Ronggeng Focus Group Discussions - Adjacent Artists and Academics

The objective of the Focus Group Discussion is to gather feedback from practitioners who have had engagement with Ronggeng as a social event or art dance, and/or cultural activists who are involved in matters of heritage and culture. The invitees were placed in groups and had a facilitator to guide them as they wrote their perspective in post-its and pasted it on mahjong papers. The invitees were responding to some general questions and after each respective question, the curator was tasked to initiate a dialogue based on what was written. The 2-hours sessions were conducted in both English and Malay simultaneously.

The questions included:

(1) In your perspective and lived experience, what is Ronggeng?

(2) What do you think is the perception of the community about Ronggeng?

(3) In your perspective, how important is it to recognise Ronggeng as an Intangible Cultural Heritage?

We provide a summary of the four Focus Group Discussions below

Focus Group Discussion 4: Adjacent Artists & Academics (23 Feb 22)

The thoughts were shared by participants of how Ronggeng could be reintegrated into the current traditional malay arts and if discarding certain aspects of its history would mean to degrade the originality of the form. Some questions included the relevance of Ronggeng and how it could apply to current practices were also raised. They group collectively agreed that proper considerations should be taken when it comes to redeveloping the form.

Since Ronggeng is considered as a taboo to the majority in the Malay traditional arts, the reasons surrounding why it was should be accessible to the community. The history of Ronggeng at this point has been attached to a negative stigma and stereotypes due to the lack of knowledge that has not been accessible to the people. The information that passes to the current community are based on hearsays from their elders and their negative experiences. Though it is only natural for such instances to occur since those involved in the ecosystem of the Ronggeng culture at that time were mainly people from the lower income communities.

The group believes that the Ronggeng culture should be made accessible and inclusive of both the pros and cons. This would provide an opportunity for the people to understand the functionality of what the culture could bring and hopefully to incite raving discussions amongst the community in general.

Other conversations revolving Ronggeng reminded them of jovial celebrations in the Malay community. It is an event that brings people together, mostly through the nature of how Ronggeng is formatted.

Focus Group Discussion 4: Adjacent Artists & Academics (23 Feb 22)

In attendance: Shaiful Amri, Hanie Nadia, Nadiputra, Kamal Dollah, Dr. Azhar Ibrahim, Zaki Razak, Asst. Prof. Hamzah Mazani, Aidli Mosbit, Lezan, Muhammad Fahmi, Sazali Sahri