ILLUMINATION AND LITERATURE IN ANCIENT KARO SCRIPTURES FOR SOUVENIR PRODUCT DESIGN: REVITALIZATION OF KARO LOCAL WISDOM

Abstract

Karo illumination and script are the local wisdom of the Karo ethnic group contained in ancient Karo manuscripts, which can be used to design souvenir products as an effort to revitalize local wisdom and grow the creative economy in Karo. The aim of the research is to collect Karo illuminations and characters, then design them into attractive images to be used as typical Karo souvenir designs. The theory used is philological theory with a qualitative descriptive method. Research data collection was carried out by tracing the existence of ancient Karo manuscripts to museums where the manuscripts were stored and certain individuals who were thought to have collections of ancient Karo manuscripts. Next, various types of illumination and Karo script are described. The results of the research are a description of the ancient Karo manuscripts and a classification of the illumination and script of the ancient Karo manuscripts, which consists of: (1) Based on the shape of the illumination of the ancient Karo manuscripts, there are King Solomon’s footprints, tupak salah Sipitu-pitu, etc. 2) based on the type of Karo script; nineteen types. In an effort to revitalize Karo illumination and script, which contain the philosophy of life of the Karo tribe, this illumination is designed with attractive images and is embedded in souvenirs from the Karo area.

Keywords: philology; revitalization; ancient manuscripts; illumination; scripts; souvenir.