Bvrtan "Selamat Hari Gawai Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai"

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Burtan (spelled "B-v-r-t-a-n") is an Indonesian band which plays black metal with a special twist in their artistic and lyrical theme. They sing about poverty and agriculture instead of satanism or anti-religious topic which is a very unorthodox choice of direction by the band. A direction which did not sit well with hardcore black metal followers everywhere too.

So far the band have released two albums, a few EPs and demos. They also never played live and have a huge cult following.

I was the one who requested to print this shirt as the band's founder Zulfiqar (also known as Pak Kades Svkatani) going back for good to work in his native country Indonesia, having lived in my hometown Kuching (Sarawak, Malaysia) for about three years or so.

During his stay in my hometown, we became good friends. A very friendly and knowledgeable person, I went to his house almost every week as exchanged ideas in a lot of things. Nice to have an intellectual conversation to a fellow metalhead once in a while.

Well, this band can be considered legendary in their home country Indonesia. They have a very cult following too. I also heard from Indonesian friends that merchandise by this band is very rare and highly sought-after by their followers.

Only 20 pieces of this shirt was printed and sold only to Malaysians, although I did let go five pieces to Indonesian friends who worked or visited Kuching often.

At first I want to put the title "Koperasi Kegelapan Yang Memonopoli Ekonomi Pedesaan" (the title to one of Bvrtan's songs) but for some unknown reason Zulfiqar insisted that I put "Selamat Hari Gawai, Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai" as this shirt's title.

Not wanting to explain or elaborate, why he chose such title for the shirt remains a mystery.

One theory which I can think of is that he might want a memoribilia from his time staying in Kuching as the words and phrase "Selamat Hari Gawai, Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai" means "Happy Gawai Day, Long Life (and) Good Health" in the Iban Dayak language. What is Hari Gawai? Hari Gawai is a festival observed by most Dayaks of Borneo island to celebrate the end of a harvest season. Click here for more information on Hari Gawai. Iban Dayaks on the other hand form the largest majority of the Dayaks found in Sarawak.

Another theory which I can think of is that he may feel that farmers who celebrate the festival has connectivity and relevance with the songs that Bvrtan writes or sing about which is why he wants the title on his shirt.

Whatever it is, I am glad that he has given me permission to produce this official merchandise for the band. Due to an agreement with Zulfiqar, I shall not print this shirt again.

Most of the copies of this shirt is black with white ink. Mine here is blue with white ink. Bvrtan band member all have theirs in white and black ink. I also printed a 4 to 5 pices in others colours too.

BASIC INFO

Shirt: Bvrtan "Selamat Hari Gawai Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai"

Category: Local Indonesian band t-shirt

Subject Origin: Depok, West Java, Indonesia

Condition: 9.5/10

Back print: yes

Long sleeve: no

Sleeves print: no

Shirt status: official, released by Malaysian friend of the band

Printing ink and method: rubber dye, silk screen

I'm Back (For Now) + Updates.

It has been almost a year since I posted anything on this blog. Oh well, I've been very busy. From now on I will try to update this blog at least once a month... yes, I repeat - I'll try.

So what happened since I last wrote on this blog? A lot of things for sure. As a matter of fact, a few (or maybe just one or two...) historical moment happened in my life since I last posted anything in this blog.

No, I did not get married. I moved to Kota Samarahan after living in the village of Kampung Tabuan Dayak, Kuching for nearly 24 years. Yes, to me that was historical. I now live in a new house and a new environment.

I am going to miss Kampung Tabuan Dayak but I have to move away from the village because Kampung Tabuan Dayak is not like what it used to be. My house at the village is now constantly flooded whenever there is heavy rain occuring at the same time with the occurance king tide because it is located at the bank of Tabuan river. Although my house is located at the bank of a river, it has never been hit by flood until the year 2014.

I should have moved out in 2014 but I thought the flood would never come again. I was wrong. It happened again in 2016. So by the end of 2016, I moved out.

What made me hell-bent and motivated to move out of the village is when I saw my CDs being soaked in fucking flood water at the time. To me that is devastating. I just got to move out. Fingers crossed, I hope my new home will be able to house all my metal belongings for as long as I am around.

My house in Kampung Tabuan Dayak flooded last year.

Another important chapeter of my life is that I finally attended a huge open air metal festival -to be exact, I attended the Hammersonic Metal festival this year in Jakarta, Indonesia. Yes, this is historical to me too. Thanks Indonesia for enabling Malaysians like me to have such an experience. If there is no such festival existing in neighbouring countries, I don't think I could ever attend one as I might have to travel to Europe of other parts of the Asian continent and that will costs me lot of money. I also do not see my country Malaysia organising such festivals (metal festivals, ok) any time soon.

Attending the Hammersonic Festival in Jakarta this year.

Since I last posted anything here I also organised the first metal gigs in Bau district in 2016 and Samarahan division this year (2017). I am so proud of those personal achievements of mine a an event organiser too.

Organising Bau district's first ever metal gig in Bau district with my friends.

The first ever metal gig in Samarahan division, Sarawak organised by me and my friends.

Those were the few of the things which happened since I last posted anything here. Just a few of those things made me a very busy man.

Oh well, having moved to Kota Samarahan for almost a year now, I am looking forward to register more good memories at my new home until I grow old. Cheers.

Now let get back to talking about the metal t-shirts that I have, shall we?