Culture Minister Calls for Enhanced Capacity of Keris Craftsmen through Professional Certification

Jakarta — Indonesia’s Culture Minister Fadli Zon has called for the preservation of the keris through literacy and enhanced capacity-building for keris craftspeople, including professional certification.

“We hope more people will appreciate the keris. This requires extensive literacy and research on keris. The Ministry of Culture has also established the Indonesian Professional Keris Certification Institute, with 29 schemes within the certification body,” the minister said in a statement confirmed in Jakarta on Monday.

Speaking at the inauguration of the leadership of the National Keris Association (SNKI) North Sumatra Regional Coordinator for the 2026-2030 period, Fadli explained that SNKI is one of six Indonesian cultural organisations accredited by UNESCO.

“SNKI is an organisation established by the government through the 2016 Keris Congress. Initially, there were only about 16 keris craftspeople, but now there are more than 250 keris enthusiasts across Indonesia. This demonstrates the continuity and sustainability of our culture,” he added.

Fadli hopes keris can be positioned as one of Indonesia’s cultural intellectual property that must be protected collectively and serve as intellectual property alongside other cultural objects.

Indonesian keris has been listed as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2005, following the inscription of wayang in the previous year.

This year, Indonesia will submit two nominations for cultural heritage objects for discussion and inscription at a UNESCO session to be held at the end of next year: tempe and Mak Yong, which have been nominated through a joint submission scheme with Malaysia.

The Indonesian Ministry of Culture is committed to supporting community efforts in cultural preservation through collaborative initiatives between government and society to advance Indonesian culture.

In the same occasion, SNKI’s general chair for North Sumatra, Zulfani Anhar, appreciated the government’s leadership in advancing cultural development and reintroducing local wisdom through historical artefacts, including keris.