2023 Gamelan Workshops at Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre

Gamelan & Wayang (Shadow Puppets) Workshop and Performance

At Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre,

7646 Prince Albert St., Vancouver V5X 3Z4

After vacuum for over three years, the Vancouver Community Gamelan Society (VCGS) come back and this time with special guest teacher from Indonesia (including Dr. Sutrisno Hartana and other guests/members of the VCGS) to offer free workshops for Javanese Gamelan and/or wayang (shadow puppets) on September 2 and 9, and 16th respectively.

Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre Location
Map of Workshop Location

This workshop and performance are suitable for everyone who interested to learn, explore, and collaborate with our special guest teacher from Indonesia. This workshop and performance offers people a unique opportunity to discover different concepts of musical tuning system and performing arts tradition from another culture

What is gamelan? Gamelan is an Indonesian traditional orchestra ensembles largely consisting of gongs and keyed percussion instruments, originating from the island of Java and Bali.

Suitable for young students and adults (families are welcome!), this workshop combines East and West music and arts practices including traditional and contemporary Gamelan, as well as wayang shadow puppet such as how to manipulate puppets, explanation of their characters, gestures, and dialogue for both orally and “kinesthetically” responses.

Wayang workshop at Moberley Community Centre Vancouver, Canada

Sutrisno on far right, is shown explaining musicians at one of the previous workshops for gamelan and wayang held at Moberly Arts Centre, Vancouver, BC. Canada.

Workshops at Moberly Arts Centre

The set of Javanese gamelan instruments named “Alligator Joy” has found a new home at the Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre in South Vancouver. The distinctive bright green colour of the “Alligator Joy” instruments is a familiar sight to many Vancouverites who have enjoyed the music of the gamelan while it was housed at the Western Front for many years. Dr. Sutrisno Hartana will be introducing the set of gamelan instruments to the local community through a series a workshops.

He will also be demonstrating the art of wayang kulit, a form of Indonesian shadow puppetry. This is a traditional type of entertainment with narrative and song provided by a puppet master, who is usually accompanied by gamelan music from the collection of instruments. Although wayang is an ancient art form, it remains popular in many parts of Indonesia, particularly on the islands of Java and Bali.

Steven Chang wrote an article about Dr. Hartana’s expertise and background as a puppet master and gamelan player.

Local man keeps Indonesian shadow puppetry alive in Vancouver
Sutrisno Hartana is one of the few puppet masters in the city

Steven Chang, author of a story published on November 15, 2019 in The Langara Voice, a news magazine created by journalism students.

MOBERLY ARTS & CULTURAL CENTRE – 7646 Prince Albert Street
Vancouver, BC Phone: 604.718.6521
www.moberlyarts.ca email:moberly@vancouver.ca

Post-Doctoral Plans and Projects

Dr. Sutrisno Hartana has been living in Vancouver, Canada for 20 years while maintaining his career through teaching part time at universities (the University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University, among others) and performing. See examples on this website by clicking here.

He is searching for a full time teaching position either at a university or college of arts while also looking for publishers/sponsors/collaborators who are interested in publishing his writing or presenting his works.

Sutrisno offers a performance/workshop for gamelan and/or wayang, for families, schools, and communities in Canada and elsewhere. He also provides an online tutorial based on his knowledge and expertise described above. To find out more about Sutrisno’s work please enjoy these video documents of performances that he is involved in as a composer, instructor, artistic director, puppeteer (dalang) and performer.

Read More About Dr. Sutrisno Hartana’s Dissertation “Origins, Journeys, Encounters: A Cultural Analysis of Wayang Performances in North America”.

PhD Graduation

Congratulations to Sutrisno Hartana upon the completion of his doctoral degree in Art History and Visual Studies from the University of Victoria, Canada. The graduation ceremony will be held in June 2017.

Sutrisno Hartana (or Pak Tris, as many of his North American students call him; or Sute Laoshi, a nick name well known by many students/colleagues from universities in China) is a native Javanese performing artist, master gamelan teacher/gamelan tuner, puppeteer (dalang), arts collaborator, scholar/researcher of wayang (Indonesian puppet plays), and art historian. The topic of his thesis is the changing nature of Indonesian shadow puppet plays (wayang) with a focus on performances held in North America. Although the number of wayang performances in North America are significantly fewer in number than in Indonesia, they are very important because the influence of North American culture and technology has had a profound effect on wayang performance and contributed to the internationalization of Indonesian shadow puppet theatre. Sutrisno has made a significant contribution to the scholarly documentation and analysis of wayang performances in North America with the publication of his dissertation.

Read More About Dr. Sutrisno Hartana’s Dissertation “Origins, Journeys, Encounters: A Cultural Analysis of Wayang Performances in North America”

Sutrisno now plans to sell his set of Javanese gamelan instruments located in Java, Indonesia. Please see the page describing the gamelan by clicking on this link. However, if an educational institution is interested in starting a gamelan program, Dr. Hartana would be happy to teach using his gamelan.

Please contact Sutrisno for more information, or to assist in supporting his on-going artistic activities and his work directing and teaching community gamelan.

He is also accepting donations and in order to thank you for your generous contribution, Sutrisno would like to offer you the opportunity to download his dissertation or receive a CD copy of his compositions played on a Javanese style gamelan.

Donate Using PayPal Now!

paypal.me/SHartana

Click the link above, or type the text into your internet device, to visit a page where you can donate any amount to assist Sutrisno reach his goal. Thank you for any amount you are able to contribute!

Thank you for your kind attention. To find out more about Sutrisno’s work please enjoy these video documents of performances that he is involved in as a composer, instructor, artistic director, puppeteer (dalang) and performer.

Regards,

Ibu Victoria

Consulate General of Indonesia Gamelan Announcement

The Indonesian Consul General, Sri Wiludjeng, attended both the final performance at SFU School for the Contemporary Arts in Vancouver and the opening of the wayang exhibit at the SFU Museum of Ethnology and Anthropology in Burnaby.

Opening remarks by the Indonesian Consul General, Sri Wiludjeng, complimented SFU on their support of Indonesian culture and education. A short speech at the Museum concert on April 1, 2016 was by the President of SFU Andrew Petter and at the April 16th concert Martin Gotfrit, Dean of Undergraduate Studies opened the Vancouver show.

The Indonesian Consulate in Vancouver website has a story about their involvement with these events.

2016 Final SFU Student Gamelan Performance

SFU Vancouver with Indonesian Consul General and Staff
Final Concert of the Simon Fraser University Javanese Gamelan Class – Representatives of the Indonesian and Malaysian Consulates with Professor Sutrisno Hartana and Martin Gotfrit, Dean of Undergraduate Studies.

The April 11th, 2016 final concert and wayang performance was well attended with both the Malaysian and Indonesian Consul Generals in attendance. Martin Gotfrit, Dean of Undergraduate Studies introduced the ensemble and spoke about the 30 year history of the gamelan at SFU.

 

 

Gamelan and Wayang at Burnaby SFU Museum

Consul-Gen+gamelanIMG_6844-800px
Photo courtesy of the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia

Left Back group: Isaac, Benomi, Stefan, Richard, Linda. Right Back Row: Chris B., Ben, Erica, Kyle. Centre to Right. Xiaoran, Professor Sutrisno Hartana, Indonesian Consul General, Sri Wiludjeng, Guest singer Anis Astuti, Joyce, Kelly, Nicola. Left Front group: Chris H., Roy, Bryn. Centre group: Davis, Tess, Dan. Right Front: Brent.

Thank you to all the students who performed on April 1, 2016 at the Simon Fraser University Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 8888 University Dr, Burnaby.

SFU FPA 243 Rehearsal Movie

The Simon Fraser University School for the Contemporary Arts first year students rehearsing for their public performances. The Javanese gamelan instrument set was a gift to SFU after the Indonesian government brought the set of instruments to be used in the Indonesian Pavilion during the cultural performances at Expo’86.

2016 is the 30th anniversary of the gamelan being part of the SFU educational music program. The class is open to students from many areas of study and some of these students did not practice any musical instrument before beginning to play Javanese style gamelan in January of 2016.

These first year students have not participated in gamelan playing before this class. They all worked very hard to reach a performance level in April. Congratulations to all the students.