Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Arts and Design Education (ICADE 2021)

Lessons in the Sustainable Development of the Sundanese Performing Arts

Cianjuran (Tembang Sunda), Degung and Tari Kursus

Authors
Henry Spiller1, *
1University of California, Davis, California, USA
*Corresponding author. Email: hjspiller@ucdavis.edu
Corresponding Author
Henry Spiller
Available Online 15 June 2022.
DOI
10.2991/assehr.k.220601.033How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Sustainable development; Sundanese performing arts; Cianjuran; Degung; Tari kursus
Abstract

Throughout history, musical communities have promoted musical expressions that were “sustainable” because they created space to create musical meanings that reinforce cultural values and to provide stable support for artists who could use such spaces to present musical expressions. My paper addresses developments in the 20th century of three forms of Sundanese music with roots of 19th-century royal courts, namely Cianjuran (tembang Sunda), degung, and tayuban. Cianjuran was appropriated in the 20th century by the emerging middle class as a marker of upward mobility. Degung, originally a courtly status symbol, was wrested from its exclusive contexts to become a symbol of modern Sundaneseness, and eventually the accompaniment for Sundanese popular music on recordings. The successful development of Cianjuran and degung into modern, sustainable art forms illustrates the principles outlined by recent scholars of the sustainability of music. For example, Michael Atwood Mason and Rory Turner advocate: “rather than trying to “preserve” a specific traditional expression at the item level, cultural sustainability engages the whole social and cultural ecosystem and its current actors to chart a course for self-conscious cultural change” [1-3]. In the 21st century, as we strategize on the theme of this conference— “arts and design education for sustainable development”—it is useful to reflect on what elements made these earlier, grassroots, bottom-up efforts at sustainable development successful, and how to empower the next generation to foster such efforts.

Copyright
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Arts and Design Education (ICADE 2021)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
15 June 2022
ISBN
10.2991/assehr.k.220601.033
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/assehr.k.220601.033How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Atlantis Press SARL.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

Cite this article

TY  - CONF
AU  - Henry Spiller
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/06/15
TI  - Lessons in the Sustainable Development of the Sundanese Performing Arts
BT  - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Arts and Design Education (ICADE 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 146
EP  - 154
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.220601.033
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.220601.033
ID  - Spiller2022
ER  -