Gamelan center playing its tune in Amsterdam

Kunang Helmi-Picard, Contributor, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Eleven-year-old gamelan aficionado Morrison solemnly tapped out the steady beat on the kempli, a large kettledrum on which all the musicians in Balinese gamelan depend to keep time, especially when the rhythms get tricky.

"As he is not affluent, I decided to sponsor him in our Balinese gamelan group because he is a natural talent and actually needs hardly any training as he has a perfect ear" said Dr. Hedi Hinzler, member of BUKA (Balinese Society) and an acknowledged world expert on the island.

Morrison, who is of Indonesian descent, is given to bursting out in silent laughter, besides expertly helping his mother repair loose keys on the gender wayang, the Balinese gamelan whose music is often played at shadow puppet performances and important ceremonies.

On the afternoon of the inaugration of Het Gamelanhuis, a new center devoted to the musical form, he would be smartly dressed in a white jacket and yellow udeng (headdress), but today he donned jeans, like most of the older gamelan players who were rehearsing frenetically after having cleaned and decorated the premises with red and yellow banners and colorful huge kites.

The gamelan center is intent on finding young replacements to carry on the music.

The idea of finding a permanent residence for the multiple gamelan orchestras, and, more important, also a rehearsal venue for the players, dates back to 1996. The late Greet Voskuhl was instrumental in getting an official committee established to negotiate with officials dealing with cultural affairs.

They were lucky to have Hannah Belliot as their contact in the muncipality of Amsterdam, as the robust Belliot's forefathers came from Suriname and she herself appreciates ethnic music.

After being ousted from an attic in Amsterdam where various groups were able to practice, space in a former warehouse called Wilhelmina became available. Funding, however, was still inadequate.

Luckily, energetic concert impresario Erica Baud was a member of the committee and helped search for extra sponsors, while members of the seven gamelan groups who now call Het Gamelanhuis their home dug deep into their own pockets and those of friends to come up with the funding to renovate the two large rooms available. Special features include sound-proof walls and beautiful bamboo floors, as well as a kitchen and other facilities.

Members of the groups also spent much spare time in helping to renovate the premises because craftmanship is expensive in Europe. Photos of the work in progress decorated the walls of the rehearsal room for guests to appreciate at the opening last Jan. 18.

Visitors who managed to find the building in the harbor area of Amsterdam -- fortunately situated opposite a well-known cafe called Panama -- were rewarded with delicious Indonesian snacks, and the possibility of joining workshops to play in the Balinese and Javanese gamelan groups before the official inaugration ceremony. Young and old queued up to participate.

Belliot declared the building officially open in the presence of the new Indonesian envoy to the Netherlands, Mohammad Jusuf, while Marc Paelinck, a member of the Het Gamelanhuis committee, explained how it all came about.

Then the Balinese gamelan group accompanied three Balinese dancers to welcome the guests, after which various other performances -- from Javanese dance, keroncong music and Javanese gamelan pieces "conducted" by Elsje Plantema with accompanying singers -- filled the rest of the afternoon.

Noted composer Sinta Wullur declared: "It was well worth the wait, but I do feel sad that Greet did not live to see this day. Her portrait is hanging on the wall in the concert room, so I am sure she is playing gamelan with us up there."

Het Gamelanhuis, Pakhuis Wilhelmina, Veerskade 578, 1019 Amsterdam.