Igal Ritual Theatre: A Cultural Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Perspectives

Ethnic Bajau, especially in Semporna, Sabah, performs igal ritual theatre in a traditional context for healing for the community's well-being. This study tries to explain the form of igal ritual theatre performance. In addition, this study also justifies how the relationship between the concept of Cultural Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and igal ritual theatre plays a role in the well-being of society and preserving heritage. This research applies the ethnographic method as a strategy through an 'inductive phenomenological character' approach involving descriptive research design exploration and case studies. Ethnography is a research strategy created by anthropologists that focuses on the relationship between behavior and culture. The phenomenological character approach is an ethnographer's effort to understand the emic perspective, which is to explain a cultural phenomenon through the perspective of the community being studied, which is about the Bajau ethnic group as practitioners of igal ritual theatre. It is designed to describe and interpret social phenomena from the protagonist's point of view concerning the characteristics and structure of igal ritual theatre performances. The application of the inductive character approach is based on experience and direct exploration of the social environment in which the ritual theatre practitioners live. The main techniques for obtaining data are observation and practice of participating in igal ritual theatre performance activities. From the information gathered through observation and engagement, conceptual categories create order and connection between the igal ritual theatre and the Cultural SDGs agenda. The result is a series of hypotheses and concepts explaining how the reality of the object of study, the igal ritual theatre, relates to the concept of Cultural SDGs presented by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). ICOMOS has presented a policy guide in response to achieving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The document presents various ways cultural heritage art supports the SDGs. The policy statement presented in the document is based on the UN 2030 Agenda, which focuses on the 5P principles, namely People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership. This study affirms that igal ritual theatre aligns with the agenda of the Cultural SDGs to improve society and preserve heritage