The Mythical Origin of the Gamelan, a new lakon by Ki Purbo Asmoro, is a multi-faceted contemplation of the origin of gamelan that premiered on 22 January 2022. As a lifelong gamelan player who loves wayang, I was moved in a very personal way—seeing wayang puppets of golden kenong and other instruments on the screen for the first time placed my own life in the wayang. Kitsie Emerson’s simultaneous translation enabled me to appreciate the complex layers and unusual characters, as the earthly residents struggled to find the place of gamelan in their lives. 

I was thrilled when Kitsie agreed to take “a closer look” at this story of how the gods decided to allow humans to play gamelan. In five consecutive 90-minute sessions, Kitsie discussed each hour of the performance, pausing for explanations and questions. The recordings of the Zoom meetings attended by “gamelan lovers” from around the world were later edited by filmmaker Robin Richardson.

Today, in honor of the one-year anniversary of UNESCO inscribing gamelan on the “UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage” arts, we have posted the videos on the AGI Library.

 — jody diamond, 15 December 2022