We and Sawerigading

By: Andi Yahyatullah Muzakkir

Literary Committee of the South Sulawesi Arts Council

The Shiro Copr - After watching the performance "nawanawana Sawerigading" by SMAN 1 Makassar.

In front of the building, I pondered, thinking "the Bugis people are a great nation with a long history."

Has the work of literature received the nickname as the longest epic in the world, despite us having known, experienced, learned, and known a lot about classical stories?

Otherwise, we have strayed far from our original identity and history.

Throughout the performance, this is still the smallest part, about Sawerigading and I La Galigo, but from this performance, the complexity and the deepest aspects of Sawerigading's life are depicted, as a symbol of the life of the Bugis people.

The performance was held at Gedung Mulo, one of the cultural icons in South Sulawesi. On July 5, 2025.

Attended by many visitors with a background in artists and cultural figures.

Being in the middle of them is a pride that I feel and experience, as a young person who likes learning and engaging in artistic works and reading literary works, including enjoying theater performances with various genres.

It is the first time I have watched live theater titled Sawerigading, directed by Ilham Anwar as the scriptwriter and supervisor.

The person I know is also a senior, an artist, and once performed the character Sawerigading directly at Taman Ismail Marzuki building.

Of course, the script and direction by Ilham Anwar, as an experienced figure in this field, present a performance that meets the audience's imagination, perception, and expectations.

From this performance, I deeply felt the complexity of life, the power of the story, the lively performance supported by good lighting, including translation assistance because it uses classical Bugis language, making it easy for the audience to understand.

Experienced and competent characters and actors. It includes the lifelike portrayal of the character Sawerigading as a representative of the Bugis people, such as warani' or brave, lempu' or firm in determination, getteng or strict, including not retreating once having spoken.

Other characters that feel alive and inspiring, such as La Tenri Abeng, I We Cudai.

Dan most importantly, there is Passureq as a story reader/lontaraq, becoming a certain symbol in this performance that in order to preserve cultural values and culture, it should be done from generation to generation.

There must be a storyteller, or if one wishes it to last longer, it is better to have someone write down the script, actively write these classic stories, continue developing them, and keep creating as a shared heritage and pride.

Next, the core of this performance is when Sawerigading wants to marry his twin sister La Tenri Abeng, regarded as "Forbidden Love."

Seketika Sawerigading became angry and left Luwu, choosing to sail to China and meet I We Cudai, who later married him and had a son named I Laga Ligo.

This also indicates the important value of Sawerigading's attitude, that is, rejecting a right and our desires, and if they are not fulfilled, there must be a clear attitude and response, as well as meaningful steps.

Because, our core values that are outstanding and have been preserved until today are Siri' or Self-Respect. This value belief makes the position of the Bugis people always receive respect from other nations.

This performance is very important as a learning process, because the story and journey of Sawerigading have become a symbol of history about the core values of the Bugis nation.

Other feelings of pride arise because the background of the theater players in this performance are students from SMAN 1 Makassar, a situation that is now rare among young people and teenagers.

It is a special joy that classic stories, important history, and the core values of the Bugis, including their development, are also noticed by the younger generation and teenagers. This will certainly have an impact on the preservation, development, and advancement of culture.

What is the importance of studying Sawerigading?

It is very important for me because it is a Bugis heritage, including becoming a symbol and reinforcement of our identity as the Bugis people.

It is important, because today's technological progress requires us to be able to address, promote local culture that is almost eroded by the presence of global culture.

Media social exposure from all groups makes us must be able to screen, filter and also anticipate in order to remain superior and exist with our own cultural heritage.

That generally, culture continues to influence and compete with each other. If there is no initiative to create works, to develop works containing local values, such as literary works, dances, and theater, then we will be lost from the flow of history, including being lost from our original environment.

In general, I am very happy to have been involved in witnessing this touching and very joyful performance.

Important values such as Warani', Lempu, Getteng, Siri' as described by Sawerigading should become the role model of our daily life.

We should underline that the superiority of the Bugis people lies in the above core values.