Igniting the Thoughts of Buya Syafii Maarif Through Performing Arts
On the final night of May 2026, the Hoerijah Adam Building at the Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) Padang Panjang was transformed into a space of national memory. Under dim lights, hundreds of spectators sat in solemn silence as the voice of Dede Pramayoza resonated through the hall, reviving a speech delivered by Buya Ahmad Syafii Maarif at the campus eleven years ago, on 16 March 2015.
Rather than a mere reading, the performance sought to reawaken the intellectual heritage of a national teacher, a legacy felt increasingly urgent in a modern era perceived as noisy and lacking moral direction. Dede, a lecturer, reframed excerpts from Buya’s 2015 speech. According to Dede, Buya Syafii Maarif believed that a graduate should possess more than just a degree; they must continuously reflect, read, and write to avoid the intellectual lethargy that could ‘dig the grave of their own future’. He believed that ideas must be cast into the public sphere to be tested, criticised, and even rejected.
Buya also positioned art as a moral force. Using instruments like the Talempong and Canang Unggan as symbols, the performance suggested that beauty can foster harmony and serve as a tool to ‘tame’ the wild politics of power that lacks human vision. For him, art was not merely entertainment but a path to refining the soul and sharpening spirituality.
Buya’s greatest concern was the Indonesian education system, which he viewed as being devoid of noble values and beauty, leading to a loss of etiquette and a crisis of humanity. His critique was sharp, suggesting that the principle of ‘Just and Civilised Humanity’ was slowly devolving into practices of ‘unjust and barbaric humanity’.
The narrative-musical performance, titled ‘Telling the Story of the National Teacher: National Kaba from Minangkabau’, was held on Sunday night, 31 May 202<0xA0>26, sponsored by the Talago Buni Art Community and the Maarif Institute. The event, organised in collaboration with ISI Padang Panjang, served to commemorate the birth month of Buya Syafii Maarif and mark the fourth anniversary of the passing of the prominent Minangkabau-born Muslim scholar.
Born in Sumpur Kudus, West Sumatra, on 31 May 1935, and passing away in Yogyakarta on 27 May 2022, Buya Syafii Maarif was a progressive Muslim intellectual known for consistently advocating for Islamic values, nationalism, and universal humanity. He previously led the Central Leadership of Muhammadiyah from 1998 to 2005.
The Talago Buni Art Community presented a multimedia performance blending narrative readings, audio-visual elements, contemporary music, and Minangkabau cultural idioms. The narratives, drawn from the book ‘Memoirs of a Village Child’ and various of Buya’s scattered ideas, were structured into several segments. Some parts were developed into ‘pantun’ (traditional poems) in the Minangkabau language, processed into the ‘dendang irama bakaba’—a traditional oral prose lyricism based on vocal music.
In addition to Dede, academic Andria C. Tamsin from Universitas Negeri Padang (UNP) served as a narrator. He recounted segments of Buya’s life journey and shared testimonies from figures who attended his virtual funeral, including the prominent NU figure, K.H. Ahmad Mustofa Bisri. According to Mustofa Bisri, Buya Syafii remained steadfast as a teacher to the nation and a model of noble character, noting that his fearlessness in the face of poverty or insult was a sign of his spiritual strength.