Brebes Buroq: the Art Expression of Coastal Javanese Moslem Society

The art of Buraq is a procession of puppet which has beautiful female face with winged-horse body and dance to the music of Genjring and tambourine. This traditional art is one of the dominant arts that becomes one cultural identity of the people in Brebes District, located in the west of the northern coast of Java island, Central Java Province. This study aims to study the aesthetic form, function and symbolic values of Buroq, as well as the system of relationship patterns among actors, Buroq puppets, and the audience. The result of the research shows that the rise of Buroq art stems from the Isra'-Mi'raj ‘ trip of Prophet Muhammad by using the vehicle named Buroq. It is narrated that Buraq is like a winged-horse with a beautiful woman face who can move with lightning speed as a vehicle in the Isra'-Mi'raj journey of the Prophet Muhammad. This story is the primary source of inspiration for local artists to express aesthetic-symbolic in accordance with the imagination they possess in the form of acculturation that combines elements of Javanese, Chinese, and Islamic cultural symbols. As Islamic-based traditional arts of community, Buroq with all the uniqueness of its physical form not only has functions and values in the grandeur of Islam which awakens and strengthens the cultural awareness among residents to act and behave in accordance with the teaching of Islam in coastal Javanese Islamic culture but also has the functionality and entertainment value for the multicultural community.


INTRODUCTION
One of the unique traditional arts of Java coastal area is Buroq in Brebes. Buroq is a procession in the form of a large puppet which has a beautiful female face with winged horse body and dances beautifully under genjring and tambourine musical sounds. Behind it, there are a number of dancers carrying a big lion puppet ridden by a child. The main puppet is moved by two people. The accompanying group consists of at least nine people. They include genjring and tambourine players, drum players, flutist, guitar players and singer.
The shape of Buroq has something in common with the Islamic story of flying horse. The creature is based on the life story of the Prophet Muhammad who did the As-cension journey from the Grand Mosque to the Aqsa Mosque by riding an animal which is told to have a form of a winged horse. Buroq performance is usually shown in some ceremonies, such as circumcision, marriage, syukuran, and so forth. Usually, it is done since early in the morning around the village where they celebrate the occasion and is accompanied by music of Shalawatan (Islamic musical praise) and Brebesan parikan (traditional poems).
However, amidst the modern entertainment, Buroq art performance is increasingly marginalized. Several dozens of arts groups are not able to grow or even survive (Setiawan, 2011). There has been a dilemmatic situation. On the one hand, the art is a populist expression of high value of coastal UNNES JOURNALS locality, but on the other, the appreciation from people is declining (see: Dahana, 2012). One of assumptions on the cause of such problem is less consciousness of the locality values. Therefore, conserving this traditional art is absolutely necessary when different cultures from around the world continue to show attitudes that are often manifested in the shifting values of locality (Sujatmoko, 1990). Conservation means to maintain the true identity so that the cultural base remains strong. One of the efforts of the conservation is by doing the assessment and documentation of the traditional arts. In addition, a traditional art that lives in multicultural Islamic society of Brebes certainly is an interesting phenomenon. Islam purists usually promote the values that prefer Islam to be applied and consistently try to remove the values related to magic (Chamin, 2003). However, Buroq art, in the process of its emergence, has been transformed into a folk art which becomes a cultural expression and property of the whole society in Brebes. Surely, more community supporters have varying cultural values despite their Islamic values remains as the most dominant value. It is supported by the opinions of Rohidi (2000: 229), explaining that the coastal art can be establish due to combination of Islamic and Javanese arts traditions. Therefore, the characteristic form of expression of Islam that prioritizes egalitarian values in Java coastal area is very interesting to be investigated based on its forms and symbolization.
Based on these realities, this paper aims to examine the issue of Buroq as an expression of folk art within symbolization review of elements as the representation of Islamic values based on multiculturalism in Brebes. One interesting side and innovation of this research is that the Buroq art performance is not studied merely on its autonomous shape beauty (formalistic) but also the understanding of the code and symbolic meanings by putting Buroq artwork as part of systematic social values of multiculturalism culture adopted by the performers, community as appreciators, and government which has the policy on the develop-ment of a culture in the area.

RESEARCH METHOD
This study used a qualitative approach. The goal of research was the embodiment of form, Islamic values and system of patterns of interaction between creators, artwork, and spectator of Buroq in actualizing Islamic values based on multiculturalism life in Brebes. The research location was in Brebes, especially the surviving art groups of Buroq. Data collection techniques used in this study were the observation, in-depth interviews, and documentation. The use of these techniques were flexible according to the conditions in the field with the main instrument of collecting data was human instrument, i.e. the research team and a team of helpers. In general, the data was collected and analyzed using qualitative analysis approach. The analysis procedures were pursued through the reduction process, presentation, and verification of data with interactive cycle analysis model (Miles and Huberman, 1992).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Brebes is one of regencies in Central Java province which is directly adjacent to the area of West Java Province and is located on the north coast of Java Sea. Brebes grows and develops in accordance with the characteristics of an Islamic cultural in a coastal region. As a district that is wide enough, most of its territory is lowland.
Brebes community, in communicating, generally uses Javanese language dialect. However, some people use Sundanese dialect too, especially people who are in the adjacent area to the city of Cirebon, West Java. In Javanese culture, Brebes is within the coverage of coastal culture of Kulon (Western) region including Cirebon, Brebes, Tegal and Pekalongan with common characteristics of Muslims (see: Koentjaraningrat, 1984: 26). As an area that is covered within the scope of kulon coastal culture, their cultural patterns are embodied within their belief systems for example in holding several indigenous rituals, such as sedekah bumi, sedekah laut, khaul, and artwork

UNNES JOURNALS
shows which use typical nuances of Islamic and the elements of local area.

The Myth of Buroq and The Beginning of its Physical Appearance
From the various sources of oral tradition, Buroq is the vehicle of the Prophet Muhammad in the Isra 'Mi'raj that is portrayed as a winged-horse with a beautiful woman head. It has the ability to fly very fast as fast as lightning. This is consistent with the origin of the Arabic word Buroq: barqun which means lightning. Isra 'Mi'raj is the journey of Prophet Muhammad SAW from the Holy Mosque to the Aqsa Mosque toward Sidratul Muntaha. The Buroq artwork is located in Brebes. According to the narrative of its physical appearance, it emerged the first time approximately in 1934 by a resident named Ta'al from the village of Babakan Kalimaro, Cirebon Regency. The art of making puppet was originally intended as a means of religious symbols of Islam, and it was gradually spread to other regions around Cirebon, like Losari, Brebes, Banjarharjo, Kuningan, and Indramayu. In its development, Buroq artwork is also feature as an art performance which is shown for entertainment through pageantry or procession, especially in the circumcision paraded ceremony. There are also parents who ask Buroq performance as part of their nadzar or vow payment, for example because their children are recovering from an illness, or when their kids have circumcision. In addition, such art performance develops or evolves into more current entertainment by involving diverse puppet figures, musical instruments "Tarling" which means guitar and flute, lyrics, dance, comedy or bodor, and dangdut songs, as well as magic.

The Shape of Buroq and its Spectators
Buroq is a large puppet in the form of a fourlegged animal with a body of a winged-horse and beautiful female face. Buroq facial expression is smiling, white, red lips, and slanted-eyed with eyelashes and crowned. Buroq body has the same length with its wings. The body is draped in yellow and pink. It has four legs which are represented by two men's feet serving as the Buroq dancing part. In order to make the Buroq's leg and men's leg as one aesthetic entity, the costumes worn by the two men are colored the same as the body of Buroq.
The dancing movement before it is ridden by children typically uses free-motion movement, i.e. turning-head, careful jumping, etc. When ridden by children, player movement is only an extension of the foot to the front, rear and side. In addition to the main form of Buroq puppet, there are also some supporting puppets such as tigers, horses, elephants, lions, and eagle puppets which are commonly referred as Badawang. Unlike the Buroq which is only ridden by two people, the other puppets which will be played by four people are ridden by two to six children. In addition, there are also barongan and Lion Dance. As a complement, the opposition character of Barongan is Cepot or Penthul with its witty character.
From the developments over the years, Buroq which plays a major puppet in the performance has more traditional style with the existing standard. These aspects are considered as a symbol of animal of Buroq which was ridden by the Prophet Muhammad SAW. This is different from supporting puppets that always look more dynamic and flexible or are modified to be more modern or contemporary. Therefore, Badawang characters are puppets like spongeboob, ondelondel, marsha, and superhero emerge. Its presence serves as an entertainment and no longer implies any divinity rules about fasting month wisdom or virtue but rather to secular values that seem more funny and interesting.
Here is the visual analysis of the beautiful Buroq in order to obtain the value of formalistic, expressionistic, symbolic, and contextual beauties.
Formalistic aesthetic value of Buroq is virtualized within a combination of lines, shapes, colors, and textures with a specific composition so that it creates impression of balance, harmony, rhythm, focus and unity. From the expression aspect, its beautiful face and the clothing hanging down with bright colors confirm Buroq's characters UNNES JOURNALS which are calm and soft. Contextually, the presence of Buroq which is always awaited by the audience is a proof that it is an exciting entertainment. The winged, beautiful, and colorfully dressed figure of Buroq symbolically represents that Islamic faith is an animal that was brought to the Prophet Muhammad SAW as well as reflecting the culture of multicultural harmonization of Islamic, Javanese and Chinese culture.
In the past, the process of Buroq's face making was done by using sticky seeds which were crushed and melted to be mushy pulp and then molded to a molding of clay. After the mask dried, Buroq's face was created. But the product of this process is fragile and cannot be used repeatedly. Therefore, in order not to constantly make new ones, wood is then used as the main material. The process is made by carving it in a shape of beautiful face, sand it then caulk and paint it. The anatomical structures of the body and neck are made of wood and bamboo. And the cover for the body, neck, head, and feet is made from materials such as paper, Styrofoam, foam, and paint.

Islamic Values Represented in Buroq Artwork
Since the beginning of its creation, Buroq has been used as a medium to spread the Islamic religion.  lam of Isra 'Mi'raj Prophet, implying the miracle of Allah SWT. In the current era, Buroq is also often performed in front of people who hold a celebration of their son's circumcision. In the event, the kids being circumcised are paraded by riding Buroq. In these aspects, the circumcised boy is an activity that follows the teachings of Islam. In addition, there is also an artistic tradition of Buroq called "Ombrog" which is used to wake the citizens when the dawn breaks using Islamic songs. When the day of Eid is approaching, all the villagers contribute in the form of money or rice to ombrog group who travel in the area. The donation is partly used for group contribution cash and the other part is used for social activities such as building rural environment, buying equipment or infrastructure for funeral, establishing worship places, and also helping people who are in need in the area of the village. Through the above-mentioned activities, there are shared values or mutual cooperation carried out by ordinary villagers as a value that is emphasized by Islam.
This Buroq performance can be used as a platform to give prosperity for the family members and players. The income earned is the creativity of creating Buroq puppet and rent-service, even to accommodate people who want to buy it. The owner of Buroq typically instills the values of honesty and kindness on his players by showing the discipline in training and performances.
Although there is a tendency to the depletion or even far from Islamic teaching in Buroq such as the music and dance which are more dynamic and popular, there are also some values of Islamic education that are still delivered. Most of Buroq players, they will usually play music Genjring in form of musical instruments such as terbbang, kricik and it is usually accompanied by Islamic songs like berjanji, asrokolan, and qasidahan. In the middle of the music, there will be some advice on the improtance of matchmaking, truth, honesty, and fairness that contain Islamic values as the main topics. The parikan (poem) in Brebes style is usually sung by a group of comedians or "bodor". The example of parikan containing Is-lamic values, among others; 1) Buntut curut buntute jaran, kolang-kaling sabrang kana, kudu nurut prentahe Pangeran, mumpung urip ning alam dunya, 2) Amben-amben kayune nangka, diganti kayune blimbing, emben-emben ngenteni apa, mumpung saiki lagi kesanding, 3) Esuk-esuk mangan timun, timun akeh getahe, esuk-esuk aja nglamun,nglamun akeh susahe

The Relationship Pattern between Performers, Artwork, and Art Lovers of Buroq which is Based on Multiculturalism
Buroq performance in Brebes is a cultural phenomenon that unites several interacting, interdependence and interrelation, integral, and rounded elements instilled in community life. The aesthetic expression has proven that art is not merely a requirement but it has become the needs of community to have a way of life which also becomes symbolic systems.
This way of life can be observed through the symbolic aspect of Buroq which is filled with teachings or multiculturalism values. The values of multiculturalism is not merely reflected visually in the form of a puppet figure of Buroq which contains elements of Arabic (Islam), Javanese, and Chinese cultures, but it also appears in the aspect of ideas, messages, and format of presentation. It shows that empirically, Buroq really comes from Islam culture. At least, the term "Buroq" which is used as a name of art in Brebes is the symbolic incarnation of the vehicle of Isra'-Mi'raj used by Prophet Muhammad SAW. Buroq is as a system which can also be characterized by various aspects, such as, purpose, instrumentation and property, implementation/performance, educational, shape and structure.
Buroq as part of cultural system is not necessarily seen in isolation as an explicit product of systemic ideas in Brebes subculture (coast of Java), but it is also connected well with other systems. In various historical records, the development of art and religion (belief) looks very dominant as the two things are intertwined, especially when we refer to the development of art and religi-UNNES JOURNALS on in Brebes culture and subculture. It will either directly or indirectly set the pattern for the paradigmatic community of Brebes. Finally, instrumentalistically, Buroq is considered the most effective media to disseminate Islamic teachings or values which gradually enters into a way of life (knowledge, beliefs, and values) in the community. This appears in the arts subculture Buroq in the north coast of Java, known as the base region for the spread of Islam in Java, including in Brebes.
Buroq essentially consists of three components, namely, Buroq artwork, performer, and community as supporters. First, Buroq is a system of idea which today still has commercial, recreational, multidimensional and multicultural properties. This strong notion is very supported by Brebes Regency which is a growing area of acculturation and internalization of Islamic values with the ecological value of coastal areas north of Java (lor-kulon). Buroq serves as an artistic expression and at the same time, contains Hadith, sayings and teachings of life using popular language of local community. It is clear that in terms of the substance of the message, Buroq actually has a mission of propaganda. The musical accompaniment is mixed between traditional Islam and modern musical instruments which shows the adaptation of pop culture to the public.
Second, the performers with their creativity are able to respond the changing demands in the community. This creativity is what makes the artists can maintain its existence in the midst of society or not (see: Wolff, 1989. Mr. Casudin as the Buroq performer in Ketanggungan District is one of the artists Buroq who shows the existence until today. His creativity in adding subjects and property to support children segmentation (such as a cartoon, dolls, head barong, etc.) and adult segmentation (such as dangdut of modern music, bencong figure, handsome singer, and so on) created an art group which is mostly demanded by the local community. However, Buroq remains holding the rules which are symbolically controlled by the values of culture (Geertz, 1973). Buroq performers are well aware that Buroq is a folk art and their segmentation is for common people.
Third, the public audience as supporters can actually be said as the most determining factor in aesthetic transformation of Brebes Buroq. When it is analyzed according to the system in the arts, Buroq cannot refrain from the adjustment based on public demand / taste. This has led to the development of Buroq in Brebes which has three development orientations. Three orientations are the preservation, development to economic interests or the interests of the commercialization of popular art and personal expression of interest (see : Bourdieu, 1986). Currently, the second orientation becomes more dominant than the other two orientations.
Based on the above analysis of the system of art (art trilogy), it can be affirmed in theory that Buroq is an artwork from Brebes which contains Islamic values and has been settled down as the value system of a particular pattern in the community with a variety of development. The development pattern can be mapped in three following empirical findings. First, Buroq as art tradition which has been going on for generations (Sedyawati, 1991) is an art form containing multidimensional aspect which is described visually through symbols, accompaniment, and rhythmic movements in the form and structure. Second, Buroq is a form of "adaptation-aesthetic" to the communities in Brebes in an effort to respond the needs of integrative (aesthetic) on the one hand and Islam on the other. The presence of aesthetic adaptation shows that Buroq has undergone symbolic transformation. Therefore, it becomes beautiful both explicitly (intra-aesthetically) or implicitly (extra-aesthetically). Third, the transformation of aesthetic form of Buroq in Brebes remains relevant even when it is implicative to the needs and development of public taste. The transformation marks the creativity of artists in response to the segment 'market' on one hand, but reduce the ideational values on the other side so that it becomes a sensational cultural product (see : Smiers, 2009).

UNNES JOURNALS
In relation to the position of art as symbolic system in the context of a dynamic culture, Buroq is closely related to culture of Brebes society in general. Systemically, the position of art in cultural perspective of Buroq is addressed in the Figure 2.

CONCLUSION
Based on the discussion of the results, several conclusions can be stated as follows: First, Buroq is the procession of Buroq puppet with some supporting puppets accompanied by musical instruments. Buroq has a beautiful face of a woman; the body resembles a four-legged horse with wings. Buroq performance remains using traditional style from year to year and the supporting puppets like bedawang, lion dance, and penthul or Cepot use modern or contemporary style. Visually, Buroq has formalistic beauty, expressionistic, contextual, and symbolic values.
Second, Buroq represents Islamic values, especially life advice to people in Brebes to always have good deeds, honesty, fairness, mutual assistance, and practice the teachings of Islam in accordance with the socio-cultural context of the local community. Third, Buroq is a medium to deliver symbolic message of ethics. Buroq in idea system is an art community of Brebes that currently has commercial, recreational, multidimensional and multicultural properties. Performers with their creativity are able to respond to the changing demands in the community. Community demand can be said as the most determining factor for the aesthetic transformation in Brebes Buroq. As an art performance containing multiculturalism, Buroq constantly evolves in the middle of the cultural dynamics that can be marked on its purpose, instrumentation and properties, performance, education, form and structure aspects. Buroq development pattern takes place over generations as a multidimensional artwork by always trying to do the aesthetic-adaptation that remains relevant even when it is implicative to the needs and development of public taste.