For Bali, a rock that moves like water
I was invited to Pesta Kesenian Bali by I Wayan Sukarta, a 74 year old Gamelan Balinese Craftsman in Desa Gianyar, north of Denpasar, Bali.
On June 25th, I witnessed Balinese of all age and backgrounds, gathered for Kebyar Gong at an “Open Stage”. Tonight, the kids from Badung will sit face to face with the kids from Tabanan, they’ll showcase their years worth of practice and work, expressing themselves in the gambelan percussive arts.
Along with them, a group of theatrical child’s play ‘Dolanan’, actors and dancers ranging from 3 to 14 years old takes center stage in front of thousands of audiences.
“Gema!” said I Nyoman Triana, referring to the heightened resonance between 2 different notes is the key to the oscillating sound of Balinese Gambelan (gambel means ‘strike’, gambelan, a striked instrument).
Copper, melted into flat disks of an exact same weight forms the Gender.
Each note is tuned by a Petuding (means “accuser/compass/selector”): a small piece of wood to be striked onto the floor, creating a very short non-resonant sound.
After a set is done, one other set is created in pair, tuned slightly lower using Rasa (means “taste/feel/flavor).
My ignorant self asked the question:
“Can you play it by yourself?”.
Which they replied with a direct no.
“Can I learn how to make the gambelan?”
and they looked at me like I’m crazy…
The craft is a lineage, which started from Klungkung, where everyone was a gambelan builder, 5 generations ahead. “The king of Gianyar ordered my great great grandfather to move here and make Gambelan for them, and we have been here since”, said I Nyoman Triano, the fourth generation.
Bali is a patriarchal society, but I wonder how tender theirs is.
I’m sure the arts plays a huge role in creating a sense of belonging—oneness that fulfills and expresses each individual collectively. ​​
I Putu Raditya Pratama, the 5th generation, is about to be in high school. He finished his “kids” gambelan group and is about to join the general-adult group. From there, when someone reaches 60yrs and older, they can join the legends group.
Learning from Bali, I see that the key to the well being of citizenships is the upbringing and preservation of child’s play. We oftentimes ask kids today to grow faster than what they’re meant to be, to engage in a world that quantifize, locked by an invisible force that more is more is more. We forget that play is important, that we are children of this earth: not gears, nor cogs.
Of course, technologies will always evolve—but can we stay collective, human, instead of isolating our bodies? Can we build a technology that is more gambelan like, a technology that embraces togetherness, rather than self-isolating, individualistic, and competitive? A technology where everyone rotates to strike their toys, literally resonating with a neighbor frequencies, finding that the dance is life itself.
I think we can, or at least, we can try.
Recorded at Pesta Kesenian Bali, Denpasar, Bali.
Special thanks to: I Wayan Sukarta, Gianyar, Bali
All Audio & Samples Recorded by Jimmy Lim
Photo/Vid: William Lambert, Susanti Amelia, Jimmy Lim
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