Digital Preservation of Cultural Heritage: The Case of Balinese Kulkul

Abstract

Understanding our past determines our ability to understand the present. In this thesis, we present the details of our research dealing with one aspect of Balinese culture, the Balinese traditional communication system (kulkul), undertaken in the Indonesian island of Bali. Balinese kulkuls are mainly made of wood or bamboo and are installed in the bale kulkul that are typically located near temples, and in every temple area, village, and banjar in Bali. The objects, cultural practices, and messages surrounding the different kulkul sounds represent a distinct and unique dimension of Balinese cultural heritage. We focus on capturing and representing not only the information encoded in the artefact, but also the information surrounding the object, such as that on contextual and cultural practices. The central aim of our project is to document, organise, and preserve the relevant kulkul knowledge for the benefit of the Balinese community, and the younger generations in particular by designing and developing a digital portal as a dynamic repository. The basic kulkul knowledge and understanding were obtained through in-depth interviews with selected Balinese cultural experts and knowledgeable community members. Using the results of the interviews, we introduce a new cultural framework based on Balinese cultural principles (Tri Hita Karana and Desa Kala Patra) to capture, classify, and organise cultural artefacts and knowledge of practices, and design and develop the online digital portal prototype to enable the sharing and growth of Balinese kulkul-related knowledge. Finally, the digital portal was made available online at http://ccbp.oss.web.id, and the extensive evaluation was carried out to selected users and communities. The evaluation result suggests that generally, the users perceived the digital portal to be useful and easy to use.