On Monday (28/11) the Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, Diponegoro University held a webinar entitled “Javanese Performing Arts in New Zealand: A Historical Perspective” by presenting a Javanese karawitan artist and native Indonesian dhalang who was active in New Zealand, namely Prof. Dr. Joko Susilo, S. Kar., M.A.
In his remarks, Head of the Department of History Undip, Dr. Dhanang Respati Puguh, M. Hum. expressed gratitude to Prof. Joko Susilo who has taken the time to attend and share knowledge. “This webinar is an activity programmed by the Department of History, both by the Undergraduate, Master, and Doctoral Study Programs on an ongoing basis. The themes chosen were very diverse, ranging from political history, economic history, social history, learning history, maritime history, and this time it was about art history, specifically Javanese performing arts in New Zealand by inviting one of the Indonesian diaspora. It is hoped that through this forum we can all get acquainted with experts, both from within and outside the country, so that our network will be wider and will improve the performance of study programs, faculties and universities in the international level.” said Dr. Dhanang.
At the beginning of delivering the material, Prof. Joko recounted the journey that brought him to New Zealand where he was able to teach Javanese gamelan, among others, in the United States, Scotland, the Netherlands, France, and several other countries in Europe. Prof. Joko Susilo completed his undergraduate education at the Indonesian Art College (STSI) in 1987. He then had the opportunity to teach at his alma mater. In 1992, he received a scholarship from Otago University to complete his Master of Arts (MA) study and continued with a doctoral program which was successfully completed in 2000.
After successfully completing the MA, Prof. Joko Susilo had the opportunity to teach Javanese gamelan at Otago University, which is one of the courses in the music department. He also suggested that the university buy a set of Javanese gamelan in Sukoharjo. Since then, Javanese gamelan has been intensively promoted and has become a compulsory subject for every music student at Otago University until the Javanese gamelan music community Puspawarna was formed. “During its development, Javanese gamelan was taught not only for students majoring in music but from all majors including medicine. At that time the Javanese gamelan music course was in great demand by students because it had a fairly high credit score, namely 15.” said Prof. Joko Susilo.
Apart from being taught at the Music Department, Javanese gamelan music is also taught at Asian Studies in the subject “Gamelan, Wayang Kulit, and Islam.” “I also teach in Religious Studies for the course on Journey of Episode Mahabharata and Ramayana from India to Southeast Asia. On the other hand, Puspawarna continues to hold local performances to promote gamelan. Annual wayang kulit purwa performances at the end of the year, as well as collaborative performances with dancers who often invite dancers from studios in Jakarta are being performed.” he said.
Prof. Joko Susilo has introduced Indonesia through Javanese gamelan and wayang, which unknowingly is an effort of soft diplomacy. He said that special skills and a comprehensive understanding of the cultural background of the local community were needed when performing Javanese performing arts, especially wayang kulit purwa. Moreover, when conveying humor which certainly cannot be equated with humor when performing in Indonesia. The people of New Zealand and the West in general do not like humor that has sexist themes, carries racial attributes, and puts a group in a corner. In order to fulfill this, apart from telling stories in English, Prof. Joko Susilo also studied humor or jokes that were liked and adapted to the values adopted by the people of New Zealand. An example is when presenting the character Petruk, Prof. Joko would call him Peter.
Webinar moderated by Dr. Dhanang Respati Puguh, M. Hum. attracted the attention of the attendees. They were very enthusiastic about participating in the discussion which could be seen from the questions and responses to the presentation of the material by Prof. Joko Susilo. One of the participants, Debora Alfi, made quite an interesting comment regarding the soft diplomacy conducted by Prof. Joko Susilo. He clarified his statement by asking how far New Zealanders know Indonesia after the performances held by Prof. Joko Susilo. “Every time they perform or hold rehearsals anywhere, I always emphasize to them to visit Indonesia, especially Java. Thus, you will be able to feel the true beauty of every strain of Javanese gamelan music.”
