Kampuchea Crossings

Bump to baby on the beaten expat track

Music out of Africa!

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Love the Christmas season! Here are some tunes from African artists that’ll be on my cocktail party playlists next week. I was introduced to some of these genres by Nirmal, who has the best music selection, sound system and pad in all Asia (which don’t get him brownie points from the neighbors)! Think layered carpets, a soft glow from lamps draped in silk scarves, candlelight dancing behind the apsara figurines and artwork glaring through the wisps of incense smoke. Sigh, when’s the next long weekend??


Ismaël Lô Wassaliane
Senegalese singer, guitarist and harmonica player. Very folky peaceful music, and rich textured voice.


Juliana Kanyomozi Kanyimbe
Love her voice! The music is heavily influenced by pop and R&B, and this one is gospel..(?), which sends me wondering what gospel music is. Is it the content or structure..?


Khadja Nin Sambolera
Another incredible vocalist. Born in Burundi but her music career took off in Belgium. Her songs are statements on humanitarian topics and the struggle against inequality of all kinds. She also has particular affinity for environmental issues. This song (in Swahili) was a phenomenal success that put her on the map, a mix of traditional African and Afro-Cuban rhythms with modern pop.


Amadou & Mariam Senegal Fast Food
Guitarist Amadou Bagayoko and singer Mariam Doumbia met at a school for the blind in Mali as teens, where they formed a musical duo. They’ve been together ever since. This whole album’s pretty fun to listen to.


Lura Nha Vida (“My life”)
Born in Portugal to parents who’d emigrated from Cape Verde, Lura was a stage dancer when African star Juka asked her to sing backup on his upcoming album. This song propelled her to popularity beyond her country.


Henri Dikonguè Ndol’Asu
This singer and guitarist from Cameroon mixes different elements of makossa, bikutsi, rumba and reggae into this fun number.


And this one from Daara J is just wild. He’s got dancehall reggae, hip hop, and tongue twisters all rolled into his rap.

Indonesia: Jogjakarta

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Yogyakarta is the only province in Indonesia still formally governed by a precolonial Sultanate, the Sultanate of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat. It’s a center of classical Javanese fine arts and culture (batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry and puppet shows). This is a view of Mount Merapi outside our hotel window. It’s been active for 10000 years and today is the most active as well as produces more pyroclastic flows than any volcano in the world.

We started climbing the 345 steps to the Royal Tombs of Imogiri at the same time as this lady, and by the time we were done and ready to come back down she was just barely getting to the top with her load of 2 banana bunches and 6 bottles of water to sell. We bought all she had, exchanged sentences neither party could understand, and then she turned around and walked back down the stairs to fetch more fruits and water for selling.
Durian Montong and Durian Petruk from Purworejo (in Sulawesi), apparently much better than the durians from Sumatra when locals weighed in. It’s a denser texture and is more bitter than the Kampot, Cambodia, durian.
Around the Kraton (Sultan’s Palace) are densely-populated neighborhoods. At various intervals on the streets are these huge hollow ‘bells’. When there’s a fire or danger, the nearest bell is rung, and those hearing it down the street will ring theirs, and on and on. They’re painted in bright colors, much like the whimsical painted fish in Philadelphia and cows in Chicago for public arts.
A musician from Kraton (Sultan’s Palace) with a Kris in his belt. Apparently this dagger (which is not symmetrical) is indigenous to Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Philippines. It’s both a weapon and a spiritual object, with each bearing either good or evil essence.

Indonesia: Borobudur

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Borobudur is a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist monument in Central Java. It’s got six square platforms topped by three circular levels, decorated with 2,672 relief panels and 504 Buddha statues in various poses. Pilgrims begin their 3/4 mile journey by entering the eastern staircase. This base, or Kamadhatu, symbolizes where human beings are still bound by lust. They then walk clockwise around the galleries and up. Each level progresses towards enlightenment, with lower levels depicting bas reliefs of life on earth, with the range of sins of mankind. A guide is about 50000Rupiah (12300Rupiah/$1 at this time), and it’s well worth it.
Elaborate gateways to the next levels are guarded by the fearsome beast Kala. Each level up represents the journey towards enlightenment.
The upper four stories are called Rupadhatu, symbolizing human beings that have set themselves free from lust but still bound to appearance and shape.
The upper three terraces with Buddha effigies inside perforated domes are called Arupadhatu, symbolizing human beings freed from lust and earthly form. The top part is called Arupa, symbolizing nirvana, where Buddha resides.
For lack of an eagle’s eye angle we can take ourselves, this is a model of Borobudur, taken at the museum at the base when we returned back to the world of sin and hedonism.

Indonesia: Wayang Kulit

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Wayang Kulit (wayang=show, kulit=skin, as in the leather the puppets are made of) is a type of shadow puppet theatre from the Indo-Malay archipelago. Its Javanese Hindu-Buddhist tradition has its origins in India. Hand-crafted leather puppets depict epic stories of the gods in shadow play.
This artist was prepping the puppet show, at the Museum Sonobudoyo (Javanese archeology museum) on Jalan Trikora 6 at north alun-alun. The puppets are usually made of buffalo or goat hide and mounted on bamboo sticks. The best puppets are made of young female water buffalo parchment with curing time of almost ten years.
A traditional Gamelan orchestra would accompany the story-telling. Their typical repertoire include an overture, travel and battle music, and character pieces.
The next photos are of musicians playing their Gamelan instruments, preparing for the same puppet theatre at Kraton (Sultan’s Palace). This first instrument is a Bonang and the one below is a Saron Demung, followed by a better photo of that instrument in red.

This musician was playing the Kenong, the next down is a Bonang, and the third is the setup behind the stage where Sinden singers are practicing.
Most shadow play is based on two epic stories from India – the Mahabarata and its sister work, the Ramayana. The Balinese and Javanese combined the Hindu stories with Buddhist and Muslim elements as well as their own folklore.

Indonesia: Making Batik

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Batik is a resist dye technique with hundreds of years’ history in Java. Since I wasn’t with K when someone showed him how to batik, here’s the general gist as I know it:
A natural light-colored cloth is used to make batiks (synthetics or blends won’t work). A rough sketch is made on the cloth as in the first photo. Then you paint wax on top of the areas you do not want to dye. This woman uses a tool sort of like a crude fountain(?) pen to take the dye to the areas she’s drawn. When the paint has absorbed into the cloth it is allowed to dry, then a hot water bath is used to melt off the wax.
Here’s the finished product. It’s a very thin cloth so it’s beautiful framed with light shining from behind, such as daylight or if indoors then a frame with an embedded lamp. I love bright designs, but this region (Jogyakarta)’s color palette consists of the varying shades and tones of brown.