Tim Muhibah Angklung (NGAMUMULE/ MAINTAIN)

On November 16, 2010, UNESCO officially recognized angklung as one of the world’s intangible cultural heritage (ICH) from Indonesia. This achievement needs to be followed up by preserving angklung and continuing to promote it both at home and abroad, otherwise the status will be revoked.

To answer this challenge, Tim Angklung Muhibah (TMA) was formed on 14th February 2015. Since its establishment, TMA has carried out cultural missions to Europe (2016 and 2018) and Australia (2018). TMA has successfully promoted angklung to eleven European countries, by joining seven world-class festivals in Aberdeen (Scotland), Westerlo (Belgium), Cerveny Kostelec (Czech Rep.), Zakopane (Poland), Aksehir (Turkey), Sozopol (Bulgaria) ) and Visoko (Bosnia Herzegovina) and hold concerts in London (England), Paris (France), Hamburg, Berlin (Germany), Prague (Czech Rep.), Budapest (Hungary), Istanbul (Turkey), Sofia (Bulgaria) ), Sarajevo (Bosnia) and Vevey (Switzerland). Besides Europe, TMA also performed concerts in four major Australian cities, in Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and Sydney.

The enthusiasm of people in Europe and Australia for the angklung is enormous, as evidenced by the standing applause given by the audience in almost every show. One resident of the city of Sozopol, expressed his admiration as follows:

“It was the most incredible thing I have ever seen in the world. I have been about 400 times on orchestras, but I haven’t seen like this. I haven’t seen like this before. It was amazing! Incredible! And unbelievable! “

Not only in Europe, Australians are also very impressed with the performance of the team, as one of the Brisbane residents said:

“I have been living in Brisbane for 42 years, and this is the best show. I have seen in Brisbane. Absolutely fantastic! 110%! I enjoyed every minute of it! “

Indonesian diplomats abroad also gave high appreciation to the team, as expressed by Mr. Iwan Freddy Hari Susanto, Consul for Information, Social and Culture of the Indonesian Embassy in Canberra,

“Within my whole career as a diplomat, this is the best art group I have ever seen.” (Iwan F. H. Susanto, Consul of Social and Cultural Affairs, Indonesian Embassy in Canberra)

TMA also recorded various achievements in international competitions such as winning the “Grand Prix”, the overall winner at the “13th International Youth Festival of Arts (IYFA) Muzite”, in the city of Sozopol (Bulgaria); runner-up at the “62nd International Folklore Festival” in the city of Cerveny Kostelec (Czech Rep.), and won the “regular distinction for richness and originality of Indonesian music culture” award) at the “48th International Festival of Highland Folklore” in the city of Zakopane (Poland). This proves that TMA is not only successful in getting appreciation from the general public, but also formal recognition from the judges at various international festivals.

After successfully promoting angklung in Europe and Australia, we plan to expand the sound of angklung to American by making a cultural mission to the United States (US) in the summer of 2022. We plan to take part in three leading folklore festivals in the US: Idaho International Dance Festival in Rexburg (Idaho), Magic Valley Folk Festival in Burley (Idaho), and World Folkfest in Springville (Utah) as well as make concerts in five cities in the US: New York City (New York), Washington DC, Manitowoc (Wisconsin), and Chicago (Illinois), Los Angeles (California).

We are very grateful to get a support from Paguyuban Pasundan and Sembilan Matahari. We also have a privilege to do some collaboration with some prominent angklung communities such as Angklung Hamburg Orchestra, Angklung Eindhoven, Angklung Web Institute (AWI), Saung Angklung Udjo, and Bale Angklung Bandung to name a few.