Out now, “Dari Akar ke Mekar” Season 2 Episode 4 of Sonic Entanglements Podcast.

In this episode, Gardika Gigih speaks with Grace Buenaventura and James JD Gasmen from UPCE—two stewards of this vast collection of over 3,700 traditional and contemporary instruments from across the Philippines and beyond. More than just historical artifacts, these instruments are in constant use—played, studied, and cared for by students, musicians, and community members alike, also the story with Datu Waway Saway, a cultural bearer from Talaandig community. What emerges is a portrait of an archive that breathes, resonates, and connects past and future through sound.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Podbean, or wherever you get your podcasts.

“Dari Akar ke Mekar” is a study of Filipino Traditional Music Cultures and their Inspiration Towards Filipino Contemporary Composers. This podcast series is one of Gardika Gigih’s research outputs during DeCoSEAS – Decolonizing Southeast Asian Sound Archives – Visiting Fellowship 2024 at the University of the Philippines Center for Ethnomusicology (UPCE).