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PROCEEDING INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LITERATURE
(KONFERENSI INTERNASIONAL KESUSASTRAAN - KIK XXX HISKI di Palu, 16 November 2021)
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THE WAYANG ORANG GRAHA MUSTIKA YUASTINA COMMUNITY IN
SURABAYA IN THE PANDEMIC ERA:
A STUDY OF VALUE, PROMOTION AND MANAGEMENET
Adi Setijowati1, Rima Firdaus2
Email: asetijowati@gmail.com
Abstract. Wayang orang is a wealth of the Javanese people’ one of which is in the city of
Surabaya. As a wayang community Graha Mustika Yuastina is a recognized community in the
city of Surabaya. As evidenced by the frequent performances in the Cak Durasim building which
is sponsored by the Surabaya Cultural Center. Covid 19 which prohibitis crowds has a real
impact on this community, especially in terms of staging. The inevitable impact is that the
performance is postponed. This happanned because of diversion ofart funds, the mayority of
which were used to overcome the pandemic .in an indepth interview, it was stated that this
wayang orang performance had to change the platform in this pandemic era, namely from
classical style performance to youtube and Instagram. This will affect the media promotion. As
for the values of wayang still trying to be maintained.
Abstrak. Wayang orang merupakan kekayaan masyarakat Jawa salah satunya ada di kota
Surabaya. Sebagai komunitas wayang Graha Mustika Yuastina merupakan komunitas yang
diakui di kota Surabaya. Terbukti dengan seringnya pementasan di gedung Cak Durasim yang
disponsori oleh Pusat Kebudayaan Surabaya. Covid 19 yang melarang keramaian berdampak
luas bagi komunitas ini, terutama dalam hal pementasan. Dampak yang tak terelakkan adalah
pementasan tertunda. Hal ini terjadi karena adanya pengalihan dana kesenian yang mayoritas
digunakan untuk mengatasi pandemi. Dalam wawancara mendalam, disebutkan bahwa
pertunjukan wayang orang ini harus mengubah platform di era pandemi ini, yaitu dari
pertunjukan gaya klasik menjadi pertunjukan wayang orang. youtube dan instagram. Hal ini akan
mempengaruhi media promosi. Adapun nilai-nilai wayang masih berusaha dipertahankan.
Key words: Wayang orang, community , Surabaya, pandemic, promotion , management
INTRODUCTION
Civilization, culture, and art are
inseparable aspects due to their interrelation.
The correlation is an inevitable fact, particularly
in the community's development, both in the
present and in the past. Culture is a living and
active process, then it develops and is applied
from the inside (Fiske 2011). Bordieu
(Bourdieu 1984) conceives a practice as a
reflective and reproductive activity, and the root
of all activities is the idea of a custom that
establishes a culture. In everyday life, culture is
defined as a long-established custom. As
suggested by Raymond Williams (Sutrisno and
Putranto 2005), art-related culture captures a
number of intellectual and artistic activities. Art
also contains a cognitive model, a system of
symbols, or the giving of meaning
interconnected altogether in a historically-
transmitted symbol. Those systems and
symbols are used selectively by the supporting
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society to communicate, preserve and connect
knowledge (Budi 2003).
In this case, wayang remains to be one of the art
forms that is still recognized in Indonesia.
Wayang is attached to Javanese culture, and
both have been long discussed, particularly
regarding wayang kulit or shadow puppet. In
wayang kulit (Becker 1971), the structure is
divided into three parts, i.e., pathet nem, pathet
sanga, and pathet manyura. The change of
pathet is indicated by the music transition.
Pathet sanga, or known as goro-goro, serves as
the bridge between the past and present. For
Javanese, wayang is considered a means to
build characters and disseminate norms
(Lombard 2005). An ideal illustration in
wayang is constructed from the basic idea and
the ideal illustration presented by wayang kulit.
The overall story of wayang shows is sourced
from the story of Mahabarata and Ramayana.
There are several types of wayang other
than wayang kulit that exist in Indonesia,
namely wayang suket (grass shadow puppet),
wayang beber (scroll theater), wayang purwa,
and wayang orang (wayang theater). Wayang
orang shows the unique character of its medium,
which remains to be an exciting discussion.
Wayang orang was first created in the 18th
century in Solo by KGPAA Manugkunegara I.
The creation of the wayang orang was inspired
by the musical theater in Europe. (Wahyuni
2020) As big and small cities began to
develop, wayang orang became the performing
art for the urban community. In the beginning,
wayang orang is a dance theater based on the
story of Mahabarata and Ramayana. This dance
theater was only performed in keraton (palace)
or the nobles' residences (Idi 2010). As a
cultural asset, wayang orang represents the
characteristics of multiple regions. Wayang
grows along with the civilization development
as an art, which can be observed from the
Javanese accompaniment. Wayang culture is one
of the manifestations of local supremacy that is
currently going international (Nurgiantoro,
1998).
In our daily lives, wayang orang still
attracts some audiences, and society believes
that it plays a social harmonization role. In an
urban community such as Surabaya, wayang
orang is still recognized as a social instrument
that can be used as a guide to controlling social
life or simply as entertainment. Therefore,
Surabaya people believe that wayang has values
centering on the local wisdom, and they benefit
from it to live an ideal life. Their perception of
the performance is that wayang, particularly
wayang orang, is an alternative discourse of
low-budget entertainment. As stated by
(Samovar, Porter and Daniel 2010), perception
appears as a method that rationalizes physical
and social lives. As a result, wayang becomes
less valued as a luxurious art, contrasting from
how it was valued in the beginning. Physically,
wayang was the entertainment for royal families,
but this entertainment experiences a social shift
in value nowadays, particularly in Surabaya.
Other issues arise as the pandemic hit the nation,
causing all wayang shows to stop performing.
In consequence, there are significant impacts on
the conditions of the wayang orang in Surabaya.
Thus, this study focuses not only on the
wayang in the context of perception but also on
the study of promotion and management systems
related to the urban community's condition,
especially in the pandemic era. In this manner,
this study reveals more about the state of the
wayang orang in Surabaya in the pandemic era.
RESEARCH METHOD
The research method employed in this
study was a qualitative method by conducting
depth interviews with the wayang actors and the
members of Komunitas Wayang Mustika
Yuastina. The data were obtained in the form of
interview results, recordings, documentation,
and observation notes. The data collection
techniques included interviews and literature
reviews, whereas the data analysis techniques
included data reduction, data presentation, and
drawing conclusions based on the analyzed data.
Wayang Orang Mustika Yuastina and the
Urban Culture in Surabaya.
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In the history of wayang orang in
Surabaya, Graha Seni Mustika Yuastina is not
the first wayang orang group. There was
Wayang Orang Langen Sedyo Rahayu which
was first established in 1950 as an elite
entertainment in Kapasari. There was also
Wayang Orang Tobong Sri Katon in
Pandegiling, or better known as Wayang Orang
Sriwandono (Paneli 2017). These wayang orang
groups gained a tremendous appreciation from
the people in Surabaya up to the point they were
granted a more decent stage by Marine Colonel
Sumarsono at Taman Hiburan Rakyat (THR), a
legendary theme park located at Jalan Kusuma
Bangsa 110. At that time, the lives of the actors
relied on the profit obtained from the show,
which had them perform almost every day. After
the G30S/PKI incident, when inflation hit
Indonesia during the new order, the wayang
artists were forced to look for other jobs during
the day to meet their daily needs.
The decay of wayang orang in the
entertainment industry was caused by the
technological development in television around
the 1970s. Later, in 1990s, Taman Hiburan
Rakyat was managed by the Surabaya Tourism
and Culture Office. However, the financial
assistance provided for the production cost and
the artists' welfare was inadequate. Thus, they
could not perform regularly. Amid the hiatus of
the wayang orang performances in Surabaya,
Mustika Yuastina emerged to encourage other's
passion for art, particularly in performing art. On
August 17, 2010, Retno Puspitowati and Rono
Puspito Judo, with their colleagues interested in
wayang orang, established the association. The
house of Retno and Judo, located on Jalan
Mojoklangru Lor No. 62 Surabaya, was the
basecamp or the secretariate office of Mustika
Yuastina. During the first two years of the
community, they performed two independent
shows at THR (Taman Hiburan Rakyat). The
plays were entitled "Ranjaban Abimanyu" and
"Sang Kumbokarno" and were performed on
March 4 and May 6, 2012.
Figure 1. Poster of the first Mustika Yuastina
wayang orang performance
Noting the audience's little enthusiasm,
they struggled with the first performance, which
was mainly because of financial problems. The
organizers then took the initiative to look for a
sponsor by submitting a proposal to the East
Java Tourism and Culture Office. The Head of
Technical Implementation Unit of Taman
Budaya, Soekatno, had also watched the
performance video directed by Judo and the
team. Seven months later, on December 21,
2012, Mustika Yuastina was allowed to perform
in the Cak Durasim Building for the first time.
They were fully supported by the East Java
Provincial Government and listed in the annual
performance schedule of East Java Cultural
Park.
Figure 2. The Show Poster with the Surabaya
City Government
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In an urban community such as Surabaya,
wayang orang is still recognized as a social
instrument that can be used as a guide to
controlling social life and, at the same time,
entertainment. Therefore, people in Surabaya
believe that wayang has values of local wisdom
that can be used to live an ideal life. In the
context of Javanese wayang, wayang orang is
one of the cultural assets recognized by society,
both in Central Java and East Java. The
significant difference between wayang in
Central and East Java can be identified from the
music. In the past, wayang orang was deemed
remarkably traditional; then the cities
development affects its style to be more relevant
to the surrounding urban culture and society.
Other people started creating a group and
performed, caused wayang orang to shift into
folk performing arts. When the Chinese and
Javanese entrepreneurs transform the wayang
show into a potential culture for the current
folks, then the wayang orang will be a popular
show (Idi 2010). The popularity of wayang
orang shows remains to persist in East Java,
precisely in Surabaya. One of the groups that
still survives until recently is Mustika Yuastina,
which prefers to be referred to as a community.
During its establishment, it was decided to be a
community instead of an art group. That was
where the artists gathered and organized the
performing arts, precisely wayang orang. A
community can be interpreted as a part of a
concrete manifestation of a society, where the
members are bound in one emotion and system.
Emotion means a combination of fellowship and
united society to promote one territory, one
custom, one identity, and loyalty (Jamaludin
2015). Community growth not only leads to
integration between groups but also brings
impact on increasing population density and
growing solidarity between the people (Lauer
2003). In other words, a society may develop
along with the communication between each
other that raises solidarity, even in creating
certain groups with a similar vision and mission.
Society, as a social being, consists of
various cultures that are still embraced and
preserved. According to Ikhromi in Basundoro
(2016), culture is a way of behaving learned and
does not genetically depend on heredity or
inheritance. Culture can be formulated as a set of
ways of behaving (or habits), beliefs, and values
learned and possessed by a population. Culture
occurs because of the habits, beliefs, and values
that are learned and possessed. Therefore,
Surabaya also has its own cultural pattern as it
calls itself an urban community by defining
culture as urban culture. Dick (2002) claims that
there were no significant differences between
the villages in Surabaya, which are considered
urban and the ones controlling in the past, or
known as úrban villages, as a characteristic of a
port city. Surabaya possesses a port with its
diverse communities.
As a society living in urban culture, it
can be emphasized that society is not part of a
stable sociological category; it cannot be
identified, and it even subjects to empirical
studies due to the position of the society that
does not exist in objective reality. Society,
popular culture, and social groups are a set of
loyalties that move across all social categories in
a very flexible manner (Fiske 2011). It becomes
similar to the conditions of urban communities.
In this case, Emile Durkheim defines society as
the objective reality of the involved individuals.
Marx also sees society as a structure through
tensions originating from conflicts between
social classes due to the unequal distribution of
economic values in it (Setiadi and Kolip 2011).
People living in urban areas have
different values and perspectives from those
living in rural areas. Wirth in Damsar and
Indriyani (2017) explains that cities are
characterized by three elements, namely the
permanent population's density, the population's
socio-cultural heterogeneity, and the idea
development of urbanism as a way of life. The
character in the urban community is marked by
anonymity, temporary, and emotionless. The
urban community loses the expression of
spontaneity, morals, and a sense of participation
(Damsar and Indrayani 2017). The heterogeneity
of society leads people to interact with each
other, with various cultures and personalities.
The lifestyle of urban communities is controlled
by the market, starting from what they eat, what
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they wear, what they use, and whatever they
spent, which are the product of capitalization.
Nevertheless, there is opposition against market
forces in urban culture, although the market
intervention, in this case, is inevitable (Damsar
and Indrayani 2017). Urban communities are
offered the opportunity to merge work and
entertainment. As a result, people from various
backgrounds are integrated, not to mention the
culture (Barker 2005). Thus, everything related
to the city has been assembled without a clear
barrier; everything becomes flexible. In this
case, Mustika Yuastina dared to promote
traditional arts with heavy burdens. However,
the existing diversity makes any culture and arts
acceptable in Surabaya. Wayang orang is also
anticipated as entertainment for the residents
because of the hustle and bustle of the city and
the harsh world of work faced by the urban
community. Mustika Yuastina serves as a kind
of oasis and enjoyment at the same time for
workers and people living in Surabaya.
The Value System of Wayang Orang Shows.
Wayang has a kind of magical power
that shapes reasonable perceptions to embrace
and preserve as 'the way of thinking in society.
Fischer stated (Jenks 2013) that art is essential
to help humans understand and change the world
because of the magical power it possesses.
Values allow society to behave appropriately in
contrast to norms that define control over
behavior (Liliweri 2002). In a wayang show,
especially a wayang orang, some values can be
used as a reflection of everything related to life.
The values contained in the play presented have
many meanings that are inseparable from social
reality. Lukas et al. (Jenks 2013) stated that all
noble arts aim to describe the contradiction
between the outward appearance and the actual
and conceptual reality that can unite while
forming spontaneous integrity.
Based on the data regarding play titles
performed by the Mustika Yuastina Community,
almost all of their performances are based on the
Ramayana and Mahabharata stories. The first
value raised is honesty. In the play Ranjaban
Abhimanyu Gugur or Abhimanyu's Death, it was
told that Abhimanyu died on the battlefield
because of the false oath he conveyed to Dewi
Utari before marrying her. It is said that
Abhimanyu would die like a porcupine if he
lied. In the end, Abhimanyu was confronted with
karma against his oath and finally killed in the
Bharatayudha war in bad condition because he
was punctured by so many weapons that he
looked like a porcupine (Wahyuni 2020). The
second value is heroism. Persistence and
determination in defending the country are
reflected in the play Sang Kumbokarno. In the
Ramayana story, it was told that Kumbakarna
finally went to war not to fight Dasamuka's
greed but to defend the country Alengka. Many
warlords died in the battle against Gowa
Kiskenda's troops led by Anoman and Rama.
The third value is knowledge.
In the play Ngawruh: Bratasena
Mencari Jati Diri, or Bratasena Seeking His
True Self, Ngawruh is defined as learning or
seeking new knowledge. Bratasena, also called
Bima, is the second son in Pandhawa who is
relatively superior in strength. His teacher
instructed Bima to look for Tirta Prawitasari or
the water of life by passing through many
obstacles until he met Dewa Ruci. Bima began
to understand the true meaning of life:
"manunggaling kawula gusti" or the union of
human's true selves with their God. For his
success, Bima received the new name
Werkudara from Bathara Guru (Publikasi 2020).
The fifth value is to be continence. In the play
Sang Brahmacarya, Dewabrata, or the character
known as Bhishma in the Mahabarata story, is
described as being so firm and sincere in holding
his Brahmacarya vow. Thus, when Bhishma
stepped down in inheriting the throne of the
kingdom, he chose not to marry Dewi Amba
even though he won the competition and had the
opportunity to do so. The sixth value is being
adamant and determined. The heroic integrity is
perceived in Ngabar Sawung Suralaya or the
War of the Knights in Heaven. In this play, there
was a war between two great knights from two
countries, specifically Raden Gatutkaca and
Prabu Boma, fighting over the Tunggorono as a
vassal kingdom. Both of them insisted not to
give in, even though they had been given several
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options to solve it by negotiation. However, in
the end, Raden Gatutkaca won the war and the
Tunggorono Kingdom as a part of the
Pringgondani Kingdom. The seventh value is
love, obedience, patience, and fortitude. Pedhut
Ing Pringgondani play depicts some sad,
dramatic scenes. The scene begins with
Gatutkaca grieving over the death of his beloved
cousin, Abhimanyu. Then, a scene illustrates
Gatutkaca's obedience to Prabu Kresna's orders
to become a Pandhawa Senapati or commander.
This painful story ends with the death of
Gatutkaca on the battlefield because of the
karma he got after accidentally killing Kala
Bendana. Meanwhile, the values of patience and
fortitude can be portrayed when Bhima looks for
his son's body (Paneli 2017).
Overall, in this wayang orang
performance in Surabaya, many values can be
implemented as references, especially in real
life, by teaching tolerance. Tolerance contains
the word tolerant, which means having a feeling
of empathy/consideration for the surrounding.
Tolerance relates to attitudes or actions that are
revealed more openly when facing different
circumstances or situations. The wayang orang
performed by Mustika Yuastina is also
associated with the social reality in Surabaya.
The city is a world of symbols, symbolizing
everything about the town physically and
sociologically. Thus, the existence of love, hate,
longing, pain, affection, or hurt results from
social construction or a symbol of the city. This
reality is constructed through the process of
dialectical and externalization, objectification,
and internalization (Damsar and Indrayani
2017). It establishes a link between the values
that appear in the wayang performances and the
city's social values.
Value is an essential element in culture.
It guides humans to determine what to do and
constitutes an abstract form of artistic goals,
symbols, verbal and nonverbal messages
(Liliweri 2002). The values taught in the wayang
orang story are life lessons that can be perceived
as life's role models. Suppose various values,
such as love, tolerance, honesty, strong
determination, patience, obedience, and never
giving up, and being continence, are applied in
life's reality. In that case, it can present
individuals with a socially superior value system
in society. Value-oriented rational action is an
action that indicates the goal, which is related to
the absolute and final value for individuals who
consciously consider achieving life goals
(Damsar and Indrayani 2017). A better life goal
is also taught in the stories in wayang orang
performances. These stories are always
associated with values in social life, especially
in urban communities.
Promotion Strategy and Professional
Management of Wayang orang by Mustika
Yuastina during the pandemic
A promotion strategy is a method for
marketing goods, services, or culture to
captivate consumers and society, and it is also
related to marketing management. In the
promotion strategy, marketing methods have
been prepared based on detailed plans in
achieving the marketing goals. For instance, in
art and culture, a promotional strategy is
required to attract the audience's interest since a
show will not animate without the audience's
presence. Therefore, a promotion strategy is
considered an essential method in marketing the
show. Promotion is part of the marketing
strategy as a way to communicate with the
market and the public. A performing arts
strategy is required to survive and exist because
performing arts is the "Sri Panggung" or one of
Indonesia's best art performances (Idi 2010).
Besides, performing art also requires
management. Management means utilizing
resources process effectively that are right on
target and always related to the system. In
performing art, management starts from the
planning process until the performance takes
place. Every aspect related to the art
performance, starting from planning, member
organizing, decision-making, begins with careful
management for the show's success. According
to Taslan (Sujarno, Budi and Nurwanti 2016),
actions to achieve predetermined goals such as
managing, regulating, managing, and controlling
are series of integrated activities to create art
products.
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In performing art, management is
required after there is a relationship between art
and the economic system. A dynamic society
that began to maintain performing arts,
especially traditional performances, was
pressured by the modernization competition
outside the arts. Margianto (Sujarno, Budi and
Nurwanti 2016) stated that there are three
weaknesses in traditional arts management, i.e.,
weak performance organization system,
improper social security and wages, and the
absence of a professional organization that
protects its artists. The function of performing
arts that can be recognized, both through past
data and present ethnographic data, is an art that
involves religious processes, affirming social
integration, education, and entertainment (Edi,
2006). Performing arts and society are
interrelated aspects since there are people who
think that art is a means of fulfilling human life.
Representing the individual totality is one of the
art principles, which refers to the unity aspect of
an artwork (Widyanta 2002).
In preserving the arts, marketing strategies
such as segmenting and targeting can determine
customer groups and help establish successful
activities (Situmorang 2015). Segmentation aims
to generate marketing power against grouping
specific arts to obtain a competitive advantage.
The customer or audience is the end-user
referred to as the target market. The target
market includes supporters and sponsors, and
not all performing arts rely on ticket sales.
The promotion strategy implemented
by Mustika Yuastina wayang orang
community in perceiving its existence is by
conducting various activities. Initially,
Mustika Yuastina utilized independent
performances to attract broader community
interest. In reality, the planned performances
are ineffective due to the lack of public
interest in watching paid shows. Surabaya
society tends to be a free-rider. The lack of
public response in performing arts,
especially traditional arts, has become an
obstacle for Mustika Yuastina. However,
this promotion strategy fails to erase the
free-riding behavior in the process of
preserving performing arts.
At the same time, this failed strategy
succeeded in making Mustika Yuastina
invited to present an art performance not
only within the scope of Surabaya but East
Java. Mustika Yuastina is now a regular
performer at Cak Durasim Building in a
traditional performing arts event. Not all art
performances require tickets since Mustika
Yuastina relies more on invitations and
policies from the Surabaya government and
the East Java provincial government.
Regular sponsors and supporters do not fully
assist the art of wayang orang performance
in Surabaya. It is in line with what Versfeld
stated in Situmorang (2015) that efforts to
secure finance through funding and
sponsorship are encouraged through
marketing efforts. Customers are the
business foundation to keep the business
alive. In traditional arts, a marketing strategy
is a program that has been prepared based on
a careful plan. Innovation and socialization
are parts of the system required to attract the
people or the audience's attention.
In the end, to survive as a community,
marketing strategies are performed in
various ways. First, it is implemented
through performances by selling tickets. In
fact, holding an art performance is not easy
since the tickets do not sell a lot, but
Mustika Yuastina should have the
performance immediately. With a strong
determination and the assumption that the
audience would recommend the show to
others, known as "gethuk tular" in Surabaya,
they sill carry out the performance with the
remaining audience. By holding this stage,
Mustika Yuastina and its artists hope that
parties or the government interested in their
performance style will invite them someday
to a particular event.
When performing wayang orang
independently, Mustika Yuastina
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accidentally succeeded in forming their
brand. Through the second marketing
strategy, the performance created an
excellent branding for Mustika Yuastina.
The Surabaya Government and the East Java
Provincial Government invited them to be
regular performers at Surabaya City Hall
and Cak Durasim Building. Branding is an
excellent way to influence the public to label
Mustika Yuastina as one of the best wayang
orang communities in Surabaya. Through
branding, the commercialization of Mustika
Yuastina and wayang orang has become
more accessible. Market segmentation can
be mapped to respond to traditional
performing arts. Kothler and Keller claimed
that a successful marketing strategy should
have the skills required to manage a
strategic marketing process based on
detailed planning (Situmorang 2015).
The primary strategy employed in
designing the promotion implemented by
Mustika Yuastina is a communication
strategy that maximizes the promotional
media and minimizes the costs. The
communication strategy used is below the
line (BTL), a communication using
promotional media that does not cost a lot
but is effective and works optimally. This
promotional media is expected to impact
society (Liman, Riyanto and Christine
2013).
According to Parson and MacLaren in
Situmorang (2015), the marketing manager
is required to be a situation expert,
considering a wide range of segmenting,
targeting, and positioning factors when
formulating the art marketing strategies.
Mustika Yuastina's management strategy
operates with some thoughtful planning,
especially by utilizing supporters dan
sponsors from official government agencies.
It is intended to demonstrate the quality of
wayang orang performances to attract
supporters and local governments to always
work together for a long time. Mustika
Yuastina is more resigned in accepting
requests from local governments. When a
big Covid-19 pandemic initially appeared in
Wuhan-China, occurred, and hit the entire
world in 2020, the world economy began to
fall apart. Corona Virus or Covid-19 is a
contagious disease caused by a new virus
discovered at the end of 2019. Most of the
symptoms experienced by infected
individuals are mild to severe respiratory
illnesses. This virus's transmission and
growth process tend to occur more rapidly in
elderly individuals and those with other
disease histories (Sampurno 2020). The
health crisis expansion, which impacts the
world economy, has made all countries
retreat with strategic plans dominated and
focused on alternatives to overcome the
Covid-19 outbreak (Muhyiddin 2020).
Covid-19 pandemic is a devastating
blow to all countries, especially Indonesia,
which is experiencing mental shock because
of the sudden lockdown provisions and
circumstances that change very quickly.
Social distancing forces society to face a new
culture that limits human interaction with one
another. Through this limitation, new
problems arise regarding adjustment to these
problematic situations.
As a country with a friendly and
harmonious society that constantly interacts
with one another, Indonesia has been
seriously affected. This pandemic affects the
arts and culture, especially the performing
arts. The characteristics of a show always
pertain to a large number of audiences. In
fact, it contradicts the existence of
restrictions on social interaction, especially
by involving a large number of people.
When the pandemic had just started, all
sectors of culture in Indonesia, especially
the performing arts such as wayang, theatre,
musical instrument performance, and others,
were not operating. All activities related to
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the crowd have been postponed or even
canceled, including cultural and arts
festivals that have been scheduled. The
cancellation of both sacred and profane art
activities has affected the economic level of
the artists, especially those related to the
arts. The artists' income decreases
immoderately due to the low demand of the
show (Ni 2020).
Being in a completely confined
situation hitting Indonesia has caused the art
show activists to be way more creative.
They held virtual shows broadcast on digital
platforms such as Instagram and YouTube
live streaming. The audience was asked to
perform a charity. However, the online
shows' effectiveness was simply to show the
performing arts performance and existence;
thus, they remain exist and will not die. The
pandemic situation has indeed made it
difficult for all parties. Wayang Mustika
Yuastina Community had made several
innovations to perform wayang orang show.
Before the pandemic, Mustika Yuastina
already had a fixed performance schedule at
the Cak Durasim Building. However, after
the pandemic hit the nation, Mustika
Yuastina kept waiting for certainty and a
resolution of the East Java Provincial
Government as the organizer. Because the
scheduled time limit exceeded the
performance schedule, Mustika Yuastina
attempted to create a new agenda to keep the
existence in wayang orang shows.
The first agenda held in the pandemic
situation was organizing a collaboration
performance with several other wayang
orang communities. Shows in the pandemic
situation restrain the audience physically
since they could only utilize digital means
such as YouTube streaming to watch the
Wayang Yuastina Community's show.
Nevertheless, many people could watch the
show live, but it was limited to the relatives
or families of the wayang orang artists only.
Together with cultural activists, Mustika
Yuastina performed a show due to their
concern about the performing arts hiatus in
Surabaya. Virtual performances have
become a breath of fresh air for performing
arts artists to rise in the pandemic era.
Figure 3. Poster of a virtual collaborative
wayang orang show
The collaborative wayang orang
performing arts' show was also supported by the
Cultural Conservation Agency of Yogyakarta
and relied on the audience's "sincerely"
donation. The performing arts connoisseurs'
enthusiasm has increased in the pandemic era
due to the lack of traditional performing arts;
this phenomenon was confirmed by one of the
wayang orang crew, Mustika Yuastina, who
never thought that the donations obtained
exceeded expectations. Initially, a collaborative
wayang orang show was organized to release
the players longing to perform a play. The
performers of Mustika Yuastina wayang orang
in the collaborative wayang orang shows are
generally live in the Surabaya area. They all are
young performers. In the Mustika Yuastina
wayang community structure, two performers:
young performers and old performers,
synergize. The young performers who come
and join the community have diverse
backgrounds. The performers assumed that
entertaining others was satisfaction for those
having an artistic soul. (Edi, 2006) states that
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such a community believes that art is an
independent institution to fulfill human needs
recognized as a separate life. The objective of
performing art activities as a direct means and a
target that can present beauty. In addition,
according to the essence of beauty concept, art
can be different from one culture to another
(Edi, 2006). Before this pandemic era attacked
Indonesia, arts have a place in society's heart.
Although, in fact, Surabayans and their
enthusiasm should be triggered by the local
government through offering free-riding since
this matter has been stigmatized to them.
Picture 4. Poster of Wayang orang Show in the
Surabaya Arts and Culture Parade
Mustika Yuastina wayang orang
community had organized the virtual show not
only once. Along with the Surabaya
Government in the "Surabaya Arts and Cultural
Parade" agenda, Mustika Yuastina performed a
virtual show that could be watched virtually via
the Surabaya Government youtube channel.
However, a lot of audiences also took their time
to attend the Surabaya City Hall since their
longing for the performing arts of the wayang
orang performance. The restricted situation due
to pandemic brings boredom to the community.
They are highly enthusiastic about watching the
wayang orang show at the city hall, although
the organizers restrict the number of audiences.
Mustika Yuastina's stage power was
channeled to the audience successfully. The
audiences were delighted with the show. Since
the show could attract the attention of an
enthusiastic audience, this case also impacted
the interest of the local and provincial
governments. The atmosphere in the Mustika
Yuastina show made the audience felt enjoyed
watching the show. Not only for the audience's
convenience, but every organization or
community also needs funding to execute every
planned event through profit and non-profit
organizations. The art organizations could obtain
the funds through the government or the private
sector, tickets or souvenirs selling, etc.
Managing an organization's finances is not easy.
It needs a lot of support from both the public and
the government. Baumol and Bown (Situmorang
2015) conveyed that, when dealing with the
performing arts' funding issue, it will always be
associated with the Baumol cost disease, in
which a performing art has a severe problem due
to the possibility of the limitations in increasing
the income and reducing the production costs. In
the art world, especially wayang, the fund issue
is a susceptible matter since it is rarely disclosed
to the public.
Figure 5. Stage Situation at the Surabaya City
Hall with audience restrictions
It can be ascertained that financial problems are
one of the main problems, especially in this
pandemic era. The arts sector has been
devastated by the global pandemic. Moreover,
in Indonesia, there is no social safety network
for the artists, and the arts activities only
depend on private funding and market
mechanisms. The Ministry of Education and
Culture holds the government support, but it
only plays as a facilitator, which, on average, is
unable to support the artists. The global
pandemic impact has been particularly
pronounced at the time of many closings of arts
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events around the world and the emergence of
various online performance initiatives.
However, when an economic recession occurs,
the biggest threat will automatically directly
impact art workers' lives.
Figure 6. The 2020 Surabaya Cultural Arts
Parade Performance
In the future, there may be a
thinking stagnation and the artists' limited
movement resulting in the initiatives emergence
from the art workers and the developments in
society. Public awareness, especially the artists,
emerged just after the pandemic attacked,
principally regarding the digital platform's
importance for the art community. All these
times, the classical way has become the basis in
which the shows are performed in a building
with a lot of audiences, but no one has been
organizing digital shows. Digital shows that are
currently booming will be beneficial for the
future. One of the concrete efforts that this
nation can make, especially in supporting the
performing arts, is using digital methods. It
means digitalizing the performing arts in
collaboration with providers can be a solution
for the future by transforming old styles and
presenting new styles to organize an online
show. In line with the technology development
and the 4.0 era, which have now dominated all
systems globally and even in Indonesia, a
digital show has emerged as a model for the
embodiment of a new culture. A new culture is
a global culture that affects the local culture,
that space and time dimensions in the cultural
process are a form of human existence that is
inseparable from the social life in the future
(Tilaar 2002).
In fact, the private sector and the
government's role is required in the
preservation of art in Indonesia. At present, it is
inevitable that culture politicization, or cultural
politics, may still be the aspect influencing the
sustainability of traditional culture in terms of
government participation. Often, cultural-
related positions are not filled with people
understanding and loving traditional culture. In
the end, the traditional culture preservation has
shifted and even often leads to cultural
extinction. Currently, the issue being faced lies
in such a good and dominant symbolic
representation mechanism. The world
containing a broad meaning and is closed to
borrowing and reproduction by powerful groups
and those having power legitimizing its position
in society (Jenks 2013). In this challenging
pandemic era, the stakeholders can legitimize
their place in society properly and provide
benefits by establishing more pro-artists
policies, especially the performing arts artist.
CONCLUSION
Mustika Yuastina Wayang Orang
Community is one of the wayang orang
communities surviving in the present day. This
community has established promotional
strategies ranging from performing
independently to submitting proposals to the
Surabaya City Government and the East Java
Provincial Government to keep their existence
and perform periodically. Although, in the end,
Mustika Yuastina Community was unable to
erase the "free-riding mentality" in Surabaya, its
effort on its existence preservation and
conservation is worth appreciation. Furthermore,
in the pandemic era, shifting the classical show
into a digital show using digital platforms such
as YouTube and Instagram emerges to be a win-
win solution. The government's policy regarding
large-scale social restrictions is indeed a severe
obstacle. Still, in the future, digital shows should
be pioneered as a new movement to preserve the
culture and arts in Indonesia; thus, these will not
get to a hiatus. Also, by collaborating with
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companies to establish an appeal to preserve the
local arts, for example, by combining modern
and traditional arts performance in a company
anniversary celebration. This way will help the
wayang orang performing arts keep existing in
any hindering restrictions, especially in this
pandemic era.
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