Puppets and masks from the Wayang Museum, Jakarta.
IACS & Saung Angklung Udjo, Bandung
The IACS (Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship)
26 July – 22 October 2010
The Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship has been conducted since 2003 and was initially offered to and participated by member countries of the South West Pacific Dialogue (SwPD); Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Timor-Leste, and the host Indonesia.
Bearing in mind the significance and advantages obtained from the program, the offer was expanded over the years to include member countries of ASEAN, ASEAN+3, and PIF, as well as India and South Africa. In 2008, Indonesia welcomed the participation of Azerbaijan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States and Austria. This year, the Government of Indonesia will give the opportunity for participants from Germany, France (New Caledonia), Norway, Russia and Suriname.
In order to deepen the participants’ understanding of Indonesian arts and culture, and to enhance their skills for the final performance, participants will be divided and assigned by the organising committee to different arts centers for the duration of approximately two and a half month. The arts centers are located in Bandung, West Java; Denpasar, Bali; Solo, Central Java; and Surabaya, East Java.
Participants will live within or around the arts centers, allowing for the chance to experience the local heritage and interact with the local community. Synergy between theory and practices shared inside and outside the art centers would undoubtedly become the driving force for shaping international cultures and norms, and will eventually strengthen regional as well as global understanding and cooperation at a people-to-people level.In Bandung, West Java, participants will study at Saung Angklung Udjo art centre and learn Sundanese art and culture namely the production, maintenance and appreciation to angklung; karawitan, wayang golek, and traditional dance of Sunda. They will also learn Sundanese and Indonesian Language as a component of the culture.
Saung Angklung Udjo was established by Udjo Ngalagena after he developed an avid interest in the angklung. Angklung is a musical instrument made out of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a resonant pitch when struck. The two tubes are tuned to octaves. The base of the frame is held with one hand while the other hand shakes the instrument rapidly from side to side. This causes a rapidly repeating note to sound. Thus each of three or more angklung performers in an ensemble will play just one note and together complete melodies are produced. Angklung is popular throughout Southeast Asia, but originated from Indonesia and is used to play in both diatonic and pentatonic tone scales contemporary as well as traditional Sundanese music.
Saung Angklung Udjo (SAU) is in the east of Bandung, a tropical paradise away from the busy city. Performances take place every day promoting traditional Indonesian dance, music, theatre, puppetry and martial arts. The angklung instrument is also made and sold on site in small bamboo shacks scattered across the art centre. Saung Angklung Udjo not only operates as a performance space and workshop, but is an educational centre for young people with the aim of preserving Sundanese culture through teaching. Udjo Ngalagena established the centre in the 1960s with this strong purpose to preserve Sudanese traditional art and culture. The centre has bamboo theme, so, the chairs, the musical instruments and even the stage, all are made of bamboo.
Participants at Saung Angklung Udjo
