Ayo! Festival of Indonesian Gamelan Music, Dance & Legend
May 2025
Nusantara Arts presented two unforgettable evenings of Indonesian music, dance, film, ritual, and community in Buffalo. The festivities began Friday, May 23, with Nongkrong Night at the Nusantara Arts Indonesian Culture Center—a relaxed, communal evening inspired by Indonesia’s vibrant social traditions. The program featured a live Balinese gamelan performance by the Eastman Community Music School’s ensemble, the world premiere of Carve, Chisel, and Paint (Dir. Kartiko Nugroho, 2025)—a documentary on the artistry of wayang kulit shadow puppetry—and a free late-night screening of the cult horror classic Mystics in Bali. Guests also enjoyed traditional Javanese tea service and snacks throughout the evening, creating a warm and immersive cultural atmosphere.
The celebration continued Saturday, May 24, with Gong Nusantara: Night of Music and Legends at the historic Connecticut Street Armory. The evening opened with The Soul of Java, a concert led by master musician Heri Purwanto that traced the journey of Javanese gamelan music from royal courts to village life. The night concluded with Calonarang: The Balinese Dance-Drama of Sacred Balance between Good and Evil, an electrifying performance composed and directed by Balinese maestro Gusti Komin. Featuring over 20 dancers and musicians, the production combined traditional gamelan with modern instruments to retell a mythic tale of magic and moral struggle—bringing Indonesia’s living traditions vividly to life on Buffalo’s grandest stage.
More information about the event can be found here.
The Indonesia and India in California Festival
April 2025
The Indonesia & India in California Festival (April 19, 2025) celebrated the history of these performing arts traditions as practiced in California and the SF Bay Area for over fifty years. Popular interest in culturally rich South and Southeast Asian art performance emerged in the 1960s through early 1970s through awareness of Southeast Asia, catapulted by concerns for the Vietnamese War. The interest in Indian culture and traditional arts manifested in pop culture in music, decorative arts, practice of meditation and yoga, dance and theater. This festival brought together Americans who had spent their lifetimes studying and appreciating Indian and Indonesian performing arts with the Indonesian diaspora community in the San Francisco Bay Area. The festival included Indonesian artists with ongoing engagement in the SF Bay Area and involved the local Indonesian diaspora community.
The AIFIS-Luce funds supported Indonesian artist scholars’ leadership roles in the public events and concerts—E. Supriyanto and E. Suanda—who contributed to the festival both as performing artists and as leaders of the Saturday afternoon public presentation and discussion on contemporary performance and ecology in Indonesia, as well as the relevance of the STEAM educational approach in sustaining diverse cultures and performing arts amid a rapidly changing environment in Indonesia. The public, free discussions and presentations examined ways Indonesia could advance studies in STEM fields that are related to and enhanced by the performing and fine arts (STEAM). The discussion explored how STEAM education in Indonesia could foster greater involvement of more diverse young Indonesians, ethnically and socioeconomically, as future leaders. The workshop engaged the local Indonesian diaspora, particularly STEM students, in a discussion of how the arts can spur greater creativity and innovation between California and Indonesia in the next era of leadership.
More information about the event can be found here.
(Be)Longing: Negotiating Diasporic Identities in Indonesian Contemporary Art
April 2025
(Be)Longing: Negotiating Diasporic Identities in Indonesian Contemporary Art was a multi-part initiative designed to increase the visibility of Indonesian and Indonesian-American contemporary artists in the United States. Held February 10–11, 2025, the program was led by Dr. Katie Bruhn, Assistant Professor of Global Art and Visual Culture at Illinois State University, and addressed the underrepresentation of Indonesian diasporic artists in U.S. art discourse while filling critical gaps in scholarship and pedagogy related to their work.
The initiative featured three interconnected components: a public lecture, a multi-part workshop, and the development of educational materials. The public lecture took place at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, and featured three artists—Entang Wiharso, Leonard Suryajaya, and Adam de Boer—whose diverse practices reflect unique relationships with the Indonesian diaspora. Through individual presentations and a moderated discussion, the lecture explored themes of identity, home, and history, situating the artists’ work within broader conversations on colonial legacies, migration, and trauma.
The workshop, attended by undergraduate and graduate students from Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Heartland Community College, all located in the greater Bloomington-Normal area of Central Illinois, offered participants a chance to engage more intimately with the visiting artists. Students explored concepts of diaspora and anti-colonial positionality while gaining hands-on experience in art promotion by creating Instagram posts that balanced critical analysis with accessibility. The program produced educational materials, including recorded interviews with each artist and an essay for Smart History. These resources addressed the scarcity of teaching tools on Indonesian-American artists and expanded Smart History’s Indonesian content, which previously omitted contemporary art.
“Art Gado-Gado”: Community, Art, and Identity of the Indonesian Diaspora
February - March 2025
Art GADO-GADO was a juried art exhibition celebrating the diversity of artistic expressions, stories, and identities of the Indonesian diaspora in California that took place from February 22-March 22, 2025 in Berkeley, CA. The program brought artists of Indonesian descent into closer community with one another, gathering and celebrating art from across the archipelago of experiences. The opening live art performance event and month-long exhibition engaged California-based artists of the Indonesian Diaspora, including art-makers of Indonesian heritage whose primary social, cultural and artistic references may not be Indonesian-centric, in conversation about their cultural identities and the impact of identity on their art. In bringing together the performance, visual, and literary creative expressions of immigrants, their children, and descendants, “Art Gado-Gado” weaved a collective tapestry from the kaleidoscope of distinct and varied Indonesian diaspora experiences, helping to build community across proximate but socially-distinct Indonesian voices, while simultaneously expanding the boundaries and understanding of “Indonesian Art” beyond the canon of traditional Indonesian art forms.
A free open-access version of the artists catalog will eventually be made available here, contributing new resources to the field of knowledge about the diverse and expanding multi-generational Indonesian Diaspora experience in California.
Allegheny College Guest Artist Visit with Danis Sugiyanto
February 2025
Danis Sugiyanto is a professor of karawitan at Institut Seni Indonesia Solo (Indonesian Arts University of Solo) and a master kroncong musician. Between February 3–5, 2025, Danis Sugiyanto visited Allegheny College, a small liberal arts school in Meadville, PA. During his visit, he engaged with music students, theater students, and members of the wider community. He gave a talk for the Introduction to World Music class, led a workshop for the gamelan ensemble, and provided an introductory lesson on Javanese shadow puppetry (wayang kulit) for the Introduction to Theater class. His visit also included three events open to the broader community: a workshop at a nearby K–8 school (The Learning Center), a kroncong workshop for students and community members, and a dinner and meet-and-greet with faculty and interested community members. Through his visit supported by an AIFIS-Luce Grant, students at Allegheny College had the unique opportunity to learn directly from a leading expert in Javanese music traditions.
Production of a 360° Animated Video Depicting the Indonesian Folktale "Rara Janitra"
December 2024
Lecturers at Universitas Pembangunan Jaya (UPJ)—Clara Evi C. Citraningtyas, Ph.D., Desi Dwi Kristanto, M.Ds., and Slamet Budiharjo, M.A—produced a 360° animated adaptation of the Indonesian folktale “Rara Janitra,” a rewritten version of the traditional “Rara Jonggrang” story with adaptations highlighting modern values such as gender equality, disability awareness, social inclusion, integrity, and empowerment. The 2024 AIFIS-Luce supported project utilized innovative technology to engage younger audiences while preserving Indonesian cultural heritage, presented in both English and Indonesian languages. This sophisticated and all-encompassing medium engaged modern audiences worldwide and emphasized the folktale's theme of empowerment and education. It promotes the development of a more equitable and inclusive society, particularly concerning gender equality.
The film can be viewed here.
Folk Indigo Javanese Batik Workshop
November - December 2024
The Folk Indigo Javanese Batik Workshop featured two hands-on Javanese Batik Workshops in Cincinnati, Ohio, presented by Folk Indigo, an initiative by Dyah Miller, an artist, educator, and advocate for cultural preservation and sustainability. Miller introduces the timeless art of Javanese batik to new audiences, fostering connections between cultures and raising awareness about the environmental and human costs of fast fashion. With the support of a 2024 AIFIS-Luce Small Grant, each 4-hour workshop engaged 30+ participants, who completed their own batik designs, while an accompanying Open House showcased a batik exhibit, broadening access and fostering interactive learning. Originally planned as a single workshop, the project expanded to two sessions on November 16 and December 14, 2024, with smaller, focused groups of 15 to enhance the hands-on experience, and pre-designed samples were provided to assist beginners. Overall, the project increased awareness of Indonesia’s cultural heritage through immersive, participatory education, allowing participants to gain hands-on experience with the canting tool, natural indigo dye, and traditional wax-resist techniques, while engaging with Indonesian stories and designs, reflecting on sustainability and slow fashion, and deepening their appreciation for the skill and cultural significance of batik-making.
Fluidity of Gender through Embodiment: Rianto and Lengger Lanang
November 2024
“Fluidity of Gender through Embodiment: Rianto and Lengger Lanang” featured a residency by the renound Javanese dancer, Rianto, at Emory University in collaboration with Bates College, the College of William and Mary, and UCLA, where he led workshops, discussions, and a performance with the Emory Javanese Gamelan ensemble. The program showcased lengger lanang, a cross-gender dance tradition from Banyumas, Central Java, arranged through Rianto’s unique practice embodying gender fluidity. By presenting this rare art form in dialogue with students and faculty, the residency opened space for interdisciplinary conversations on performance, spirituality, and gender in both traditional and contemporary contexts.
Rianto’s U.S. residency supported by the 2024 AIFIS-Luce Grant reached diverse audiences across New York City, Washington, D.C., Pittsburgh, and Atlanta, engaging primarily with Indonesian diaspora communities and students through workshops and performances. At Emory University, he led workshops for LGBT+ and Asian student groups, a graduate seminar on Islam and ethnography, and several undergraduate courses, teaching lengger lanang and sharing his experience as a cross-gender dancer. He presented traditional and original choreographic works at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, followed by an in-depth Q&A on his artistic practice and activism. The residency culminated in a large public concert at Emory’s Cannon Chapel, where Rianto performed with the 30+ member Emory Javanese Gamelan Ensemble before an audience of over 200, notably drawing an unprecedented number of Indonesian and broader Asian community members from Atlanta. This performance not only strengthened ties with the local Indonesian diaspora but also sparked new interest in joining the ensemble and future collaborations with community cultural events.
Gamelan Tunas Mekar at Levitt Pavilion Denver
September 2024
For the third year in a row, Gamelan Tunas Mekar headlined a performance as part of Levitt Pavilion Denver's Free Concert Series. On Sunday, September 22, 2024, Gamelan Tunas Mekar partnered with the Filipino-American Community of Colorado to present a performance of music and dance from Southeast Asia. This performance was part of Levitt Pavilion Denver's Free Concert Series, which feature all-ages shows and booke artists based on artistic merit. For their third participation in the series, the ensemble curated a program supported by a 2024 AIFIS-Luce Grant that highlighted Southeast Asian performance and the arts in the Denver metro area, partnering with Balinese dancers in the U.S. who joined them on Levitt's open-air stage.
Gamelan in the Garden
June 2024
“Gamelan in the Garden” is an annual public showcase of Balinese culture and performing arts, presented by Gamelan Sekar Jaya and held in the beautiful San Francisco Botanical Garden. Performances and interactive workshops supported by the 2024 AIFIS-Luce grant were held on June 8, 2024 in the garden's Great Meadow and Celebration Garden, treating audiences to a wide array of dance and music styles from across Bali. GSJ member Ben Zaden premiered his new composition Malu in the Jegog performance, while guest dance director I Made Suteja delighted the audience with his lively Tari Gopala and Joged dances. Guest music director Komang Sraya Murtikanti led the Semar Pegulingan performance, with dancers presenting Tari Rejang and other works that prepared the stage for a grand finale performance of Gambuh. The Gambuh performance, arranged by I Made Suteja and adapted musically by Komang Sraya, offered a rare presentation of this 15th-century dance theater tradition, blending intricate music, dance, and Old Javanese dialogue.
The family-friendly event introduced many public audience members to Balinese gamelan for the first time and reflected the spirit of the group’s name, Gamelan Sekar Jaya (“flowering success”). The organizers achieved their goals of expanding public appreciation for Balinese arts, fostering community participation, and deepening engagement within the Indonesian Diaspora.