Contemporary batik serves as a potent medium for constructing and affirming regional identity, often incorporating ecological motifs that transcend traditional boundaries. This study critically analyzes how contemporary Baluran batik motifs are constructed as a visual image of regional identity for Situbondo Regency. Employing a qualitative descriptive approach, with Dilthey's Hermeneutics model as the interpretative framework, the research investigates the intricate interplay of visual semiotics and regional identity theory. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with designers, industry owners, and cultural figures, passive participant observation, and visual documentation of batik artworks from three prominent industries in Situbondo. Findings reveal that Baluran's ecological icons, such as peacocks, bulls, and deer, are not merely denotative representations of nature but undergo a process of visual objectification and commodification into culturally laden symbols. Designers' creative stylization (Ausdruck), rooted in their unique experiences (Erlebnis) of Baluran's ecosystem, produces motifs understood (Verstehen) as embodying beauty, resilience, and ecological distinctiveness. This dynamic process highlights how regional identity is not merely inherited but actively constructed through visual cultural practices. The study contributes theoretically by advancing the discourse on translocal transformation of traditional art in contemporary contexts, particularly demonstrating how ecological icons become subnational identity markers via visual commodification. Methodologically, it showcases Dilthey's Hermeneutics as a robust analytical tool for integrating diverse data in visual semiotic interpretation.
Lampung Province has several distinctive motifs that are icons of the Lampung region, such as the siger motif, pepper leaf, tree of life, and ship. Likewise, Metro Regency also has a distinctive regional motif, namely the leluwak motif. The purpose of this study is to develop typical Lampung and Metro batik motifs to be marketed in the Metro Lampung area. The research was conducted using a qualitative approach, literature study, and participatory action studies by batik entrepreneurs and craftsmen in the DR Sragen batik business, Central Java, and Metro Lampung. Data sources used include literature on Lampung and Metro motifs, informants from the Lampung community leaders, batik entrepreneurs and craftsmen, and the community using batik products. Research data were collected through literature study techniques, observation, interviews, focused discussions, motif design creation actions, batik production process actions, and batik product testing by consumers. Data were analyzed using interactive models and consumer tests. The research produced one master design of a typical Metro batik motif. Furthermore, the design was produced in 5 batik products with different color compositions. The resulting batik cloth was made using a printing technique measuring 115cm x 240cm. From one resulting motif design, it can be made into clothing (long-sleeved shirt or skirt) with two different motifs and a front view. The sanggit motif of the front shirt lies in the 25cm master motif and the 60cm motif. Of the five different color compositions, the most popular color composition among Metro residents is the red-green batik composition, and the least popular composition is the brown-blue composition.
This paper seeks to examine the cosmopolitan solidarity fostered by the artist collective Taring Padi through their art. The group creates artworks that highlight human security issues across Indonesia, showcasing the works both domestically and internationally to raise awareness among global audiences and cultivate a sense of cosmopolitan solidarity aimed at addressing these issues for the benefit of humanity. This study, therefore, aims to analyze how Taring Padi establishes this solidarity by employing cosmopolitanism theory and utilizing a qualitative research method, with data gathered from observation, interviews, and literature review. This paper found that Taring Padi establishes cosmopolitan solidarity by focusing on three fundamental human security issues: the lack of freedom from want, freedom from fear, and freedom from indignity. The group illustrates the absence of these three freedoms in their artworks and invites audiences, regardless of nationality and geographic boundaries, to unite in addressing these human security issues and advocating for the victims, thereby embodying cosmopolitan solidarity. This research contributes to the existing literature on the power of art in international politics and underscores the importance of recognizing non-state actors, such as artists, in the realm of global politics.
This study examines the aesthetics of Tembang Sunda Cianjuran as a relational vocal–instrumental performance system shaped through reciprocal interaction between panembang (vocalists) and pamirig (instrumental accompanists) within the principal Cianjur–Bandung lineage. Previous scholarship has largely emphasized vocal technique and performer excellence, while the broader relational, instrumental, and integrative dimensions of Cianjuran aesthetics have remained insufficiently theorized. This research aims to formulate an integrative aesthetic framework grounded in the concept of dongkari as Cianjuran’s foundational normative principle, encompassing dongkari haleuang (vocal formation), dongkari lagu (melodic structure and ornamentation), and dongkari pirigan (instrumental relationality). Employing an interpretative qualitative design with an emic, practice-based methodology, the study draws upon more than five decades of embodied practitioner experience, intergenerational in-depth interviews with leading vocal and instrumental tradition bearers, and critical literature analysis. Data were interpreted through an adaptive operationalization of A.A.M. Djelantik’s aesthetic theory of form, content, and presentation, recontextualized according to the indigenous performance logic of Cianjuran. The findings reveal that Tembang Sunda Cianjuran aesthetics are fundamentally relational, proportional, and affectively regulated rather than virtuosity-centered, synthesized through kesepakatan perasaan (shared affective agreement) as the central aesthetic mechanism governing real-time musical coherence. The study contributes methodologically by demonstrating the value of integrating embodied emic inquiry into musicological analysis, and theoretically by positioning kesepakatan perasaan as an indigenous framework that enriches broader debates on relational aesthetics, intersubjective musical attunement, and cross-cultural performance studies.
Dideng is a folk theatre tradition from Rantau Pandan Village that is currently facing the risk of decline due to limitations in its regeneration process. Despite this condition, Dideng oral narrative art contains rich theatrical, gestural, and musical potentials that can be further developed within contemporary performance contexts. This study aims to transform the artistic potential of Dideng into a Jambi Malay opera prototype as an effort of cultural revitalization. This research employs a qualitative approach with a descriptive-analytic method within a Research and Development (R&D) framework. Data were collected through interviews, observation, documentation, and literature review involving practitioners, cultural experts, and the creative team.The result of this applied research is a Jambi Malay opera prototype entitled Elegi Puti Dayang Ayu. The transformation process demonstrates how the episodic structure of oral storytelling is reconfigured into a linear dramaturgical form to achieve causal coherence suitable for modern stage performance. The narrative is centered on the breakdown of the uncle–nephew relationship (avunculate), which provides a culturally grounded basis for the emergence of tragedy within Malay social structure. The opera text is constructed through the conversion of a drama script into a poetic libretto, integrating dideng, pantun, and seloko as elements of indigenous dramaturgy. The atmosphere is shaped within a tragic framework, emphasizing emotional depth through monologue and musical expression.This study contributes to the discourse on intangible cultural heritage revitalization by demonstrating that the transformation of oral tradition into contemporary performance is not merely adaptive, but involves a negotiation between cultural continuity and aesthetic innovation.
