Purwokerto (13/06), in an effort to preserve art and culture, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Universitas Jenderal Soedirman (FIB UNSOED) through the Laboratorium Seni dan Pertunjukan organized a Seminar dalam Jaringan (Sedaring) Pawiyatan Series 1 with the theme Women’s Emancipation in the Art of Wayang Kulit Purwa Performance in the Digital Era. This sedaring activity was held on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. Sedaring pawiyatan is a regular program that will be implemented by the Laboratorium Seni dan Pertunjukan. Pawiyatan itself is derived from the Indonesian language. According to the Head of Laboratorium Seni dan Pertunjukan, Exwan Andriyan Verrysaputro, the name Pawiyatan comes from Javanese. In his activity report remarks, Exwan stated that Pawiyatan means Education or a learning garden.
“Sedaring Pawiyatan is an activity that we will conduct to accommodate educational and learning activities in the field of arts and performance. We took Pawiyatan from Javanese which means Learning Garden or Education. So we hope that the sedaring activities that we will hold regularly can provide benefits to educate participants in matters of arts and performance,” said Exwan.
The Sedaring Pawiyatan activity was opened at 15:30 WIB by the Dean of Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unsoed, Dr. Ely Triasih Rahayu, S.S., M.Hum. Through her opening remarks, the dean conveyed that Fakultas Ilmu Budaya is preparing itself to become a place for preserving and developing Javanese arts and culture.
“I am very proud of the participants in this Sedaring Pawiyatan Series 1 activity. We from Fakultas Ilmu Budaya are ready to be a place for collaboration in the context of preserving and developing the potential of performance arts and traditional culture,” said Ely when opening the sedaring activity.
There were 93 registrants for this first series of sedaring pawiyatan. This shows that many young people are paying attention to the preservation of wayang kulit purwa. On this good occasion, two female resource speakers were also present who continue to strive to preserve and develop wayang kulit purwa. The two speakers were Ni Rizki Rahma Nurwahyuni and Ni Bernadetha Astri Putri. Ni Rizki Rahma Nurwahyuni is Diajeng Berbakat DIY in 2018 and also Runner Up I in the selection of Putri Indonesia in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Ni Rahma stated that she began to enjoy and practice performing wayang since second grade of elementary school. Until now she is often asked to fill cultural activities in Yogyakarta.
“I started to like and practice playing wayang since second grade of elementary school. Since that age I have been training together with my parents who are also dalang (puppet masters) in Yogyakarta. Although I did not take formal education in puppetry and I graduated from Chemistry Education, this did not discourage my efforts to continue practicing wayang,” said Ni Rahma when she had the opportunity to present material at the Pawiyatan sedaring that afternoon.
Also present was the second speaker, a female puppet master from Sleman, Ni Bernadetha Astri Putri. Ni Astri is a female puppet master who has achieved many accomplishments. In 2023 she won as the champion of teenage puppet masters. In her presentation, Ni Astri conveyed that she is very fond of the character Rahwana. This is because Rahwana is one of the loyal and strong characters. Regardless of society’s assessment of this character as a cruel and despotic figure.
“I greatly admire the character Rahwana. Although many people know this character Rahwana as cruel and greedy. This character has become my inspiration to continue striving to be a strong and persistent person in preserving the art of puppetry,” said Ni Astri with enthusiasm.
The sedaring pawiyatan activity was conducted by the Laboratorium Seni dan Pertunjukan online through the Zoom Meet application. In addition to gaining knowledge and beneficial experience from the speakers, participants in the seminar will receive a certificate as proof of their participation. The sedaring pawiyatan activity ended at 17:30 WIB. This activity received positive responses from participants who suggested that similar activities could be held in-person. So they can witness directly the forms of performances at Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unsoed.