Kak Wayan Konolan, one of the greatest masters of gender wayang from Banjar Kayumas kaja Denpasar passed away last night. He was also known as the father of great musicians, Pk.Wayan Suweca, Pk.Nyoman Sudarna, Bu Ketut Suryatini and Pk. Wayan Sujana.

He looked well and vigorously played and taught gamelan in the end of August, when I saw him for the last time. He performed gender with his children and students on last Kuningan in Mas, as usual. However, he had suffered from liver and heart diseases for these years. He had been in the hospital again since early September, complaining stomach pain.

A friend of mine in Bali has called me this morning and told me this sad news. According to Pk.Nyoman Sudarna, the son of Pk.Konolan, the family will soon hold a ngaben ceremony for Pk.Konolan, but the exact date is not yet fixed at present.

Pk Konolan was born around 1930, almost the same age as Pak Loceng alm. Though his career as a gamelan player was so comprehensive, including geguntangan arja RRI, semar pegulingan and angklung, I believe his excellence in gender wayang should be remembered above all.

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Here is an interesting article in relation with the social function of traditional of Balinese performing art. This interesting article is an excerpt that is taken from a paper entitled “Creating Modern Traditions in Balinese Performing Arts” by Ivana Askovic. Ivana Askovic is a Ph.D. candidate in Asian Theater and an acting instructor at the Department of Theater and Dance at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her research interests focus mainly on Indonesian performing arts. Without further ado here is excerpt.

Throughout its history Balinese theater has had two main social functions: one religious and one political. Even though the early twentieth century saw the introduction of an element of self-conscious art which was not “art-in-service” of something but rather an artistic expression of an individual, this tendency never became fully integrated in the Balinese artistic tradition. Rather, the performing arts are still considered to be (as they have been throughout history) a communal, collective obligation to create beauty in service to society and religion.

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This Saturday, 17th May, 2008, Tumpek Wayang, one of my favorite Agama Hindu Bali Holydays honors, respects and celebrates Wayang Kulit shadow play. On this day the Dalang, (shadow artists) display their Wayang (shadow characters) and place offerings around the characters, Gamelan instruments, and other objects (the screen, lamp, etc) used in shadow performances.

About 15 hours after this ritual occurs on Bali, especially in the Banjar Babakan community of Sukawati, it happens again in a tiny section of California, in the Banjar Mission Hills community of Los Angeles, where devoted students of Wayang and Gamelan reside. Since we are unable to find flowers like cempaka or ylang2, or snacks like jajan kampung, we must substitute. Desa, kala, patra - a teacher once told me - do what you can depending on where you are, when it is, and what you can obtain, something like - it’s the thought that counts!

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The west has Aesop fable, which deals with the numerous fables and the Balinese answer for this series of the fables, is Tantri story. The Tantri story is the name of Javanese version on the Hindu Pancatantra, a collection of stories originated from India. The Tantri story is a mixture of Aesop fables and Thousands and One night story. The story began to be introduced in Bali after Bali was subjugated by Majapahit Kingdom of East Java.

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The village of Kamasan, in Klungkung, Bali’s oldest kingdom, as an ancient tradition of painting with its roots in the art of the great Javanese empire of Majapahit. Kamasan is far from the usual tourist tracks, and so many visitors to Bali get the false impression that Ubud is the centre of art. The art of Kamasan is the ‘classic’ style based on the shadow theatre or wayang, and Kamasan village once included many wayang puppeteers, although few remain. For many centuries that tradition was practised by the Sangging descent group, who gave their name to the section of the village of Kamasan where present-day artists are still found. Early in the nineteenth century the Sangging descent group died out in Kamasan through lack of male heirs, but they passed on their tradition to others in the village, via the most famous artists of that era, Modara.

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When the bomb went off in Kuta last October, the reactions were mainly those of grief, horror and surprise. After the first few weeks of emergency care, it was time to try and figure out how to help those affected heal–on all levels: emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually and economically. The Bali Relief efforts have been enormous–an outpouring of medications (80 percent of them outdated, I’m told), medical support, and money came onto this tiny island. After all the fanfare, and the extravanga free concerts with the big name stars, a number of us wondered what else could be done.

Cody Schwaiko of YKIP (Yayasan Kemanusian Ibu Pertiwi, which was initially established to assist the bomb victims) asked me if I knew a dalang (shadow puppeteer) who could create a story about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that could be taken into the villages, particularly in and around Kuta.

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