Music as Community Empowerment in the Process of Cultural Identity Formation in Tulang Bawang Barat, Lampung

Abstract

Establishing a cultural identity in the midst of the heterogeneity of the people of West Tulang Bawang Regency is still a hot topic for discussion. The phenomenon of cultural practices is often carried out by creating symbols through mythical products, narratives, activities, objects, and monumental buildings that are intensified by the local government and its people. The arts path is one way to realize the motto they call 'Tubaba: Return to the Future'. This research seeks to find a solution to the issue of cultural identity formation in West Tulang Bawang district through the practice of music as a medium for community empowerment. The Participation Action Research (PAR) approach is used as a method in the community empowerment process. Collaborative work with the community of Tiyuh Gedung Ratu and the Sanggar Pakem group in making Tikew: The Circle of Life and Senandung Rawa became the result of the empowerment process. Lidskog's paradigm of music and identity is able to produce an interpretation of the previous empowerment process. The formation of a new cultural identity can be created through cultural negotiations between the ethnic diversity of the Tubaba community.