Vaughan Hatch established the gamelan side of Mekar Bhuana in 2000 and Putu Evie added the dance side in 2004
While studying classical gamelan on a scholarship in Bali in 1997, Vaughan became aware of how negatively mass tourism was affecting traditional performing art forms. Few classical gamelan ensembles had been recorded and many gamelan were either no longer played or had been melted down. In the year 2000, Vaughan chanced upon purchasing and restoring a disused antique Semar Pegulingan gamelan and came up with the concept of Mekar Bhuana, with the aim of preserving endangered classical gamelan and its extensive repertoire. Since 1997, he has been researching Semara Pagulingan and other rare ensembles in Bali.
In 2002 he met Putu Evie Suyadnyani, a talented Legong dancer and singer who is now his wife, who also shared the vision. Together they combined the music and dance aspects, professionalizing Mekar Bhuana in 2004. As well as running the centre and Mekar Bhuana Sourcing, they enjoy playing Selonding, Angklung and Gender wayang together with their family group at ceremonies around Bali.
Watch a video about co-founder, Putu Evie Suyadnyani:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBOH9YT0P-8
and hear Vaughan talk about Balinese gamelan in this mini documentary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TOAysFrXhI
Read more >>
Our founders, Vaughan and Evie established Mekar Bhuana Aotearoa (the original, Māori name for New Zealand) in March 2022 with the aim of further spreading the beauty of rare classical and archaic Balinese music around the world.
Mekar Bhuana Aotearoa has six gamelan sets: Semara Patangian, Five-tone Semara Pagulingan, Seven-tone Semara Pagulingan, Selonding, Gender Wayang and Rindik.
Mekar Bhuana Aotearoa offers both gamelan and dance courses at Miramar & Maupuia Community Centre, Wellington.
Gamelan
Our Gamelan Semara Patangian Course 3 started on August 17, but you are still welcome to do a drop in for just $15.
Check out the results of just eight sessions in Course One!:
https://youtu.be/7cGjib0DSyk
Check out our postings on Instagram about our course sessions.
Dance
We held a number of courses in 2022 but had a break in 2023 to focus on collaborative performances where Evie both taught and learned from Caraka Seni, an Indonesian dance troupe in Wellington.
Upcoming MBA Events
We plan to have an end of year 'open rehearsal jam' at MMCC with our Semara Patangian course group on Saturday October 7th - watch this space for details.
Remember to follow us on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to keep up with our activities in New Zealand!
Read more >>
Gamelan music and dance are a unique and colourful part of everyday Balinese life. There are numerous different types of gamelan orchestras in Bali and hundreds of dances. However, few people are aware that some of these art-forms are rare and even endangered. Due to modernisation, globalisation, misguided tourism and a generally faster-paced way of life, the older traditions have lost popularity—in some cases, disappeared completely.
Mekar Bhuana is active in the documentation, study, reconstruction and performance of these rich and wonderful, yet undervalued art-forms. Based on more than 25 years of research, we work closely with senior guru from the villages, as well as professional musicians and dancers, to document, study and re-popularise a near-extinct tradition. View our video profile (still in Indonesian - English coming soon):
Mekar Bhuana’s Philosophy:
Mekar Bhuana means “to blossom around the world”, symbolizing the hope that the ancient music and dance music of Bali will be better known again not just in Bali but also in the rest of the world.
Mekar Bhuana educates about the intrinsic value of Balinese art-forms which more than a millennium ago were inspired by the natural beauty of the island’s tropical surroundings. Mekar Bhuana does this by teaching about their roots in agriculture and how this agrarian lifestyle gave birth to the complex art-forms that Bali is famous for today.
Students at Mekar Bhuana don’t just learn about Balinese cultural art-forms but also about how to understand and care for its fragile island environment. Our centre aims to be zero waste via composting, recycling, up-cycling and gardening. If students can appreciate these things, they will also better appreciate the beautiful artistic environment that has emerged as a result.
Mekar Bhuana's Aims:
- to increase local and international awareness about rare and endangered Balinese performing art-forms
- to help encourage villages and courts to preserve their valuable art-forms, including original gamelan instruments, instrumentation, playing style, repertoire, dance costumes and local style
- to learn rare performing art-forms from local guru and reconstruct gamelan repertoire from recordings and notation - to record, document rare performing art-forms
- to produce and release audio and video recordings of rare performing art-forms
- to provide a centre where anybody can come and learn these rare art-forms. We want people to appreciate the beauty of these unique styles of music and dance. Our musicians and dancers continue to study and are capable of performing a number of rare styles from villages across Bali.
- to increase the level of performance and tour professionalism in traditional performing art-forms - to improve the local performance conditions, reciprocation and treatment of traditional performing artists
- to protect the rights and sensibilities of traditional performing artists
- to encourage the establishment of a unification of performing arts troupes in Bali in order to improve performance terms and conditions
- to one day provide an complete archive of traditional performing art-forms that is accessible to the general public and a place where people who are passionate about Balinese gamelan and dance can gather, learn and share their valuable knowledge and experience.
At the moment, we are focusing on medieval court music and dance, by learning compositions from guru or old recordings. Our musicians then play the music on the antique orchestras at the centre. Mekar Bhuana’s concept of faithful preservation is analogous to creating a living museum—like playing Mozart on baroque instruments. In Balinese, Mekar means ‘to blossom’ and Bhuana means ‘the world’. We hope that these old art-forms will one day blossom again not only in Bali, but around the world.
Learn more about Mekar Bhuana's profile on our Linkedin page.
Catch one of our practice sessions while you are in Bali (currently not possible due to the covid 19 pandemic). Contact us to find when one of our troupes are practicing. Donations are most appreciated and help keep our centre sustainable.
In mediaeval Bali (circa 1600-1906) Semara Pagulingan (also known as Semar Pegulingan) was an important part of the Balinese courts. Accompanying court rituals and Pendet
Five-tone Semara Pagulingan Our five-tone Semara Pagulingan set is our antique Semara Patangian set with a terompong, ponggang-kempyung, kangsi and grantang added, and the gender
Selonding is classified as an archaic type of Balinese gamelan orchestra dating as far back as the 10th century. Deeply shrouded in myth and legend, selonding