There is quite an oasis of relief in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the city of ꦗꦏꦂꦠ Jakarta, amidst the increasingly massive invasion of foreign culture and people who are said to not care about the existence of traditional arts and culture, so they are increasingly marginalized and forgotten. Namely the activities carried out by the ꦧ ꦣꦿ ꦱꦺ ꦮꦸ Badra Sewu cultural community in preserving and developing the art of gamelan or karawitan.
On Sunday, 10/12/2023, the ꦧ ꦣꦿ ꦱꦺ ꦮꦸ Badra Sewu cultural community held a performance of musical art at the Indonesia Kaya Gallery, Jl. M.H Thamrin, Central Jakarta. The performance entitled “Luhuring Karawitan Pertiwi” (meaning: glorifying Javanese gamelan in the Indonesian archipelago) is to welcome the 2nd anniversary of the establishment of ꦒ ꦩꦼ ꦭ ꦤ꧀ Gamelan on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage or Cultural Heritage Intangibles (WBTB) by Unesco on December 15 2021.
In this 1.5 hour long performance, it features ꦒ ꦩꦼ ꦭ ꦤ꧀ꦗ ꦮ Javanese gamelan with various Ladrang (Javanese songs), Gambyong Retno Kusumo dance (Mangkunegaran style) and Gambyong Pangkur. Also, shadow puppet fragments show the figures Antareja and Antasena, in maintaining national and state harmony. Bima Sena’s two sons are examples of knights who uphold and defend their country to the last drop of their blood. What’s interesting is that this wayang fragment was performed by a young puppeteer, aged 19 years. Diaz, the name of the Dalang, is still listed as a student ꦈ ꦤꦶ ꦮ꦳ꦼꦂ ꦱꦶ ꦠ ꦱ꧀ꦆ ꦤ꧀ꦝꦺꦴ ꦤꦺ ꦱꦶ ꦪ University of Indonesia.
According to Mutiara Gayatri, founder of ꦧ ꦣꦿ ꦱꦺ ꦮꦸ Badra Sewu Gallery, members of this community consist of various ages and professions. Starting from ages 17 to 71 years. Starting from students, bankers, lawyers, teachers to housewives. There are even members who are foreign nationals. In a comfortable and clean gallery space on Jalan Gg. H. Najihun, Gandaria South Jakarta, community members practice gamelan, dance practice, batik practice and care for ꦧ ꦠꦶ ꦏ꧀ꦏꦸ ꦤ ancient batik.
“Our community is a cultural forum to maintain the continuity of Javanese art ꦧꦸ ꦣ ꦪ ꦗ ꦮ Javanese culture. All of this is in the context of nguri-uri or preserving culture as well as introducing Javanese culture to more people, especially the younger generation in big cities like Jakarta. “The point is, ꦮꦺꦴꦁ ꦗ ꦮ ꦄ ꦗ ꦭ ꦭꦶ ꦗ ꦮ ꦤꦺ Javanese people are just lali Jawane or Javanese people, don’t forget their Javaneseness,” said Gayatri.
Before the performance at Galleri Indonesia Kaya, this community also held a Gamelan Festival which took place at its gallery on December 4 2023, featuring groups practicing in ꦧ ꦣꦿ ꦱꦺ ꦮꦸ Badra Sewu performs Javanese gendings using gamelan.
Also appearing was the group ꦥ ꦒꦸ ꦪꦸ ꦧ ꦤ꧀ꦕ ꦠꦸꦂ ꦱ ꦒꦺꦴ ꦠꦿ Paguyuban Catur Sagotra, which is an association of four palaces, namely the Sultanate of Yogyakarta, Kasunanan ꦱ ꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ Surakarta, Mangkunegaran Temple and Pakualaman Temple.
Meanwhile, the name Badra Sewu is taken from the name of Gamelan Kyai Badra Sewu, which was previously owned by Mr. Mashuri SH, former Minister of Information of the Republic of Indonesia (1973-1978) and Deputy Chair of the DPR/MPR (1977-1982).
Badra means luck, Sewu means thousand. So it is literally hoped that any member of the community who is connected will be expected to receive blessings of luck, prosperity and goodness.
“We took the liberty to name this place the Gallery so that it would be more familiar at home and abroad,” said Gayatri. Through culture, Gayatri and the gamelan players at Badra Sewu believe that “Ajining Bangsa dumunung saka luhuring Budaya” aka the self-esteem of a nation is also based on the nobility of its culture. (set/nng)
(*) Susetyo, senior journalist at AWS Surabaya.