New gamelan center playing its tune in Amsterdam

New gamelan center playing its tune in Amsterdam

Kunang Helmi-Picard
Contributor
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Eleven-year-old gamelan afficiando 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 Surname 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 had 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.