NARASINETWORK.COM - JAKARTA, Indonesian experimental duo KUNTARI presented Mutu Beton at Galeri Salihara, Jakarta, on 13 and 14 August 2026 at 8 pm, as part of the Salihara International Performing-Arts Festival (SIPFest) 2026.
The approximately 60-minute performance featured Tesla Manaf and Rio Abror, who combined percussion, traditional instruments and electronic sounds with material from KUNTARI’s 2025 album of the same name.
Released in 2025 by Berlin-based label 99CHANTS, Mutu Beton represents a later phase of KUNTARI’s work. The project began as Tesla Manaf’s solo venture before developing into a duo with percussionist Rio Abror.
At Galeri Salihara, the album was presented as a live performance rather than a simple recreation of the recording. Percussion, changes in tempo, volume and rhythmic density shaped the set, while Manaf and Abror used traditional instruments alongside electronic equipment.
KUNTARI refers to its musical style as primal-core. The term describes a sound that draws from experimental electronics, heavy music, percussion and traditional musical sources without being tied to a single established genre.
Several elements associated with Indonesian musical traditions appear across Mutu Beton. KUNTARI has explored rhythmic ideas linked to hadrah kuntulan from Banyuwangi, East Java, alongside musical elements associated with barongsai performance.
“Bessing”, one of the album’s tracks, draws from a South Sulawesi tradition involving tests of invulnerability and contests using traditional weapons. KUNTARI translates this reference into a percussion-led composition rather than presenting the tradition itself.
Manaf’s range of instruments extends beyond his earlier work as a jazz guitarist. His setup has included cornet, Javanese gamelan, marimba, rebana hadroh, glockenspiel and hulusi, a Chinese wind instrument. He has also used the hulusi to create sounds resembling Indonesian wildlife, including elephants, orangutans and rhinoceroses.
Abror’s percussion forms a key part of the duo’s live format. His rhythmic patterns interact with Manaf’s instrumental tones and electronic sounds, creating changes in pace and intensity across the set.
Before KUNTARI, Tesla Manaf established himself as a jazz guitarist and released work through American label MoonJune Records. Between 2018 and 2020, he began shifting towards experimental electronic music, leading to the creation of KUNTARI.
The project’s early releases included Black Shirt Attracts More Feather in 2020 and Last Boy Picked in 2021. Larynx, released in 2022, followed the transition to a duo format with Rio Abror.
Mutu Beton arrived in 2025, extending KUNTARI’s work with percussion, traditional instruments and experimental sound. The album was released internationally through Berlin-based 99CHANTS.
The presentation at Galeri Salihara formed part of SIPFest 2026, a festival programme featuring performing arts from Asia. KUNTARI performed Mutu Beton across two evenings, giving the album a live setting within Salihara’s contemporary arts programme.
For the Jakarta audience, the concert offered an opportunity to hear the album through a stage format shaped by two musicians. Percussion, instrumental tones and electronic sounds were arranged for live performance, with shifts in rhythm and volume forming part of the set.
Rather than treating Mutu Beton solely as a recorded album, KUNTARI presented it as a work conceived for live performance. At Galeri Salihara, the set centred on the interplay between Manaf’s instruments and Abror’s percussion, with rhythm and sound guiding the performance.
