UII Receives Gamelan, Wayang Kulit Grants

Yogyakarta—Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII) has received gamelan (traditional ensemble musical instrument) and wayang kulit (shadow puppets) as grants from the R. Mujoko Rachmat Soerodirdjo family.

The symbolic handover ceremony took place at the K.H.A. Wahid Hasyim Building of UII’s Faculty of Islamic Studies on Friday, 13 October 2023. A family representative and UII leadership signed the handover minutes, which was followed by a gamelan performance by the Wali Songo Studio.

UII Rector Prof. Fathul Wahid S.T., M.Sc., Ph.D. said the R. Mujoko Rachmat family chose UII to receive the grant as they believed that the university was able to maintain and utilize the items. As a follow up, the university will organize a routine performance training led by a group that consisted of selected lecturers, teaching staffs and students.

“Alhamdulillah we now have 66 people, comprising of 22 lecturers, 22 teaching staffs and 22 students,” the rector said. “We have also appointed a trainer that will organize routine trainings. We hope this could be a friendship [silaturahmi] forum between lecturers, students and teaching staffs.”

According to Prof. Fathul Wahid, UII sees gamelan as a cultural item that can disseminate positive messages that are in line with what the university believes in. “Positive messages can be disseminated through various channels. Culture is one of the methods to do this,” the rector said.

Head of the Yogyakarta Cultural Park, Dra. Purwiati, said on behalf of the Yogyakarta Cultural Agency that the provincial government highly appreciated UII for bringing gamelan and wayang kulit into campus. “We hope that gamelan and wayang kulit could serve as channel for cooperation between the university, local cultural agencies and studios in Yogyakarta,” she said.

Meanwhile, Wahyudi Aafrizal. S.Psi., representing the R. Mujoko Rachmat Soerodirdjo family, said in his speech during the ceremony that the gamelan and wayang kulit were parked at their home unused. The family thought that it would be a shame and useless if they remained at home. Therefore, they expected that the handing over of these items to UII would benefit the university and the local communities around the campus. (VIP Magazine Vol 10)