Kaulinan Urang Lembur Festival 2015 Brings Traditional Sundanese Games Back To Life
By Abdiel Jeremi W
Editor Abdiel Jeremi W
BANDUNG, itb.ac.id - Toys and games are two objects that children are familiar with. Since its creation, traditional games are used to teach children and let them inherit the life values which are implicitly conceived. This idea was brought up in Kaulinan Urang Lembur (Kaulem) Festival 2015. The festival which was held in Aula Timur ITB on Tuesday-Thursday (06-08/10/15) aims to dig, grow, socialize, and conserve Indonesian traditional games, especially the West Javanese ones. This event is held by a synergy of West Java' Department Of Tourism And Culture, Institut Teknologi Bandung, and Hong Community, which is led by ITB doctoral student, Zaini Alif S.Sn, M. Ds. A Synergy That Disenchanted Many People
Kaulem 2015 Festival consists of three main events, which are Kaulinan Urang Lembur Competition (Pasanggiri) that is participated by people of various city and district of West Java, toys and games exhibition that shows 200 kinds of game, and Focus Group Discussion. Toys and games have an ancestral community education pattern which teaches children essential things regarding life. These contents are presented in a way that children can easily perceive. This phenomenon is researched by Kang Zaini, Zaini Alif's friendly call, through his dissertation. In order to complete his dissertation, Zaini cooperated with Hong Community, a community which studies Indonesian traditional games and toys, which also presents the 3-days event in ITB. Zaini himself has collected comprehensive data on traditional games around Indonesia region since 1996. "Some games look alike, yet the original region and some regulation may differ each other," he said. 
This festival appreciates parties who had kept the heritage of traditional games and toys by commencing Pasanggiri Kaulinan Urang Lembur. With this competition, the contestants may show their creativity in playing traditional games in front of judges that is composed of academicians, observers, and culture practitioners. Looking at the exhibition, visitors can understand the history of many kind of games, life values contained within it, how to play it, and the benefit for the players, psychologically and physiologically. "Even though the word ulin or 'play' is very identical with useless activities, ulin itself is not a useless stuff. In Bandung, that word referred to activities that are done by children while waiting for the harvest season. Ulin means gathering. Yet, this word's meaning has undergone a shifting into a completely useless activity. It will shift back if everybody realize that traditional games are still relevant with the present and beneficial in giving social education and values to kids, in the most effective way," Zaini said on games and toys.
