Al-salam ‘aleikum! Hei sahabat-ku Mambang Tali Harus, Yang berulang ka pusat tasek Pauh Janggi, Sampeikan-lah pesan-ku ini, Bangunkan Jambalang Ketam Gergasi!
Peace be upon you! Hey my friend the Spirit of the currents (water), Who tos-and-fros to the pusat tasek Pauh Janggi, Realize this request of mine, Raise the Giant Crab!
Sang Nabil Utama turns crab around to show color and pierces it into the banana stem.
At the height of the performance (see performance notes) the Koboi invokes the spirit of the Pokok Pauh Janggi. He raises the puppet , waves it about, showing only back, and saying-
Hei Toh Mambang Puteh, Toh Mambang Hitam Yang diam di bulan dan matahari Melempahkan sakalian ‘alam asal-nya pawang, Menyampeikan sakalian hajat-ku, Melakukan sagala kahandak-ku, Hidulaplah Pokok Pauh Janggi!
Hey White Ghost, Black Ghost Who dwell in the moon and the sun Bestow all ‘the world of the magician,’ Deliver all my desires, Do all my bidding, Come alive Pauh Janggi Tree!
Koboi turns the puppet around to show color, sets it in the banana stem.
Having covered his head with the black cloth, Koboi presented the new deerskin puppets, unpigmented side facing the audience. He then put them down and performed a ritual (see performance notes) to dispel malicious entities (Badi) from the deer hide. He uttered a spell,
O Si Lanang, Si Lambaun, Si Ketor, Si Becheh, orang yang berampat, Ambil kembali bahagian-kau dari rusa ini!
O Lanang, the Lambaun, The Ketor, the Becheh, the four of you, Take back your part of this deer!
Koboi then took cuttings of deer hide (waste from the fabrication of the puppets) from the muslin cloth and, one by one, gave the signs of deer to the audience, calling them out by name —
He put each fragment on the banana leaf. When all eleven signs had been presented and thier material signifiers deposited on the leaf, Koboi folded the leaf, deposited it in the earth-filled basket, and uttered,
O Mentala Guru Asa (menaruh harapan) sabulan, dua sabulan, Tiga sabulan, ampat sabulan, Lima sabulan, anam sabulan, Tujoh sabulan, malam di-angkau, Siang di-aku. Sa’ekor aku bawa balik, Sa’ekor aku tinggalkan!
O Mentala (Batara) Guru Hoping (desiring, hunting) for a month, two months, Three months, four months, Five months, six months, Seven months, the night is yours, The day is mine. One deer I take, One I leave behind!
Finally, he sprinkled water and flowers onto the basket.
It began to drizz;e (gerimis) over the performance area at around this moment. Later we learnt from observers that it had only rained in the Kapallorek Artspace area and not the surrounding area. This was particu;arly notable as there had been a drought over the previous weeks.
Having called (memanggil) the spirits, Koboi performed a ritual consecration of the stage (upacara membuka panggung) by raising the plate up and towards the audience and uttering,
Hei Jin Tanah, Hantu Tinggi, Hoi Jembalang Wayang ! Dato’ jangan membisakan, Aku tahu asal ‘kau jadi : Dato jangan membe’ngkakkan : Bintang Timor asal ‘kau mula jadi. Biar sagala makhluk suka permainan kita, Berkat Dato’ Batara Guru Menyaksikannya.
Among the spirits propitiated in the Pokok Pauh Janggi performance were the Jambalang Wayang (spirits of the stage). An offering consisting of nasi pulut kuning (glutinous rice), daun sireh (betel leaf), and a soft-boiled egg was presented on an old ceramic plate. At the start of the performance, the egg was broken open, the offering was brought to the panggung on a tray and placed to the rear of the performance area, between the two cushions. Koboi lit a red candle and placed in the glutinous rice offering (nasi pulut kuning) while crying out,
Aku minta’ ampun juga kapada sagala Jambalang Wayang! I ask forgiveness from the spirits of the Wayang!
The Koboi performances involve integrating themes that arise from the location of the event with the abiding themes of the Koboi Project – 1) the persona of the black hat cowboy, 2) the giant SUPERSTAR banner , and 3) the ritual offering. The SUPERSTAR banner brings a sense of scale, both immediate physical size and the more expansive sense of mass media projection. The first SUPERSTAR banner carried a representation of inimitable Kollywood giant Rajinikanth. It was initially raised at the Burning Man Festival 2017, and later presented in Tokyo 2018, Bangkok 2018, and Lisbon 2018 & 2019. For the Dari Pusat Tasek performance at Percha Artspace, Lumut, Perak in December 2019, the image of Rajinikanth was replaced by that of Malaysian political colossus, Anwar Ibrahim. This Anwar Banner was raised again at Kapallorek Artspace, Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak in August 2023.
Bandar Seri Iskandar is a new university town, a recent development in an older area known as Bota. ‘Bota‘ derives from the Sanskrit bhūta (demon) and refers to a local ‘giant’. According to folklore, once upon a time, giants inhabited this area and the old place names of the surrounding areas – Bota Kanan, Bota Kiri and Ekor Bota, stem from layering the image of a fallen giant over a landscape shaped by the Perak river. If one were to understand this physical territory in terms of the ontology of the traditional Malay cosmos, one might see it as being contiguous with the area known as Padang Jauh dan Puncak Gunung.
With both SUPERSTARS and Botas in mind, a propitiation was made, at the start of the Pokok Pauh Janggi performance (see notes) to all the Hantu Tinggi. Struggling against the wind that arose at this time, I lit a red candle at the near the massive Gergasi Bota mural on the Kapallorek building, while calling out, . Aku minta’ ampun kapada sagala Hantu Tinggi! I ask forgiveness of all Tall Ghosts (Giants)!
At this very moment, the SUPERSTAR banner, that had been previously raised, collapsed in a sudden gust of wind, as if to indicate the Hantu Tinggi did not quite approve! Having raised the banner again, and having secured it properly this time, I placed the lighted candle at its foot.
The first propitiation of this performance (see notes) was to the spirits of the earth (jintanah, also called hantu tanah, hulubalang or jambalang tanah), specifically the land (bumi) where the performance takes place. Soil from the ground below was gathered and placed in a woven basket and brought up to the roof of the Kapallorek Artspace, where the performance took place. A lighted candle was placed in this basket of soil while the following was uttered,
Aku minta’ ampun kapada kramat yang memegang tanah disini! I beg forgiveness from the sacred spirits that hold this land!
This appeasement of spirits was performed wholeheartedly (dengan bersungguh sungguh) as magic (in terms of its metaphysical or spirtiual dimension), but not without an awareness some socio-political implications. The propitiation sets up a hierarchy of asspciation with the land – first there are the spirits (kramat) of the land, then the people who recognize and propitiate these spirits, and only then the others. In other words, first kramat yang memegang tanah disini!, then the orang Pribumi yang mengakui keunggulan Kramat tanah, and only after, the non-indegenous (orang barudatang or pendatang) who do not know (mengenali) the kramat .
An interesting implication of this model of primacy is that, as the Malays lose their connection with the Semangat of their land in the course of modernization (due to both Islamic modernism and secular modernity), they too get alienated from the land and lose their place in the hierarchy. Conversely, the pendatang who becomes attuned to this Semangat might, arguably, rise up. I belioeve that this aspect of the performance discretely problematizes the notion of the bumiputera that informs the Malaysian social contract.
1 Set up in Gallery *Plain Black Cowboy Shirt on hanger on the back wall of a niche. *Platform for batang Pisang, nails on either side of niche for tukelan. *Place 7 nails on the ground before the platform.
2 Set-up on Roof *Flag elements in place – weights frame, post, strut. *Panggung in place – mat (tikar anyaman), 2 cushions, bananana stem (batang pisang), brick supports, 2 bamboo verticals. *Arena setup- 2 plastic mats for audience, one row lights above audience, a few plastic chairs. *Large basket to the rear of the panggung – contents: songkok, cowboy hat, capal, flag folded and hooks in place. *mp3 player/megaphone, Kemenyan set (Benzoin incense)- holder with hot coal, kemenyan, lighter, 3 medium size red candles – all set up to front-left of panggung. *Woven container filled with local earth (bekas mengandungi tanah Bota), the badi (remnants of dear hide wrapped in muslin cloth), daun pisang, brass bowl containing water and flowers, – all set up to front-right of panggung.
3 Memasang Tukelan *The performance begins on the roof *Koboi ties string (tukelan) across posts, strings coins (Uang Kepeng). *Sang Nabil Utama lights coal at the back of the arena. *Koboi and Sang Nabil Utama go to start positions.
4 Entrance *Koboi Brings in Artcase containing cloth wrapped Pak Dogol (yellow cloth) and Wak Long, Pokok Pauh Janggi, Ketam Gergasi (black cloth) and places it to the right of the tikar. *Simultaneously Nabil bring a tray (dulang) with food offering on a ceramic plate : pulut kuning, telur rebus, 7 helai. daun sireh and places it to the rear between cushions.
5 Flag Raising *Sang Nabil Utama turns on music on mp3 player/megaphone – Gerimis Mengundang by Slam. *Set up frame, secure fame, insert post, string flag, secure flag, raise flag.
6 Memanggil Jin Tanah *Pasang lilin satu batang, serta berkata :- Aku minta’ ampun kapada kramat yang memegang tanah disini! *Letakkan lilin di dalam bekas yang mengandungi tanah Bota.
7 Memanggil Hantu Tinggi *Lepas itu pasang lilin lagi satu batang, Jalan ke tempat mural bota dan berkata :- Aku minta’ ampun kapada sagala Hantu Tinggi! *letak lilin di kaki bendera. 8 Memanggil Jambalang Wayang *Nyalakan lilin ketiga dan berkata:- Aku minta’ ampun juga kapada sagala Jambalang Wayang! *letak lilin dalam piring nasi pulut.
9 Koboi Mengubah Wajah *Koboi takes off socks/boots and cowboy hat. *Nabil get songkok from basket. *Koboi puts on songkok. *Koboi and Sang Nabil Utama walk over to mat. *Nabil turns off music.
10 Membuka Panggung *Koboi dan Sang Nabil Utama bersila. *Sang Nabil Utama starts Kemeyan . *Naikkan piring dan berkata :- Hei Jin Tanah,Hantu Tinggi, Hoi Jembalang Wayang ! Dato’ jangan membisakan, Aku tahu asal ‘kau jadi : Dato jangan membe’ngkakkan : Bintang Timor asal ‘kau mula jadi. Biar sagala makhluk suka permainan kita, Berkat Dato’ Batara Guru, Menyaksikannya! *Letakkan piring atas tikar di antara Koboi dan Sang Nabil Utama di tengah panggung.
11 Membuang Badi Rusa *Koboi Buka kain kuning, keluarkan Pak Dogol cucuk dalam batang pisang ke sebelah kanan, pandang ke kiri. *Koboi Buka kain hitam, bagi Wak Long pada, Sang Nabil Utama cucuk dalam batang pisang di sebelah kiri, pandang ke kanan. *Koboi Ambil Pokok … angkat menunjukkan bahagian kulit rusa kepada penonton and then Koboi letak patung ke bawah. *Koboi Angkat ketam menunjukkangahagian kulit rusa kepada penonton and then Koboi letak patung ke bawah. *Sang Nabil Utama tutup muka dengan kain semutar. *Koboi Kebaskan tiga kali ka bawah, ia itu ke arah patung dengan kain hitam (OMITED IN PERFORMANCE). *put black cloth on head, serta berkata :- O Si Lanang, Si Lambaun, Si Ketor, Si Becheh, orang yang berampat, Ambil kembali bahagian-kau! *Koboi buka kain puteh dan mengambil isyarat bahagian rusa – Mata, telinga, mulut, hidong,kaki, tangan, bulu, hati, jantong, limpa dan tandok, *masukkan di daun, pulangkan ke tanah, merenjis air dan bunga, serta berkata : — O Mentala Guru Asa sabulan, dua sabulan, Tiga sabulan, ampat sabulan, Lima sabulan, anam sabulan, Tujoh sabulan, malam di-angkau, Siang di-aku. Sa’ekor aku bawa balik, Sa’ekor aku tinggalkan!
12 Membangkunkan Jambalang Pokok Pauh Janggi *Koboi angkat patong Pokok Pauh Janggi, waving tree about, showing only back, serta berkata :- Hei Toh Mambang Puteh, Toh Mambang Hitam Yang diam di bulan dan matahari Melempahkan sakalian ‘alam asal-nya pawang, Menyampeikan sakalian hajat-ku, Melakukan sagala kahandak-ku, Hidulaplah Pokok Pauh Janggi! *Turn tree around to show colour, cucuk in batang pisang.
13 Membangkunkan Jambalang Ketam Gergasi *Koboi angkat semula patong Ketam dan bagi kepada Sang Nabil Utama . *NaSang Nabil Utama menunjukkan blank side to audience (OMITED IN PERFORMANCE), moving the legs. *Koboi berkata :- Al-salam ‘aleikum ! Hei sahabat-ku Mambang Tali Harus, Yang berulang ka pusat tasek Pauh Janggi, Sampeikan-lah pesan-ku ini, Bangunkan Jambalang Ketam Gergasi! *Sang Nabil Utama turns crab around to show colour and cucuk in batang pisang, Manipulate limbs
14 Nabil Mengubah Wajah *Sang Nabil Utama turns on Wayang audio. *Both get up slowly. *Koboi takes out and puts capal. *Koboi gives Sang Nabil Utama Cowboy hat. *Sang Nabil Utama puts on Cowboy hat.
15 Bersalam- salaman *Both face audience for count of 5 seconds. *Turn face each other. *bersalam-salaman.
16 Membuka Tukelan *With wayang audio running ….. pause, be at ease viewing the scene for a while. *Koboi unties the tukelan and removea the uang kepeng . *Koboi removes Ketam from batang pisang and hands to Sang Nabil Utama. *Koboi removes Pokok and stands up. *Koboi andSang Nabil Utama lead the procession from the roof down to the gallery.
17 Paparan Penghabisan *Koboi and Sang Nabil Utama, stand to the left and right in front of the niche, holding forth their puppets. *Batang Pisang is brought down and placed on platform. *Koboi and Sang Nabil Utama insert their puppets into the Batang Pisang and step back allowing others to view. *Nabil pierces the 7 nails into the Batang Pisang. *Sang Nabil Utama helps Koboi change shirts and places the eagle bib shirt on the wall and buttons it up. *Koboi ties tukelan across niche, strings coins (Uang Kepeng). *Koboi places tahi pelangi in front of the paparan as a pendinding. *Koboi and Sang Nabil Utama acknowlege audience, Koboi mintak ampun dari para penonton
titis titis puitis titik titik puitik ritma koma sabdu bunyi noktah seru
titis titik titis menitis titik menitik menitis menitik menitis menitik menitis menitik
tik tik tik tis tis tis ritma koma sabdu bunyi noktah seru
datanglah… tujuh mata air air mata tujuh semburkan dalam tujuh lautan kesunyian bisikan tujuh nafsu pemilik akar keramat memanggil namamu! tujuh kali terkoyak!
The Koboi Project 
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