Bvrtan "Selamat Hari Gawai Gayu Guru Gerai Nyamai"

Front

Back

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