Culture Minister pushes for Kawi script's UNESCO nomination through collaboration
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Culture Fadli Zon is encouraging collaboration between the government, communities, academics, and stakeholders to strengthen the preservation of the Kawi script, including through the development of a digital ecosystem and its proposal to UNESCO.
“We appreciate all forms of efforts to advance culture, especially those related to language and scripts as part of the Objects of Cultural Advancement,” said Fadli Zon when receiving a visit from La Nyalla Mahmud Mattalitti and Kawi script activists from the Satria Lelaku Nusantara Foundation in Jakarta, Tuesday (30/6), as reported from an official press release from the Ministry of Culture received on Wednesday.
Fadlam stated that the Ministry of Culture is currently pushing for the proposal of the script to UNESCO. According to him, the Kawi script has the potential to be submitted through a joint nomination scheme, as traces of its usage are also found in the Philippines, Southern Thailand, and Southern Cambodia.
He also proposed the compilation of an encyclopedia of Nusantara scripts as an effort to strengthen the documentation and advancement of various scripts developing in Indonesia.
The Ministry of Culture, he continued, also supports the organisation of the Kawi Script Congress in 2027 as a collaborative space to strengthen the preservation and development of the script.
“We will build a Kawi Script Portal as a shared space to gather communities, expand collaboration, and strengthen efforts to preserve the Kawi script,” said La Nyalla.
Meanwhile, the Editor-in-Chief of the Kawi Script Portal, Rachmad Setiawan, said that the portal is designed as an information centre as well as a collaborative hub for communities, academics, activists, the government, and the cultural industry.
According to him, the portal is also expected to encourage the development of MSMEs based on the Kawi script, strengthen manuscript studies, support the regeneration of activists, and serve as part of the digital ecosystem for cultural preservation.