Every Tuesday in term-time, Southbank Centre offers free sessions for Lambeth primary schools to discover both the Gamelan (Javanese percussion instrument) and National Poetry Library.
In this two-hour session, half the group begins with an introductory Gamelan session in which pupils work with one of our expert tutors to sample group music-making.
The other half explores National Poetry Library with the guidance of library staff, exploring different kinds of poetry (visual poetry, spoken poetry recordings and poetry about animals), learning how to use an index in a book and how to find items in a library. The groups then swap for the second hour.
In 1987, Southbank Centre was privileged to receive a beautiful Javanese percussion orchestra called gamelan. This was a remarkable gift from the Government of the Republic of Indonesia to the people of the UK as a gesture of friendship.
As is the case with many important gamelan ensembles, ours was named: ‘Kyai Lebdha Jiwa‘ or ‘The Venerable Spirit of Perfection’.
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