23/03/2026
Living Sounds of Constantinople
I am pleased to share that my latest article, “Bunyi yang Masih Hidup di Constantinople,” is published in the April 2026 issue of Dewan Budaya under the Salam Benua (travel writing) section.
This piece comes from my recent research journey to Istanbul, where I continued my work documenting the oud within its living cultural environment. For me, research has never been confined to libraries or studios. Much of what I have learned about music, instruments, and tradition has come from walking cities, meeting makers, listening to musicians, and observing how culture survives in everyday spaces.
Since first becoming seriously involved in the arts and cultural field more than two decades ago, this path has taken me across regions and continents. Each journey has quietly shaped how I understand transmission, pedagogy, and the place of traditional instruments in contemporary life.
Travel, in this sense, is not movement for its own sake. It is part of the long process of learning where knowledge actually lives, sometimes in institutions, but often in people, places, and practices that continue without announcement.
Grateful to Dewan Budaya for continuing to provide a space for these reflections since my first contribution in 2013.
