In less than two days, musicians Dewa Budjana, Aria Banon and Oppie Andaresta successfully gathered 65 guitarists and singers. They all agreed to hold a massive charity concert for the benefit of disaster victims in Central Sulawesi and in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.
In just a week, the concert, titled “Indonesian Guitarists’ Charity for the Nation: Solidarity Music and Poetry”, was finally realized on Thursday evening, Oct 11 at the Bentara Budaya Jakarta (BBJ) cultural space. Some 65 guitarists and singers as well as five poets shared the stage for the benefit of disaster victims.
The recent series of disasters that rocked several regions across Indonesia, such as Central Sulawesi and Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara, has triggered a sense of solidarity throughout the country. “We usually only talk about guitars and [sound] effects. However, the moment the disasters hit our brothers and sisters, we spontaneously decided to get together and do something,” Budjana said on the concert’s sidelines.
The concert aimed to collect donations to be distributed through the Kompas Humanitarian Fund (DKK) through music and poetry as well as to raise people’s awareness on the importance of caring for one another.
To show their solidarity, the guitarists “donated” their musical works by performing together at the BBJ. They were divided into 13 formations, each of which represented a music genre, such as blues, rock, acoustic and jazz.
The first performance of the evening was by Six Strings, comprising Baim, Eross Chandra, Tohpati, Dewa Budjana and Aria Baron, as well as Balawan. They performed their own song titled “I Got Ur Back”.
After a 10-minute opening performance, hosts Olga Lidya and Steny Agustaf came up on stage and announced that the total donation had reached Rp 56 million (US$3,686.19).
In just a few minutes, after another performance, the total donation had jumped up to Rp 240 million. Slowly but surely, the charity concert gained the positive response of the audience and the general public who heard news of it.
Poetry donations
Apart from musical performances, the charity concert also included poetry recitals by two senior literary figures Sapardi Djoko Damono and Joko Pinurbo. Both read poems written by Inayah Wahid, Saras Dewi and Maryam Supraba. Sapardi, who is 78 this year, also wrote a special poem titled “Gusti Ajari Kami” (Lord, Teach Us All) that he read for the occasion.
Maryam Supraba, the youngest daughter of the late legendary poet WS Rendra, said that the nation should safeguard the spirit of struggling for and defending the rights of the poor and the suffering, which was embodied by his father. “I am merely doing what I can. The least I can do is express my
solidarity for our brothers and sisters suffering from disasters,” said Meme, as Maryam is affectionately called.
Apart from the musical performances and poetry recitals, the event organizers held auctions for poems and guitars signed by prominent guitarists. Organizing committee chief Putu Fajar Arcana said that all proceeds from the auction would be donated to the disaster victims.
Flow of donations
As the night grew older, the total donation kept on going up. Business empire Mayapada Group owner Dato Sri Tahir, who watched the concert through video streaming at Kompas.id, donated Rp 1 billion. “Our message to businesspeople everywhere: Do not close your eyes and your hearts. We need to be grateful that we are still safe and sound, but not far from us, there are our brothers and sisters who are suffering. Someday, it may be our turn to suffer. Help our brothers and sisters in Lombok and in Palu. No one wishes for this disaster. Those of us who are still fortunate must help those less so. God bless us all,” Tahir said.
Donation also came from other donors, including Rp 512 million from Hago Singapore PTE, Rp 500 million from Astra’s Boy Kelana Soebroto, Rp 500 million from Dover Chemical, Rp 208 million from PT Sompo Insurance Indonesia, Rp 100 million from PT Kapal Api Global’s Djoni Halim, Rp 100 million from Lexus Indonesia, Rp 174.4 million from Felix Boettcher Gmbh, Rp 54.6 million from MS 62 ITB, Rp 50 million from Rendi Witular and Rp 50 million from Artha Graha Peduli Foundation.
During the concert, all invitees were given the chance to donate any amount as they wished. All in all, the concert successfully raised Rp 3,669,844,244 from donations, tempeh sales, poem and guitar auctions and cash collection.
Since the Kompas Humanitarian Fund was opened on Sept. 30 up to Oct. 11, it has collected Rp 9,927,976,731. In total, the donation has now reached Rp 13,597,860,975.