Lima Gunung Festival

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A. Overview

Lima Gunung (literally, five mountains) Festival is an annual art exhibition held by Lima Gunung Community. This event features many traditional arts combined with modern arts. The performers are people of agricultural societies occupying the sides of five mountains in Magelang Regency, i.e. Merapi, Merbabu, Andong, Menoreh, and Sumbing. Held for the first time in 2002, it would be the ninth in 2010. Year after year, Lima Gunung Festival is getting more attractive and famous.

According to a source, Lima Gunung Community was founded by an artist from Mendut Village named Sutanto, who is better known as Tanto Mendut. The community involved some leaders and prominent figures of a number of art communities existing in the five mountainsides. Tanto Mendut thought that folk arts would only persist and flourish if people were willing to cultivate them.

In the festival, we can see how peasants do things different from their daily routines. They, whose daily activity is working their fields, would dance, paint, or play music. These peasants are members of the art groups under Lima Gunung Community. Among the art groups are Cipto Budoyo Art Workshop, Gadung Melati Theatrical Community, Topeng Ireng Art Group, Wargo Budoyo Art Group, Bekso Turangga Muda Art Group, and Cahyo Budoyo Sumbing.

Lima Gunung Festival goes on for one week. The opening ceremony is held in a certain place then followed with art performances by the art groups in their respected areas on different schedules. In the closing ceremony, all communities are gathered in Mendut Studio and present their closing exhibition.

B. Features

Lima Gunung Festival is really a movement of folk arts. Through a festival like this one, the grass roots can take part in filling in the pages of Indonesian cultures. Moreover, their performances seem to reflect their modest life as peasants. This can actually be seen clearly during the event.

The stage decoration is unusual, only an outdoor space in the front or backyard of a house. It will give us the impression of amalgamation of the art and the people. The notion that artists are parts of society is kept in mind by the people, inside or outside of the stage.

Inspired by such a humble notion, they make art as a medium for voicing grass root problems. The members of Lima Gunung Community are common people anyway. So they really face the problems and then express their anxiety through arts.

There is a distinct characteristic of some of the dances, i.e. the agile movement of the dancers. It is apparent, for instance, in Topeng Ireng, Kuda Lumping, and Solah Kiprah dances. These three dances have a happy atmosphere, as if the dancers want to say that despite all the difficulties in life, they can still be happy.

Not only men, women also participate in the festival. Just watch how energetic they are when performing Solah Kaprah dance. These women are attached to Fatma Budaya Group from Magelang. Like the male artists in the festival, the women are common people. After show, they would get back cooking in the kitchen. But through their performance, they turn into more than just housewives. They are cultural guardians.

C. Location

Lima Gunung Festival is held in different venues where the communities come from. Some places are changed every year. However, the center for coordination and information of the festival is in the Mendut Studio owned by Tanto Mendut. It is on Mendut Street No. 1, Mendut Village, Mungkid Sub-district, Magelang Regency, Central Java.

D. Access

To get information about time and place of the festival, you should go to Mendut Studio. It is easy to get there as you can take public transportation or your own vehicle.

From Yogyakarta, you can take a bus heading for Magelang from Giwangan or Jombor Bus Stations and get off at the Palbapang T-intersection. The bus fare is Rp 7,000 (August 2010).

From Semarang, Salatiga, downtown Magelang, Wonosobo, or Temanggung, you can stop at Tidar Bus Station, Magelang. You should continue your trip by taking a bus heading for Yogyakarta and stop at Palbapang T-intersection. The bus will cost Rp 3,000 (August 2010).

If you are at Palbapang T-intersection already, there is one more bus trip you will need to take. Get a bus heading for Borobudur to get to Mendut Studio, which is 400 m away from Mendut Temple. Tanto Mendut is quite well-known in the area so you could ask anyone there if you could not find the studio. The bus fare from Palbapang T-intersection to the studio is Rp 2,000 (August 2010).

If you start from Yogyakarta, you may also get off at Muntilan Bus Station and changes buses for Borobudur, paying Rp 3,000 (August 2010) for the bus.

E. Ticket

There is no charge to see the festival.

F. Accommodations and Other Facilities

Besides watching the art performances during the festival, you may want to visit other tourism resorts nearby, such as Borobudur Temple, Mendut Temple, Suroloyo Peak, and many others.

Around the areas, there are eating places offering special food of Magelang. You can also find snack, souvenir, and handicraft stores as well as lodgings.

Text: Mujibur Rohman
Photo(s): Collection of Jogjatrip.com
Translation: Reza Daffi
(Primary data and various sources)

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