To Stamp One's Feet: Resurgence of the Artesa as an Identity Reassessment in Afro-Descendant Communities of Costa Chica, Mexico

An artesa is a large zoomorphic stamping platform in the shape of a cattle related animal (horse, bull or cow) made of one piece of parota tree wood (Enterolobyum Cyclocaroum). Until the midtwentieth century, most collective Afro-descendant celebrations in Costa Chica region (Mexico) implied a fandango de artesa, where stamping dance on an artesa –along with other musical instruments and singing– was the center of the festivity. Nevertheless, since then fandangos began to gradually fall into neglect until practically disappear. In the 1980s, through the intervention of some anthropologists, the fandango underwent into a process of resurgence. Firstly, immersed in the agenda of the institutional programme ‘Our Third Root’ -dedicated to the cultural recognition of Afro-descendants- and later on embraced by a local movement concerned with ‘Afro-Mexican’ political recognition, artesa resurgence went through substantial changes. This process brought new functions, meanings, performative formats, construction and esthetical values to this musical instrument. Based on regional field-work this paper explores artesa’s recent status as a selective cultural process where a re-interpretation and a new narrative have shaped a particular resurgence of this instrument and its contexts of appearance.

DAMPAK PEMEKARAN DAERAH PADA PELAYANAN PUBLIK DITINJAU MENURUT SISTEM HUKUM INDONESIA

Region expansion is one of the main keys in providing services to the community, after the establishment of Law Number 22 of the Year 1999 concerning the regional government. This law was established due to problems arose mainly concerning the lack of public services, the extent of territory, territorial borders, ethnic and cultural differences, and unfair development in all regions and others, leading to many problems in the community. The results of this study revealed that region expansion had positive implications in term of social, political and cultural recognition of regional communities. Through the expansion policy, community entities with a long history of cohesiveness and greatness have been recognized as new autonomous regions. This recognition has, in turn, positively contribute to community satisfaction, which ultimately increases the regional support for central governments. It can be concluded that regional expansion policies shorten the geographical distance between citizen settlements and service centers, and narrow the range of control between the local governments and its lower government units. In addition, the expansion enables the government to bring new types of service to the area, such as electricity, water, and health services. Abstrak: Pemekaran daerah merupakan salah satu kunci utama dalam memberikan pelayanan kepada masyarakat, setelah disahkannya atas UU No. 22 Tahun 1999 tentang pemerintahan daerah, lahirnya undang-undang ini dikarenakan adanya permasalahan-permasalahan yang timbul terutama dari segi kurangnya pelayanan publik, luasnya wilayah, batas wilayah, perbedaan suku dan budaya,dan pembangunan yang tidak merata di seluruh daerah dan lain-lain, sehingga menimbulkan banyak permasalahan dalam masyarakat. Hasil penelitian ini menemukan bahwa pemekaran daerah membawa implikasi positif dalam bentuk pengakuan sosial, politik dan kultural masyarakat daerah. Melalui kebijakan pemekaran, entitas masyarakat yang mempunyai sejarah kohesivitas dan kebesaran yang panjang, memperoleh pengakuan sebagai daerah otonom baru. Pengakuan ini pada gilirannya memberikan kontribusi positif terhadap kepuasan masyarakat, sehingga meningkatkan dukungan daerah terhadap pemerintah nasional. Intisari kesimpulan yang dapat diambil adalah Kebijakan pemekaran daerah mampu memperpendek jarak geografis antara pemukiman penduduk dengan sentra pelayanan, juga mempersempit rentang kendali antara pemerintah daerah dengan unit pemerintahan di bawahnya. Disamping itu, pemekaran juga memungkinkan untuk menghadirkan jenis-jenis pelayan baru di Daerah tersebut seperti pelayanan listrik, Air, Kesehatan dan sebagainya. Kata Kunci: Dampak Pemekaran, Pelayanan Publik, Otonomi Khusus

Research on design of Tibetan cultural and creative products based on prototype theory

Aiming at the problems of homogeneity, simplification and low cultural recognition of Tibetan cultural and creative products, design and application research are carried out in combination with prototype theory. Firstly, we determine the target product through fieldwork, and analyze the existing products in the market. Then through the analysis of Tibetan culture, using product semantic methods, we extract the pattern elements that match the semantic of the target product, and determine the design prototype. Finally, combining the prototype theory, we analyse of the design prototype to inspire the design, complete the innovative design of the product. Practice has shown that the use of prototype theory for product design can accurately identify Tibetan cultural symbols and excavate cultural connotations to promote the spread and development of Tibetan culture.