I am in Central Java now, at Kartika’s house and gallery which is located about halfway between the city of Yogyakarta and the active volcano Merapi. This is my fourth day here, and we have been busy every day with filming. While I of course miss my family back home, it is indeed very pleasant to be here in this welcoming, traditional house among the rice fields, with the volcano looming above the verdant landscape, in this languid heat, smoking (too many) Gudang Garam kretek (my favourite clove cigarettes), indulging three-meals-a-day in the delicious hot and sweet spicy Javanese home-cooking (expertly prepared by Kartika’s daughter Lulu), awoken well before dawn every day by the mellifluous, cacophonous call of the many mosques nearby. And most of all I am enjoying talking and laughing with Kartika and her extended family here about art and life and all that comes with it - I am feeling inspired and energized.
Today I am reflecting on the fact that I have been fortunate to spend significant amounts of time in Indonesia since first coming here nearly thirty years ago. With longer stays in Java and Bali, in Lombok and Sumbawa, in Roti and Timor, and shorter visits to Flores, Sumba and Sumatra, all wonderful places where I have been glad to study, to teach, to make recordings, to undertake academic fieldwork and research, to climb volcanic mountains and scuba dive, to wander aimlessly, and to make films.
The most populated island in this archipelago nation of more than 250 million is Java, and while West Java and East Java are wonderful in their own right, and even Jakarta has its charms, the heartland of Java is here in Central Java where there continues to be a strong emphasis on traditional Javanese values and ideals popularly called kejawen. So I thought I might take a moment in this blog to share just a few Javanese words used to express traditional concepts that I find admirable, and more or less pervasive here.
Sometimes Javanese speakers summarise traditional values with the phrase “Neng, ning, nung, nang,”which refers to the word-endings of four complementary attributes:
meneng – calm, serene
bening – clear mind
anung – proper thought
menang – effective solution
Further, there is a triad of desirable attributes which any individual should aspire to “Sabar, ihlas, narima”:
sabar –tolerance and perseverance in the face of frustration
ihlas – detachment
narima – acceptance of the inevitable
While the population here is composed of persons who identify formally with a wide variety of worldviews and beliefs – Muslim, Hindu-Buddhist, Christian, Animistic-Magical, Secularist, and others, social interaction (with most people) is tempered by the Javanese ideals of neng-ning-nung-nang and sabar-ihlas-narima, and that helps, I find, to make life in general just a little more uplifting and pleasant.
[When I was a young student in America I first encountered these concepts in C. Geertz “The Religions of Java” which I think is still a good place to start if you want to know more…]
The lovely fellow in the picture at the top of this page is Mbah Manto. He works at Kartika's place and never stops smiling and laughing, except when, after asking his permission, I prepared to take his picture - then he frowned and posed looking very grave indeed - which made me laugh which made him laugh despite himself, and I quickly took the photo.
Here are some 'detail' photos of paintings in Kartika's gallery:
