Artists, poet enliven people's forum

Artists, poet enliven people's forum

The Indonesian People's Forum (IPF), a fringe event of the United Nations preparatory committee meeting on sustainable development, is enlivened with performances by noted artists Reza (photo right, standing) and Masaki Ueda (seated) of Japan and veteran poet W.S. Rendra (left photo). The cultural festival on Sunday night at the Amphitheater in Nusa Dua was part of a series of activities organized by the IPF to express the people's hopes regarding the outcome of the ongoing meeting.

The duo of Reza and Ueda were warmly applauded by hundreds of spectators in the Amphitheater when they sang John Lennon's hit Imagine. Rendra then lightened the mood by reciting three of his poems: Orang-)rang yang Miskin (Poor people), Rick dari Corona (Rick from Corona) and Khotbah (Sermon).

The festivities ended at about 10 p.m. and the spectators soon left the amphitheater. Balinese traditional guards, known as pecalang, stayed at the scene until the last spectator had left. The IPF continued its activities on Monday morning with an event in the amphitheater presenting the testimonies of a number of major stakeholder groups.