The gamelan Digul and the prison camp musician who made it
Subtitle: an Australian link with the Indonesian revolution
By: Margaret J. Kartomi.
Publisher: University of Rochester Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Rochester, NY
Number of pages: 123
Description: "This is the story of a particular Javanese orchestra called the gamelan Digul, and its creator, the Indonesian musician and political activist Pontjopangrawit. He was a superb Javanese court musician who was interned for revolutionary activities in the notorious Dutch East Indies prison camp of Boven Digul. The gamelan Digul was made entirely from "found" materials in the prison camp, including kitchen utensils and old doors, and it soothed the hearts of its players in exile throughout the 1930s.

In the 1940s, the gamelan was transported to Australia, where the Dutch and their prisoners took refuge from the Japanese. At first interned as enemy aliens by the Australian government, the ex-Digulists were finally released. Cultural activities within the Australian-Indonesian community - often involving the gamelan Digul - served to create sympathy and interest for Indonesian independence, which was granted in 1945.".

"Stories about particular Javanese gamelan orchestras and remarkable gamelan musicians are rare, and this book breaks new ground in both respects. Its musical and political sides will interest all those concerned with Indonesian and Southeast Asian music, performing arts, history and culture as well as the beginnings of Australian-Indonesian friendship."--BOOK JACKET.