Puppet master wins recognition abroad

Dewi Anggraeni, Contributor, Melbourne, Australia

In life, we are continuously encouraged to look and plan ahead, make New Year's resolutions and even reinvent ourselves -- as if the past is something we should abandon and erase from our memory.

In our eagerness to do the right thing, we rarely look back. If we let ourselves, we would live our lives frantically racing ahead, bent on achieving what we consider progress and future success.

In reality, pausing to look back is beneficial for our mental health. But since we have metaphorically lost our brakes, we need an external one.

In this instance Poedijono -- a dalang (traditional puppet master), dancer, singer and performing arts tutor -- had a pleasantly surprise when the brakes were applied on his metaphorical flight when he received an Australian government official honor, the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), on Australlia Day on Jan. 26.

Born in Wonogiri, Central Java, Poedijono has been contributing to the development of Indonesian arts in Australian society for 30 years.

When asked how he felt when he heard the news of his honor, the 63 year old admitted that at first he was incredulous, then slowly, when the message finally sank in, he was elated. Of course, he is grateful to the Australian government and those who nominated him.

His wife Merthi, and their two daughters Eka and Ade, are very proud of the public recognition bestowed on him for his role in promoting Indonesian culture in Australia.

Back in 1973, when Poedijono first came to Melbourne, there were only several sets of gamelan traditional orchestra throughout Australia. Now there are 48 sets owned by various cultural, educational and private groups. And they are actively used, as regular performances are now staged in different Australian states.

Though he could not say he had direct involvement in obtaining or purchasing each of these sets, Poedijono certainly started the ball rolling.

At the invitation of Prof. Margaret Kartomi, a noted ethnomusicologist from Monash University, Poedijono signed a contract with the university to teach gamelan music in the university's ethnomusicology program. His teaching load amounted to little at first, so he had plenty of opportunity to develop further programs outside the university.

During the years he was teaching at Monash University, the performances he directed invariably attracted audiences from all corners of metropolitan Melbourne.

Apart from himself, his principal dancers included Basoeki Koesasi -- then lecturer in Indonesian at Monash -- Singgih Wibisono, Cathy Mardisiswoyo, then lecturer in Indonesian at the the Royal Australian Air Force School of Languages, and in later years, another fine dancer, Naning Forsythe, joined the group.

One of the significant breakthroughs Poedijono made is his use of English in his wayang (puppet show) performances.

His daring innovation to use the vernacular as well as standard English paid off, because in the comic segments depicting the adventure and misadventure of royal servants Semar, Petruk and Gareng, he always draws hearty laughter from the audience.

"Communication is essential in the performing arts," said Poedijono, "so you need to use the medium they understand, in this case English".

After the end of his contract with Monash, for nine years Poedijono focused his attention and energy on nurturing interest in the gamelan arts in Australian schools, as well as teaching students at the University of Melbourne.

He has never stopped the regular performances where he collaborates with other musical groups, most of whom were his students. They are now in various groups, such as Melbourne Community Gamelan, PERMAI, Yarragam and Mahindra Bali.

"I've been working at it as if I were looking after new plants. Every day I water them and make sure they have enough sunshine and shade. They know I love them. Each year I teach around 750 to 800 students. Imagine how many have learned to love Indonesian culture for nine years?"

The fact that he has a kindred spirit as a partner in life has no doubt made it easier for him to follow his dream. Merthi, his Balinese wife, is a fine dancer and a teacher of Balinese dances at the Balinese Dance Society, which she co-founded with her husband.

It could be said that Poedijono's life has been providentially well-designed -- his father and uncle were both puppet masters. Since the age of six, Poedijono has been familiar with his father's world.

At that time, he would come with his father for the all-night performances where he absorbed, rather than studied, the art of traditional puppetry. There, he watched every gesture, listened to each musical phrase of the accompanying gamelan, over and over, until he knew them all by heart.

He knew which characters would appear in particular acts, and would often help hand the appropriate puppets to his father. He knew which instruments were to play in any particular acts. It was almost as if his skills were inherited from his father.

When he was nine years old, his father allowed him to perform Mucuki, a one-hour act, as a trailer to his father's main performance. This debut established him as a dalang, and he was increasinglyly entrusted to take larger roles. By the time he was 16, he was already in charge of all-night performances in Wonogiri.

In 1957, he was accepted at the SMKI high school in traditional music in Surakarta (Solo), Central Java, to study traditional puppetry and gamelan, and graduated in 1963.

During his years in Surakarta, he met the principal of SMKI in Bali, Dr. Pandji, who was looking for the right person to teach Javanese music, dances and other performing arts in his school in Bali. His own teacher recommended him.

It was in Bali that he met Merthi, his soulmate.

The OAM honour crowns his life achievements. He was nominated by Tony Watupongoh, an executive member of the Indonesian Association known as PERWIRA, supported by a fellow executive member, Tata Kristanta, as well as a number of senior academics, Indonesian language teachers, executive members of other professional and community organisations.

Tony revealed that they had submitted the nomination in December 2001 to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra. It took two years because of the strict procedures. Each nomination is always screened and its contents and supporting documents verified. Naturally, not all nominations are successful.

Poedijono can start looking ahead again, though there is definitely no need for him to reinvent himself.