisory board member of the South Tangerang branch of the Indonesian Pencak Silat Association (IPSI), Sadelih, said that pencak silat schools were mushrooming in South Tangerang. Many local youths were interested in learning the martial arts not only for self-defense but also for the sake of preserving local traditions.
“We are making efforts to include pencak silat as local content in the curricula of local schools. This way, students will be introduced to local traditions at a young age,” said Sadelih.
Tandon Ciater is a man-made water reservoir and a new tourist site. The six-hectare area is located in Ciater subdistrict, Serpong district. The space has a running track, a Blandongan traditional house, a camping ground and a praying room. It is especially crowded on the weekends.
South Tangerang tourism agency acting head Chaerudin said that this was the first time the event was held. The plan is to hold the event annually. “The idea is to have the reservoir not only for storing water, but also to serve as a tourist destination and a space for local artists to perform,” he said.
South Tangerang tourism agency data shows that the municipality receives 350,000 visitors per month. Popular tourist destinations in the area include Situ Gintung Lake, Lengkong Monument and the nuclear energy education tour at the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan). In the future, the target is to achieve one million visitors annually.
“Indeed, not all lakes in the municipality are ready. Only Situ Gintung and Tandon Ciater are ready for tourism. We hope that, apart from Betawi traditional arts, art such as traditional dances from other regions will be performed here,” Chaerudin said.
Support
Efforts to boost tourism in South Tangerang must be supported, including through festivals. Support could also come from traditional artists, including during festivals.
The Tandon Ciater Festival, Sadelih said, provided opportunities for pencak silat schools and lenong communities. He said that he hoped such festivals would be held more often in the future to help traditional art forms survive. If possible, the space in Tandon Ciater, for instance, should be open for local art groups to perform every week, he said.
In regard to passing the art form down to future generations, lenong communities are the most youth-dominated among art communities. Apart from having theater skills, they also tend to master pencak silat. The case is different with gambang kromong musicians, who accompany the lenong shows, as they are relatively older.
Time may lead to changes and cities may bloom, but traditional art forms must be preserved, including through the provision of spaces for the artists to develop their skills and for the art forms to attract new talents.
In South Tangerang, the Tandon Ciater Festival has initiated this effort. The hope is that the festival will not be a one-off event and will continue in the future – in a continuously improved and more advanced form.
