Bali hosts major art shows and festivals

Bali hosts major art shows and festivals

JAKARTA (JP): Bali, known as one of Indonesia's prominent art
centers, hosted two major international art and music gatherings
this year, the International Bamboo Festival and the Pacific
Music Rainbow (Pacific Harmony), the historical meeting of some
of the world's most famous music composers.

These two festivals further prove that music and art are
something felt and difficult to measure. Both are unifying forces
that could bring together people of all cultures.

The four-day bamboo music festival in Ubud in June offered a
breakthrough to the music world. Hundreds of participants
demonstrated that there is no limit to what you can do with
bamboo.

The festival was mainly aimed at promoting bamboo musical
instruments for international recognition. So far, these
instruments are only used by traditional musicians from various
tribes in Asia, Australia and Africa.

Through this rare event, people have started to accept bamboo
musical instruments as part of "modern" music.

Twenty-six music groups, 15 of them from Bali, performed
during the festival, which was part of the Fifth International
Bamboo Congress. Six ensembles came from outside of Bali, such as
the Bamboo Orchestra of Manado, North Sulawesi, and the Gumarang
Sakti and Dance group from West Sumatra. A large number of
international artists also attended with their various
traditions, such as Australian didgeridoo player Alan Dargin and
Japan-based flutist John Kaizan Neptune.

During this festival, the musicians gathered at Linda
Garland's idyllic 30-hectare hilltop hideaway in Ubud. Garland is
a highly-acclaimed interior designer who dedicates her life to
the promotion of bamboo as an architectural item, as well as
musical instruments.

Also present was famous musician Peter Gabriel, a former lead
singer of British rock group Genesis, who is an avid lover of
traditional music.

Pacific Music

Another rare and unprecedented music event was a songwriters
summit in October of the Pacific Music Rainbow. Dozens of
composers from Indonesia, the United States, Australia, Japan,
Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore gathered at the Bali Cliff Resort
in Jimbaran, south of Denpasar, Bali.

The idea for this special gathering emerged from a friendly
chat between Indonesian musician and producer Chris Pattikawa and
Finn Antero Pavalainen during a music market in Cannes, France,
one-and-a-half years ago. Antero, chairman of the Pacific
Songwriters Summit, offered the idea of holding a songwriters
meeting in Indonesia, similar to the those he helped organize in
Moscow, in 1988, and Rumania, in 1994, where local composers met
with international composers, especially from the United States.

Some of the participants were well known to music lovers in
Indonesia, including teenage-idol Tommy Page, German-based rock
group Scorpion's Rudolf Shenker and Klaus Meine, and American
saxophonist Dave Koz.

Songwriters behind celebrated singers attended, including
Allan Rich, nominated for Oscar and Grammy awards for his song
Run to You, sung by Whitney Houston in the film Bodyguard.

Brenda Russel, composer of hits sung by Tina Turner, Donna
Summer, Aretha Franklin and Whitney Houston, also attended the
event. Also actively taking part in the gathering were Jack
Blades and Tommy Shaw, songwriters for such super-groups as Damn
Yankees; Alan Roy Scott, winner of many international song
festivals; Garry Burr, a celebrated country songwriter; Jeff
Lorber, a renowned jazz fusion artist; and Lisa Fischer, a famous
U.S. jazz and fusion songwriter.

The Indonesian musicians included Titiek Puspa, Rinto Harahap
and Farid Harja. Others who joined in were Tito Soemarsono,
Youngki Soewarno, Bartje van Houten, Chacken M, Dadang S. Manaf,
Januar Ishak, James F. Sundah, Ekki Soekarno, Oddi Agam, Ebiet G.
Ade, Irianti Erningpraja, Amin Ivo's, Franky Sahilatua and Ireng
Maulana.

The collaboration between the Indonesian composers and their
foreign counterparts gave birth to a number of compositions,
including Moonlight on the Water, by Candra Darusman, and
America's Harold Paine and Brenda Russels, You Don't Have to Say
Goodbye and Touch Me There Again.

Credit should go to Medco Oil Company, which sponsored this
unique gathering. It was an important opportunity for Indonesian
musicians to be able to upgrade their musical skills and increase
their professionalism.

It is expected that in the coming years, local musicians will
be able to hold more collaborations with world-class artists,
to enable them to enter the global music industry. (raw)