Performing arts and cultural politics in South Sulawesi

Abstract

Examines the cultural importance of music & dance to the people of the four main ethnic groups -- the Torajan, Burgis, Makassarese, & Mandarese -- of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Ethnographic study conducted 1993/94 reveals that the South Sulawesian seniman (artists) share a concern for artistic quality & innovation that often transcends existing categories & sometimes allows for cross-fertilization. Village-based performers, in contrast, express a range of intense intraprovincial, interethnic, & intraethnic rivalries. Overall, South Sulawesi is a dynamic arena in which local cultural traditions are enjoying renewed legitimacy, along with varying degrees of redefinition, commodification, & panprovincial blending. 5 Photographs, 44 References. M. Maguire