Tag: Malay MAgic

Performance Notes

~ The Koboi Project

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

Spells adapted from notes in Walter William Skeat‘s Malay Magic.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/47873/47873-h/47873-h.htm

Wayang Lemah

~ The Koboi Project

The panggung (theatre/stage) for the Pokok Pauh Janggi performance was denoted by a tikar sengkuang (seashore pandan mat) and 2 cushions to mark the positions of the ersatz Dalang (puppet master) and the Pawang (shaman). The traditional Wayang Kulit batang pisang (banana stem) constituted the ibu pertiwi (mother earth) of the panggung and at each end of this ‘ground’ was inserted a bamboo rod, stating the vertical plane and marking the left and right boundaries of the proscenium. Wayang Kulit normally takes place in the dark so the shadows of the puppets can be starkly delineated on the kelir (screen), which is the ultimate site or interface of the performance. The Pokok Pauh Janggi performance was not, however, the presentation of a shadow play but, rather, the sharing of the sacred or magical upacara (rites) of Malay Wayang Kulit. The performance took place just before dusk, while there was still enough light for the buang badi rusa (dispelling of the mischief of the deer) and the invocation of the jambalang wayang (spirit of the puppets) could be observed by the audience. There could of course be no screen, and this led to practical problems with regard to support for the puppets and focusing the space of the performance.

To help delineate the proscenium and to order the space of the ritual, some devices were borrowed from the Balinese Wayang Lemah which also traditionally takes place in daylight without the mediation of a screen. In the presentation of Wayang Lemah, an intertwined cord of three threads known as the tukelan is tied across the vertical posts of the proscenium. The taught, straight tukelan signifies akasa (sky) and dharma (righteousness). At either end of the tukelan is strung an Uang Kepeng (pierced Chinese coin) that was the medium of exchange in the traditional Balinese economy, and which is said to symbolize balance between the Bhuana Agung (macrocosm) and Bhuana Alit (microcosm). While the incorporation of these elements of Wayang Lemah constitutes a deviation from the Kelantan tradition, it was apropos to the mechanics, optics, and metaphysics of the daylight performance of Pokok Pauh Janggi and, most importantly, it brought a broader Nusantara perspective to the proceedings.

“The Philosophical Meaning of Elements of the Balinese Lemah Leather Puppet Performance” written by I Putu Ardiyasa

Thanks to my friend and Vancouver based Tok Dalang Mark Parlett for guiding me towards the realization of this important aspect of the Pokok Pauh Janggi performance.

Pokok Pauh Janggi performance and installation by Niranjan Rajah runs from 5th Aug – 30th Sept 2023.

Wayang Kulit Puppets

~ The Koboi Project

For the Pokok Pauh Janggi performance at Kapallorek Artspace, I worked with Greta Burley to remake two Kelantan Wayang Kulit puppets that seem to be known only from a photograph in Walter William Skeat‘s Malay Magic. The Pokok Pauh Janggi and the Ketam Gergasi puppets were collected by  Skeat in the late 19th Century. The new puppets were made in Vancouver from deerhide using a laser cutter.

Pokok Pauh Janggi performance and installation by Niranjan Rajah runs from 5th Aug – 30th Sept 2023.

https://www.facebook.com/gretaburleydesign

Tahi Besi Menjadi Pagar 2

~ The Koboi Project

Soalan: Boleh tak tahi besi kita buat berobat nak pagar rumah, guna ayat Koran?

Jawapan: Boleh buat Tahi Besi buat pagar, tetapi pagar kawat itulah! (Hah, pasal dia besi … buat kawat 🙂 )
Yang tak boleh nya, tahi besi itu yang kita jaga rumah kita. Tak Boleh! Dan kalau Al Koran dengan selawat … boleh. Faham? Aaa!

The above extract.from a ceramah by Ustaz Azhar Idrus evidences a persistant syncreticism in the quotidian practice of Islam amongst the Malays of the peninsular. The Bahasa transcription is my best translation of the Ustaz’s loghat Kelate. I would appreciate corrections. Please send to nrajah@sfu.ca

The Pokok Pauh Janggi installation runs from 5th Aug – 30th Sept 2023 at the Kapallorek Artspace in Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak.

http://mistik707corner.blogspot.com/2010/12/tahi-besi.html#

https://www.kapallorek.com/my/

Pokok Pauh Janggi

~ The Koboi Project

EXTENDED TILL 8TH OCT 2023

In December 2019, The Koboi Project presented Dari Pusat Tasek at the Percha Artspace, Lumut, Perak. This presentation was realized as an installation in the gallery accompanied by a performance in the public space of the Lumut waterfront. Dari Pusat Tasek addressed salient themes of contemporary Malaysian society while also engaging with the forms and meanings of traditional Malay ritual and folklore. Documentary images of this earlier Percha Artspace performance forms the content of the Panji Pauh Ulung photographic series of the Koboi Project. The Koboi now returns to Malaysia again, to present Pokok Pauh Janggi, a related performance and exhibition at Kapallorek Artspace, Bandar Iskandar, Bota, Perak. The exhibition features the Koboi Balik Lagi series of photographs and runs from 5th Aug – 30th Sept 2023. OPENING EVENTS on 5TH AUG: Performance 6pm, Reception 8pm, Artist Talk 9pm.

The Koboi Returns 2023 – 14

~ The Koboi Project

This diagram can be seen as a representation of the metaphysics and the physics of the traditional Malay cosmos. The Pokok Pauh Janggi is the axis mundi of the 1 Dunia (world) connecting the depths of the 6 Dasar Laut (Underworld) to the heights if the 5. Kayangan (Skyworld). Its location at the 2 Pusat Tasik Pauh Janggi puts it directly above the ‘Underworld’. In the tale of Haji Batu, the drew 7 nails that the Haji drove into the tree to make his way up might be a reference to the 7 levels of Hell as understood in Islam. His passage to from the top of the Pokok Pauh Janggi to Mecca by clinging to the mythical Burong Roc (Garuda) might equally signify his ascent towards the Heavens.

If the Pokok Pauh Janggi anchors the metaphysical model of the Malay cosmos, the physics of this world is represented by Giant crab that lives at its base. This crab blocks the opening of the drain of the waters at the bottom of the Pusat Tasek (whirlpool or navel of the seas) and it is the daily movements of this crab, that cause the oceans to rise and fall cyclically, giving us both the currents and the tides.  (see Walter William Skeat’s Malay Magic).

The above diagram combines the outlines of two Kelantan Wayang Kulit puppets (Pokok Pauh Janggi and giant crab) collected by Walter William Skeat in the late 19th Century, with an adaptation of a diagram of the Malay Cosmos by Md. Salleh Yaspar in Malaysian World View edited by Mohd Taib Osman.


https://www.gutenberg.org/files/47873/47873-h/47873-h.htm

https://books.google.com.my/books?id=-AR-V3ymAzoC&pg=PA274&lpg=PA274&dq=mohd+taib+osman+pusat+tasik&source=bl&ots=Ck_2ts5cvN&sig=ACfU3U189ige7-t0nqKA3yKcLDIurDnuoQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi688zh_sDmAhVT8XMBHaXlC1QQ6AEwAXoECAwQAQ#v=onepage&q=mohd%20taib%20osman%20pusat%20tasik&f=false