Because of its central location along ancient trade routes, Indonesia’s traditional art comes from a large variety of sources and cultures and has a rich history dating back to before written language.
The mixture of these foreign cultures with native Indonesian culture has created a rich and varied tradition of Indonesian art, including Balinese painting, sculpture, Kroncong music, wayang theater, and batik fabric craft.
Balinese Painting
The most famous of Indonesian traditional paintings are the Balinese Wayang-style paintings. This style of painting flourished on the Indonesian isle of Bali throughout the 13th century.
Wayang-style paintings are depictions of Wayang theater, staged interpretations of the classic Hindu-Javanese texts, such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, performed by intricate shadow puppets.
The paintings are two-dimensional characters from the Wayang performances drawn on bark or cloth with earth-toned natural dyes.
Tribal Art
The Kenyah people, indigenous to Borneo, Indonesia, and Malaysia, also contribute to the rich tradition of Indonesian art.
Through their large celebration known as the harvest festival, they have created many traditional dances, which are celebrated in Indonesia. They have also created intricate murals depicting human figures, flora, and fauna to decorate their living quarters.
Sculpture
The best-known of the Indonesian traditions of sculpture are the various reliefs sculpted outside of various Buddhist and Hindu temples.
The most ornate of these sculptures are found at the Buddhist temple of Borobudur in Java, which features more than 2,000 relief panels telling the story of Buddha’s life.Music
A traditional style of Indonesian music is called Kroncong, which uses one or two of a type of small ukulele-like instruments called kroncongs, a flute, and a female singer.
This type of music originated in Portugal and became popular in Indonesia during the 16th century because of its location along popular trade routes.
Wayang Theater
Wayang theater was developed to spread the message of Hinduism to the native people of ancient Indonesia, using shadow puppets as performers.
Although it is thought to have been introduced to Indonesian culture by Indian traders, traditional oral forms of native Indonesian storytelling apparently influenced wayang performances.
Traditional puppets were crafted using buffalo skin and bamboo, then placed behind a lighted screen to enact traditional Hindu texts.
Fabric Craft
Batik fabric craft remains a notable part of Indonesian traditional art. Batik is made creating a pattern on fabric using melted wax. After the wax sets, the fabric is then dipped in dye.
The dye does not penetrate the part of the fabric covered in wax and thus reveals the pattern. Sometimes several colors and wax treatments are used to create the elaborate batiks. Once the dying process is complete, the fabric is dipped in a solvent to remove the wax.
Although this process’s exact origin is debated, it is thought to date back to the 6th century B.C.E. or prior, and the tradition continues throughout Indonesia today.