Kebyar Perak by Gamelan Cudamani @ Family Day 2022

Cudamani. Gamelan and Dance Pengosekan, Bali, Indonesia. The group traces its roots to the 1970’s when the children of Pengosekan — a village well known for its community of painters, weavers, and musicians — gathered after school to play music in the village balai (pavilion). Over the years these independent-minded children formed a new kind of organization that has become a pride of the village.

Tourism has had a powerful impact on the arts in Bali — particularly so in Ubud, the famous tourist town just north of Pengosekan. By the 1990s most of the musicians of Ubud were playing for tourists in lieu of the needs of the community and members were hired and fired depending on their technical ability. The youth of Pengosekan often found themselves working in this system — experiencing the financial benefits of tourism while also being keenly aware of the artistic and cultural dangers of this arrangement.

In September 1997, Director Dewa Putu Berata, Artistic Director Dewa Ketut Alit, and others from Pengosekan called together a number of talented and promising young people from different areas in Bali to form Sanggar Çudamani.