Shadow puppet performance documentation excerpt
Artists: Jumaadi with Ria Soemardjo (viola, found objects / instruments), Graham Apthorpe (tenor banjo and mandolin), Lawrance Ryan (vocals), Philippa Patterson (guitar), and Marc Mcleish (guitar); Video: David Hansen with Jack Warren.
Gamelan Man was inspired by a Javanese court musician and political activist, Pontjopangrawit. Jumaadi resided in Cowra in July 2013, held shadow puppet workshops with the community, and created this work in response to the history of the Indonesian political prisoners who were interned in Cowra during WWII.
This performance was held on 7 March 2014 at the Cowra Civic Centre as part of a series of events held in Cowra, NSW, including a symposium, Civilian Internment in Australia during WWII: history, memories and community heritage, its related arts program, the Cowra Canowindra Civilian Internment Arts Program, commemorations at the Indonesian political prisoner’s graves at Cowra General Cemetery and Cowra Japanese War Cemetery for the civilian internees buried there, and an unveiling of an interpretive board with information about Japanese civilian internment in Australia during WWII.
This documentation videos was created by David Hansen and Jack Warren from the Civilian Internment Arts Project Documentary Team. In July 2013, film makers David Hansen and Bruce Ryan conducted a documentary making work shop with the community. Since then, the team have been documenting the series of events as part of Cowra Civilian Internment Project.
– Posted by Mayu Kanamori
