23 October 2010 | Flinders University Pendopo

“MUSEUM OF MEMORY”Closing night | Jumaadi and Mawarini

End of Semester ConcertIndonesian Musical Cultures (ASST 2013) students

Programme

Gamelan performancePart I

Lcr. Baita Kandhas [Pelog]Srepeg Nem [Pelog]Hannah’s Hocket [Pelog] (composed by David Kotlowy & played by Gamelan Sekar Laras)Lgm. Aja Lamis [Pelog] (played by Gamelan Sekar Laras & featuring Tji Srikandi-Goodhart)

Short interval

Shadow Play“Sinta: the Ring of Fire”

Gamelan pieces played during Sinta the Ring of Fire:Ldr. Dirgahayu & Srepeg Manyura [Slendro]Lgm. Aja Lamis (excerpt, sung by Tji Srikandi-Goodhart)Ldr. Lagu [Pelog]

Short Interval

Gamelan performancePart II

Ju-Ju Jive [Slendro] (composed by David Kotlowy)Viva la What? [Pelog] (composed by Coldplay & featuring Dodi Darmadi on drums)(All gamelan pieces played by the students of ASST 2013 Indonesian Musical Cultures, unless otherwise indicated.)

Performers:

Students of ASST 2013:Matthew Roger Barker, Joshua Bedson, Lauren Brumby, Brett Calliss, Nathan Cox, Cameron Crichton, Holly Langridge, Nyiika Msapenda, Alexandra Rice, Damien Sunners, Andrew Thomas, Catherine Tucker

Puppeteers:Jumaadi, Mawarini

Gamelan Sekar Laras:Omar El-Domeiri, Margret Eusope, Emily Collins, David Kotlowy, David Kruszewski, Priyambudi Sulistiyanto, Tji Srikandi-Goodhart, Deetje Tunstill, Guy Tunstill, Hannah Tunstill, Julian Tunstill.

Musical director:Hannah Tunstill

Overall artistic direction and management:Jumaadi, Priyambudi Sulistiyanto, Rosslyn von der Borch

Photo essay: Priyambudi

Museum of Memory exhibition will be open until Friday 29 October 2010. Museum of Memory Cabinet Exhibits can be seen until 23 December 2010 on 3rd floor Social Sciences South building (adjacent room 383) and in Room 014 Social Sciences South.

Enquiries regarding sale of artworks,contact: Rosslyn.vonderborch@flinders.edu.au | 0430 388 919

Sinta: the ring of fire Synopsis

This performance is an interpretation of a part of the epic Ramayana story using shadow puppets. The central character is Sinta, a beautiful princess married to Prince Rama, heir to the Ayodya Kingdom, who won her hand in marriage after winning an archery competition sponsored by Sinta's parents. After Rama's marriage to Sinta he was to be crowned King of Ayodya Kingdom, but internal conflict within the kingdom forced Rama into exile in the forest for fourteen years. Rama and Sinta embarked on a new and simpler life in the forest amongst nature. One day, as Sinta waited at home while Rama was hunting for a deer that Sinta had asked him to catch for her, the demon Rahwana appeared at their house in the form of an elderly man. Sinta knew that this was Rahwana from the kingdom of Alengka, who was known for his magical powers. Nonetheless, using his powers and special mantras the demon succeeded in drawing Sinta out of the house and taking her off to his kingdom across the sea. Rama searched in vain for Sinta for many years, through changing seasons, over mountains and across foreign lands. He witnessed many events, experienced loneliness and exile, questioned the nature of loyalty, fate and love. Rama saw destruction caused by both nature and humans. During this time the powerful monkey Hanoman appeared to help Rama rescue Sinta. For fourteen years Rahwana wooed Sinta yet she consistently refused his advances out of loyalty to and respect for Rama. On one occasion Rahwana presented a piece of his heart to Sinta and tried to approach her. As she was experiencing the most extreme loneliness, the monkey Hanoman appeared. Hanoman led his monkey army alongside Rama who went to war with Rahwana. Rahwana was eventually killed by Rama's arrow. Rama was thus able to free Sinta and carry her home. However the people of Ayodya viewed Sinta with suspicion and rumours spread that Sinta had intentionally fled with Rahwana leading to demands that Sinta's loyalty be put to the test. As a wise ruler, Rama listened to the demands of his people and built a funeral pyre into which Sinta was to jump. Sinta emerged from the flames on a lotus pedestal, untouched by the fire.

Acknowledgments:

Special musical thanks to:Julian Tunstill, Guy Tunstill, David Kruszewski, Tji Srikandi-Goodhart, Dodi Darmadi, Deetje Tunstill.

Thanks for dance instruction, technical assistance, speedy printing, maintenance of the Pendopo, the loan of a finely crafted boat to:

Ida Widianingsih, Melchior Mazzone, Brett Calliss, Andrew Bailey, Robert Breen, John Murphy, Adrian von der Borch.

Thanks for administrative assistance to:Robyn Shepherdson, Julie Tonkin, Sonja Yates, John Murphy, Jacqui Lindsay.

Special thanks for their patience and encouragement to: Adi and Mira Sulistiyanto.

The Flinders Asia Centre thanks the Flinders Drama Centre for the loan of lighting and the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Caretakers for assistance with logistics.

Indonesian finger food by Yu Senik 8374 3972

Reflections on

Museum of Memory

Museum of Memory is a project that has come together during the first Flinders Asia Centre Artist Residency. Being involved in the exhibition/performances/art happenings and social happenings that have taken place over the past five weeks has been not just an extraordinary but also a moving experience for me. The past few weeks have been rich in emotions, feelings and ideas. They have been weeks spent observing and participating in – and watching others observe and participate in – Indonesian diasporic culture in the making.

The Pendopo is a significant and fitting place to house this residency. Built in 1990, to house the gamelan instruments that had been stored to that point in a room in the Drama Centre (and regularly taken out and played by students, staff and others who loved Javanese court music) the Pendopo has accumulated a unique history. It has witnessed and nurtured many occasions of friendship and of mutual respect between Indonesians and Australians. It has become internationally known among Indonesia-connected artists and gamelan musicians as the most beautiful Pendopo outside of Indonesia. The making of Museum of Memory is another chapter in this important local history.

There are many ways to appreciate and connect with Museum of Memory. First of all, there are personal stories; stories of two Indonesian artists who no longer live in the country where they were born and grew up. They carry with them memories of their growing up and of their childhood dreams. Although they have come to live and study in Australia, they are constantly moving physically and emotionally between the two countries. Jumaadi comes from Sidoarjo (East Java) where his rural childhood involved, among other responsibilities, the daily care of 300 ducks and seven buffalos. Like many Javanese village children, he absorbed the Javanese traditional arts. As a very young child, he learned to make shadow puppets from grass and to use those puppets to tell stories with his friends. This story-telling was an essential part of his education as a rural child. Mawarini was born in Bandung (West Java), a city known for its creative energy and as a cultural hub. Always on the move during her childhood, Mawarini lived in both urban and extremely remote parts of Indonesia and the Philippines. For several years, now, these two artists have collaborated in exploring the richness of their ‘homeland’ and interrogating their own identities within the Australian space that now surrounds them. They have shared happiness, sadness, ambiguity, vulnerability and anxiety in this process, as boundaries and distance between mind and imagination are mixed and blurred.

Museum of Memory is also about communal stories. It is about the disappearance of villages and their people. It is about villagers uprooted from their homes and lives as a result of an environmental catastrophe that can never be reversed. Rice fields and fish farms have disappeared. Rivers and mangroves are polluted. Local people are traumatized, jobs have gone, and local village culture and history is lost. Without adequate compensation, villagers rely on the kindness of others to get on with everyday life and try to retain hope for themselves and their families.

Finally, Museum of Memory is also about political stories. It is about the human greed and self-interest of some who have power and money but lack respect for the earth. It is about political struggles in local, national and international communities and those who work for social justice and to uphold human dignity.

Through Museum of Memory Jumaadi and Mawarini share their work with all of us, inviting us to engage with a sense of future journey that enriches our sense of humanity and our intellectual and cultural curiosity. It is an open hand extended by two Indonesian artists whose art-making in diaspora invites people outside of Indonesia into conversation.

Priyambudi Sulistiyanto in conversation with Jumaadi.

Design by Mawarinimawar@mawarini.com