SOUTHBANK CENTRE

Southbank Centre is home to an unusually large gamelan. It was made in 1973 by Ki Trimantawiguna in Yogyakarta, Central Java. It was presented as a gift of friendship from the people of Indonesia to the people of Great Britain, arriving at Southbank Centre on 4 December 1987.

In accordance with the Javanese tradition of naming important gamelans, it is called Kyai Lebdhåjiwå, meaning ‘The Venerable Spirit of Perfection'.

Founded by Alec Roth, Southbank Centre's gamelan programme has, over the past two decades, generated performances, workshops, classes and inspired collaborative projects with varied institutions and artists from across the UK, Europe and Indonesia.

The gamelan is permanently housed in the Gamelan Room located in Spirit Level, Royal Festival Hall.

Southbank Centre is also home to a second, more portable gamelan named Sekar Tunjung Sari - ‘Essence of the Lotus Flower'. Made by Tentrem Sarwanto in Surakarta, this gamelan was commissioned in 2004 specifically for outreach work and residential projects involving schools, hospitals and prisons in the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark.