Cultural scholarship program helps build bridges<\/p>\n
Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Recently Australian Zoe Campbell found it difficult and
\nculturally shocking to have rice three times a day as her main
\nmeal, especially if it was served with spicy and hot side dishes,
\nlike most Indonesians usually have. She also felt the same when
\nshe found that everybody she met in her neighborhood here always
\nsaid hello to her, which she is not accustomed to.<\/p>\n
To her surprise, Campbell, 20, now enjoys having rice three
\ntimes a day along with the spicy side dishes, but not the really
\nhot ones. She also likes the way Indonesian people, particularly
\nJavanese, live their life, thanks to the program she has been a
\npart of for almost three months in Yogyakarta. It is a cultural
\nscholarship program sponsored by the Indonesian Ministry of
\nForeign Affairs.<\/p>\n
"I feel really comfortable now," said Campbell, a student of
\nAsian Culture and Education studies at Murdoch University, who
\nalso teaches Indonesian language at Perth College in Western
\nAustralia.<\/p>\n
She has recently learned to cook Javanese cuisine from her
\nfoster parent and looks forward to showing off her new skill back
\nhome in Australia, hoping that her family and friends can also
\nappreciate Javanese food.<\/p>\n
Campbell is one of nine participants of the cultural
\nscholarship program in Yogyakarta. They come from six countries
\nin the Southwest Pacific region: Indonesia, Australia, Papua New
\nGuinea, the Philippines, New Zealand and East Timor.<\/p>\n
According to Head of the Center for Education and Training of
\nthe Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nadjib Riphat, it was
\nthe first such program ever held under the umbrella of the
\nSouthwest Pacific Dialog (SwPD) forum. The forum was established
\nlast year on the initiative of the Indonesian government in a bid
\nto nurture the concentric circle considered important for the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
"We offer the scholarship program and consider it as
\nIndonesia's contribution to increasing the mutual understanding
\namong the member countries, especially the younger people,"
\nNadjib told The Jakarta Post last week when he was visiting the
\ncity to have a closer look at how the program has been going.<\/p>\n
Nadjib also said that a similar program is being held in
\nBandung, West Java. While the program in Yogyakarta covers
\nJavanese dance, karawitan (Javanese music), batik and ceramics,
\nthe one in Bandung covers Sundanese music and dance.<\/p>\n
In Bandung, participants of the program take the dance and
\nmusic lessons at the Sundanese art workshop Saung Udjo. In
\nYogyakarta, the activities are conducted in three different
\nplaces. The Javanese dance and music classes are held at Retno
\nAji Mataram (RAM) dance and karawitan center, ceramic classes at
\nTimbul Ceramics in Kasongan, while batik classes are held at
\nWinotosastro Batik in Tirtodipuran, Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
"The schedule is very, very tight. We always come home
\nexhausted in the evening. But I really enjoy it, and so do the
\nothers I think," Maria de Sousa of East Timor said.<\/p>\n
Students take the classes five days a week. The batik and
\nceramic classes are held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the afternoon.
\nWhile the dance and karawitan classes are mostly held in the
\nmorning and evening from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 8 p.m. to 10
\np.m.<\/p>\n
"Initially, the morning classes started at 8 a.m. and the
\nevening classes started at 7 p.m. But, the students said they
\nwere too exhausted," said Sunaryadi Maharsiwara of RAM, who is
\nalso a Javanese dance choreographer.<\/p>\n
They also get to enjoy lectures Gadjah Mada University and
\nYogyakarta's Indonesian Institute of the Arts (ISI) as part of
\nthe program. One of the lecturers was ISI Rector I Made Bandem
\nwho focuses on traditional dance and music.<\/p>\n
The students are also introduced to Javanese customs, ethics
\nand language. It is not surprising, therefore, that when they
\nwere invited to the Yogyakarta Palace recently to meet Queen GKR
\nHemas, they could address her in Javanese.<\/p>\n
The program started on June 7 and will have its closing
\nceremony on Aug. 25 with Indonesian Minister of Tourism and
\nCulture I Gde Ardika as the featured speaker at the Yogyakarta
\nState Palace.<\/p>\n
It is during this closing ceremony that each of them,
\nincluding those attending the program in Bandung, are expected to
\nshow off what they have learned during their stay in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Julia Perkins of Australia, for example, will perform her own
\ncreation of an imaginative style of the Javanese traditional
\ndance called Anoman. Campbell and her partner from the
\nPhilippines Fritzie M. Ferraris plan to perform the Golek Maya
\nAsmara dance that Sunaryadi specially prepared for the program.
\nRoss James Carey of New Zealand and Andri P Nugroho of Indonesia
\nwill perform a Klonorojo dance. While Emmelynn B Basan
\n(Philippines), Henao Idau (PNG), Joyce Keronu Kero (PNG) and
\nMaria de Sousa will perform a Sarikusuma dance.<\/p>\n
A fashion show involving noted batik designer Afif Syakur is
\nalso planned for the closing ceremony, when all participants who
\nattend the scholarship program in Yogyakarta will wear the
\nclothes they designed during the program.<\/p>\n
"I just can't wait to go back and teach what I've learned here
\nto my students back home," said Campbell.<\/p>\n
"I myself am a dancer back in Australia. So, coming here and
\nlearning a different style of dancing has also taught me
\ndifferent ways of moving my body. That is very important," she
\nsaid, adding that contrasting the differences between Javanese
\nculture and that of her own had also made her more aware of who
\nshe was and of her identity as an Australian.<\/p>\n
Campbell, who likes to play kendang and kenong (Javanese
\ntraditional drum and small gong) in her karawitan class, also
\nsaid that the program helped her understand a lot more about
\nIndonesians.<\/p>\n
"This is a chance for me to see it (Java) in reality and
\ncompare it to what I've read from books. I think it's important
\nfor us as neighbors to have the understanding of each other's
\nculture. I believe it will eventually reduce the suspicions that
\nexist between us including the terrorism issue," she said.<\/p>\n
The government, according to Nadjib, was planning to hold such
\na program every year. "And we also hope that other member
\ncountries will offer similar programs in the future," he said,
\nadding that the government had allocated Rp 5 million a month for
\neach participant the ongoing program.<\/p>",
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