Angklung is a tool or instrument made of bamboo art special, which was discovered by Mr. Daeng Sutigna about 1938. When the initial use is still limited to the interests angklung local or traditional arts. However, due to the resulting sounds very sweet and also has local and international content such as sounds that have a tone du re mi fa so la si du and daminatilada, then angklung too fast growing, not only locally but also performed performed regionally, nationally and internationally. It is said that the show was held in front of angklung State Leaders at the Asia Africa Conference in Bandung, Merdeka Building in 1955.

Angklung Musical instruments can be combined with other musical instruments such as piano, organ, guitar, drums, and others. Aside from being a tool of art, angklung can also be used as souvenirs or fruits after hand decorated various other accessories. Players of this instrument could reach 50 people or more.

Bagong Kussudihardja is known as the creator of colossal ballets that combine the harmony of traditional dance from many regions of Indonesia with a dynamic, liberal and expressive modern dance. Bagong has school of dance that was founded 30 years ago. Yhe name of the school is Padepokan Tari Bagong Kussudihardja, and is located in Desa Kembaran, Kasihan Bantul. Bagong is also an artist who produces paintings and scluptures.

Didik Ninik Thowok is a dancer who has produced unique and special works. Didik performed most of his own works to the public. He performs his creative work on the street, along Malioboro Street like a street dancer. In his shows, Didik always perform as female, flirtatious, and humorous. Didik also has a school of dance located at Jatimulyo, Tambak Mas, Godean Street and Merapi View at Kaliurang Street.

Sapto Raharjo a Jogjanese musician, who is internationally well known, uses gamelan as the base for his works of art. He combines gamelan with other traditional Indonesian music as well as Indian and western music. Raharjo is actively improving the younger generation’s appreciation for gaelan by conducting a Gamelan Gaul Festival (Gaul means pops). Sapto also sparked the idea of an International Gamelan Festival that has now taken place in Jogja over five time. Gmelan musicians from around the world attend this festival. Last year, the festival was conducted in July. You can meet Sapto Raharjo at Radio Geronimo on Gayam, where he holds a position as one of the radio managers.

Yogyakarta also has a centre for handicraft design and development, which has become a training centre for craftsmen. The name of the centre is PPPG Kesenian and is located at the 12 km mark on Kaliurang Street.

People like the flexibility of ketoprak as it has so many stories to tell, from history, legends, and the stories of people going about their daily lives. Ketoprak has many humorous dialogues that are usually performed by the servant figures. In the beginning, the story was most important, but now a day’s comedy and humour are more important in the modern ketoprak. Most of the players in modern ketoprak groups are comedians, and they call their grops “Ketoprak Humour”. Private TV stations that have turned “ketoprak” into a visual medium for the public have also triggered its growth.

Ketoprak Mataram is performed every first Saturday of the month at the RRI auditorium on Demangan Street. The most popular ketoprak artists are “Suwariyun” who is a deputy chairman of Kedaulatan Rakyat daily newspaper, and “Bondan Nusantara” who lives in Kasongan a village that is at the centre of the ceramic and earthenware business on Jalan Bantul.

Epic of Mahabharata and Ramayana from India were performed as puppet stories during the Hindu Era. In this era, the puppets were painted with a lot of refining ornaments.

The students are often invited to perform Javanese classic dance at the Kraton, for visiting VIP guests. Classic dance is also performed for public at Srin Manganti Hall every Sunday and Thursday from 11.00 – 12.00. Now and again, they also perform at the Pendopo (the attached open veranda of a Javanese house) of Ndalem Joyokusuman (house of prince Joyokusuma) on Rotowijayan Street for tourist who are having dinner.

Kraton arts are classic dance, dance-drama, macapat (Javanese singing), seni kriya (fine arts-painting, sculpture, ceramics). Folk arts include puppet (leather puppet), ketoprak (Javanese drama), folk-dance, gamelan (Javanese orchestra), keris (Javanese blade), and the fine arts of terracotta, tatah sungging (painting on carved leather to make a leather puppet figure with its intricate complicated decorations). Here, the art schools (including colleges and institutes) are an important influence on the development of painting, music, dance, and theatre.

There are a  few  instruments in the gamelan ensemble which are not  percussion instruments: they  are a  two-stringed bowed instrument (rebab), a plucked zither-type  instrument (celempung or  siter),  and a bamboo flute (suling).  A female singer (pesindhen), and a male chorus of two or three singers (penggérong) also participate in the gamelan ensemble.

The gamelan musicians should sit crosslegged (sila) before their instruments.  Because of this sila position, it is most comfortable for the musicians to take off their shoes or sandals. Commonly, the musicians hold the tabuh in their right hand, except if the instrument must be played with two tabuh.

The establishment of ISI Yogyakarta was actually because of the merging of 3 former arts institution in the city. They were the Academy of Fine Arts (ASRI), the Academy of Music (AMI) and the Academy of Dance (ASTI). Corresponding with modern educational system and as an effort to develop the quality of the arts education, the 3 academies were merged in July 23 1984 to be under one institution, namely Indonesian Institute of Arts.

ISI Yogyakarta is located at Jl.Parangtritis KM 6, Bantul, the main road that leads to Parangtritis Beach. Standing as the center for art education in Yogyakarta, ISI Yogyakarta lies on a complex with an area of 15.000 m². The institution enrolls more than 2500 students from all over the country, including several overseas students who are interested in learning Indonesian arts. It has approximately 250 lecturers with different educational background, mostly possessing a master degree. The institution offers 3 faculties for its students, they are :

• Performing Arts Faculty
• Visual Arts Faculty
• Multimedia Faculty

ISI Yogyakarta provides complete facilities for the education of arts. The main facilities include art gallery, laboratorium of music and dance, and the auditorium. There are also other functional buildings such as the administrative building, studio and academic buildings, pendopo, library, mosque, student center, tennis court and soccer field.