Community Choose Creative Way

“Our village is so dark and murky. We want to make this village alight, so that people know there is life down here,” said Mr. Miskam, a villager of Ledok Code village, in Code riverbanks.

Now with about 40 lanterns, people of Ledok Code village do not only watch the luxury of hotels’ lights that is more intense in the city of Jogjakarta, but they can be proud for the village is now bathed in light. The idea of ​​making lanterns from used things is a creative response to the vulnerability of life in the area of riverbanks. It is said creative because people of Ledok Code have put new ideas into reality. They try to understand the problem within a new way that is laden with solution. In such frame the program of CreativeNet is carried out, with assumption that every community has the capacity to respond to problems with creative ideas. The community entity meant by CreativeNet is not a hobby-based community, or light as is often found in the group on the internet, but a community with a clear base region, that is the village community with a clear territory.

CreativeNet program begins with assessments to around 30 communities in Jogjakarta, and 8 communities in Klaten. With depth interviews finally a community-based creative network was initiated. In Jogjakarta namely Sanggar Kampung Anak Indonesia (SAKI) of Ledok Tukangan village, Komunitas Cemara in Ledok Code, and Gerilya Pemuda Prawirotaman 08 on Prawirotaman II St. In Klaten, there are three communities, namely Radio Komunitas Lintas Merapi in Deles, Sanggar Lare Mentes in Gantiwarno, and Padepokan Kyai Suluh in Dlimas. All these communities became the forerunner of the CreativeNet which its networks are expected to be evolving with other communities.

In the early stages each community maps the problems occurred in their villages, and builds creative ideas to respond. In this context, creativity is built by remapping the potential of the villagers and the environment. So that creative ideas do not appear out of empty space, but linking the elements of the issues and make it as holistic creative approach. The process of ideas formulation is done in several stages, namely a workshop to acquire the common thread of the problems faced. The findings of the workshop are the essence of the same subject, both in urban and rural areas, that is being recessive by the living space, physical, cultural, and economic. In this context the creative community network will be grown in order to promote common interests, one of them through the culture.

Post-workshop every community formulates creative ideas that thereafter are presented among the communities. Creative ideas submitted based on the problems of each region, and how the communities map the existing creative potential and combine them into a series of prototypes. Within the framework of #CreativeNet, innovation aspect in a prototype is not looking for the sophistication of the products that are often even harder to be reapplied by the communities. Innovation here is a potential strengthening of the existing ones to keep their sustainability. At this point, the innovation applied is based on the emic approach which the point of view relies on community itself. This differs from the etic approach in which the point of view toward the social facts coming from the outsiders.

Creative Ideas Community

SAKI community of Ledok Tukangan departs from education issues and the strengthening of the village. The idea was to make mobile library using carts. The content of the library is archives of the history of the village in the form of text, images and audio-visual equipment. Then there is another cart as an outlet selling the works of the young of Ledok Tukangan village. A creative idea submitted by SAKI is named “Kampungku Uripku.” “During this time we’ve made T-shirts, mugs, bags, and a wide range of products, but got constrained in marketing. Although located in the city center does not mean easier access to markets. With the potential of young people here, in fact they can be independent so we want to create an outlet in the form of a unique wagon that all products can be sold anywhere,” said Anang, the chairman of SAKI.

Unlike the SAKI community, the GPP08 community in Prawirotaman II is working on a photography workshop for children up to teenage. Then based on the workshop, they will retake their living space that is increasingly driven by the construction of the hotel. Their idea is named “Catatan Visual GPP 08.” No less interesting is the idea of ​​the Ledok Code community entitled “Kampung Cahaya.” Being aware that their village is vulnerable evicted, coupled with seedy and dark conditions that contribute to crime, the Ledok Code community would like to begin by responding to physical space, that is tagging the village with lanterns. There are a few things to target by Ledok Code village, they are making the village more “friendly,” giving a sense of pride to the villagers that the slum village can be enhanced, and making lanterns is expected to be the option of creative economy for its villagers. Based on the formulation of these ideas, it can be formulated that the relation to the living space includes the matters of 1) Economic independence 2) Strengthening of identity and solidarity of the village through village knowledge archiving 3) The use of space for the expression of the villagers.

Klaten known as agrarian and referred to as the granary of Java and even national is undergoing industrialization. Agriculture is abandoned, the land is converted, farming is not considered enough for economic benefit, and is considered not modern. More young people go to other places or work in factories that make the village lose ‘power’. ‘Power’ is not just a line of agrarian and citation of granary, but also the cultural wisdom of Klaten that is being attempted to be maintained. Padepokan Kyai Suluh in Dlimas – the village which has a history as a center of art and culture in the District of Ceper, Klaten- struggling to face the regeneration and the decline of cultural events in the village. In District of Deles, Radio Komunitas Lintas Merapi moves to provide alternative information on disaster. In mobilizing role, this community must confront the practice of sand mining using heavy equipment; which truck traffic damages the main road that potentially disrupts disaster mitigation, evacuation paths and the daily activities of the villagers. Other challenges also encountered by Sanggar Lare Mentes Gantiwarno in Gantiwarno District, Klaten. This studio sought to media of playing and arts as part of child growth and development. It aims to balance the impact of technological developments in the village. Communities of Klaten have created several works. Among others, it is the festival entitled Nglemah Nglumbung. In the festival, folk theater was revived with the Ketoprak performance by Padepokan Kyai Suluh. This play contains Dlimas history depicting the people power to resist over land seizures in colonial times. Meanwhile, the Padepokan Kyai Suluh and Radio Komunitas Lintas Merapi are holding screen printing workshops, that the media is effective as media campaigns and fundraising in the future. Similarly, the option of creative workshops of used material is selected by Sanggar Lare Mentes as a response on the trash not yet managed in the District of Gantiwarno. The running activities were organized by young people, through the work can bring back the ‘power’. Living space problems that are experienced together – occuring in each community – should also be faced together, so that the collaboration built. Sanggar Lare Mentes and Padepokan Kyai Suluh collaborate in colossal musical performances used as opening ceremony of Nglemah Nglumbung Festival. Radio Komunitas Lintas Merapi will broadcast the show on the radio. Networking in the works and advocacy. Networks of mutual aid between villages to fight for living space.

From the formulation of the ideas of ​​these six communities, it can be concluded that they choose independence in the economic and cultural expression to strengthen the villagers. Through all of these it is expected to strengthen the bargaining power of communities to participate fully in the process of designing and controlling policies relating to the lives of the villagers.

In the implementation of prototype development, each community organically performs “product design development,” in which the idea, design, technical, and material are considered altogether. There are many findings that occurred during the process of building prototypes. For example, Padepokan Kyai Suluh found a specific frame shape to display the photos. By utilizing scrap materials, sprinkling grains onto the space between photographs, the exhibition of these photos became a unique presentation. Even the Ketoprak format created by Padepokan Kyai Suluh was also loaded by renewal, especially in terms of staging. Ledok Code community creating lanterns tests some various materials to obtain such lanterns that are interesting in terms of design, still having element of locality, with materials that are strong enough in times of heat and rain. SAKI community of Ledok Tukangan chooses the form of Gupon (pigeon house) for the design of the signage with the reason that the activity of flying doves as major entertainment is still attached to its villagers.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned from the whole process of the creative community. Several things are to be noted that the creative practice is enough effective to strengthen the confidence of the villagers in voicing their problems, especially for those who are marginalized in the social structure of a society. This confidence is the beginning to move into the phase of participation to promote common interests. Exploring creativity owned by villagers is an attempt to explore the social capital that is owned by the villages and their villagers, as well as encouraging them to articulate the collective inner experience. Therefore the creative approach carried out is based on the existing culture so that the identity of the villagers is getting stronger and repositioning them as a unified entity of the village.

(Ade Tanesia)