Zulkifli and Bur’am, the ensemble Zulkifli created and directs, are revitalising community traditions of music making in Banda Aceh, the capital of the Indonesian province of Aceh.

Zulkifli grew up singing Acehnese praise songs (shalawatan) and playing Acehnese frame drums, called rapai. Singing to the accompaniment of rapai, called rapai tuha, was rarely heard during the nearly 30-year conflict between Aceh and Indonesia’s central government due to a ban on social gatherings. After the conflict was resolved, in 2005, Zulkifli came up with the idea of reviving and reshaping rapai tuha as a means of revitalising Acehnese traditions and strengthening a sense of community in the wake of the devastating tsunami of 2004. His reimagining of rapai tuha in the work of the Bur’am ensemble maintains the soul of Acehnese Islamic practices while introducing innovations that reflect the world of its young participants, who, in contrast to the all-male ensembles of the past, include women.

Bur’am is a grassroots group without support from official organisations or institutions, and its achievement has been to create a contemporary form of artistic expression that Acehnese Muslims not only recognise as being in accordance with their religious traditions but that deepens their religious faith.