Crossing the Blues

Traditional ArtsTattoos Nearly Extinct






Tattoos are art. Before the art of tattoo (tattoo body painting) tribes in the Mentawai Islands (about 110 km West from the direction of the coastline of West Sumatra) extinct, should be efforts to examine and mendokumentasikannya. Soalnya, the Mentawai tattoo tradition is the only contemporary art that people use. "The existence of the tribe tattoo / Mentawai people with different tattoos now (modern), which is more urban sub-Cultures, such as young people used to self gengnya. Tattoos Mentawai extraordinary and unique, meet all the body from head to foot and laden with symbols and meaning, "said Adi Rosa, a painter and art researcher jebolan postgraduate art ITB, in Padang, Senin (31 / 7). Kompas pencekan Results in Siberut, Mentawai Islands Thursday-Saturday (22-27/7), shows, youth authentic Mentawai no longer interested in tattoo culture is inherited. Habits have started to make tattoos disappear because the government banned in 1970. Only persons aged 45 years and over who bertato and about a thousand in number-two thousand (5 percent). According to Adi Rosa, now lecturer art IKIP Padang, tattoo is one of the oldest ethnic culture of Indonesia that is only found in persons (tribal) Dayak and Mentawai. For the Mentawai people, tattoo is a lasting clothing that can be taken off. Moreover, also the means of communication and social status. "I ramalkan, 10-15 years, Mentawai tattoo extinct. So from now on documentation should be made both written and visual (dibukukan), "said Adi, researchers Mentawai tattoo. He recognizes, as the tattoo body painting so terabaikan studies of fine arts of Indonesia. Evidence, in the Visual Arts Directorate of Indonesia issued the Department of Education Arts and Culture (1975) and History of Visual Arts India published books through Project Procurement Directorate of Vocational Education Secondary School Education Vocational Depdikbud (1982), there is no problem in Indonesia tattoo. From Medan, there are concerns Ahoi Malay dance traditions can vanish in the future due to the progress of the age. This raised the head of the National Program Malay Culture (PBM) XI, Dahri Uhum, in Medan, Selasa (1 / 8). In PBM XI, only five teams in the competition, the district dijuarai Labuan Batu, followed Kodya Binjai, Deli Serdang, Langkat and Medan. Ahoi dance, he said, disappeared along with the advances in technology over the embankment to the rice field. People harvest the rice, have been using the machine. In fact, this dance is done as an expression of feeling happy in welcoming the successful yield.