East Jakarta City Government encourages Generation Z to love Betawi arts and culture

The East Jakarta City Government is encouraging Generation Z to develop a greater love for the arts and culture of the archipelago, particularly the local wisdom of Jakarta, namely Betawi culture.

“Preserving culture in the Gen Z era certainly requires new and creative approaches, not just conventional ones,” said East Jakarta Deputy Mayor Kusmanto in Jakarta on Thursday.

The East Jakarta City Government packaged its outreach to Generation Z through a “Dialogue on Building a Spirit of Love for Arts and Culture in the East Jakarta Administrative City”, initiated by the East Jakarta National Unity and Politics Agency, inviting the East Jakarta School Committee Communication Forum and senior high school students.

According to Kusmanto, the arts and culture of the archipelago, particularly Jakarta’s local wisdom, are not merely past history or obsolete items fit only for a museum.

“Culture is the identity, character and soul of a nation,” he said.

He added that loving culture must also be accompanied by loving the city of Jakarta itself. By protecting the environment through waste sorting, avoiding street brawls and staying away from drugs, Jakarta will increasingly develop as a cultured global city.

“So they must understand Betawi culture — its customs, cuisine, clothing and the spirit of togetherness within Betawi culture,” Kusmanto said.

He expressed hope that this effort would generate ideas and find formulations for packaging local arts and culture into something cool, contemporary and possessing high creative economic value without losing its noble essence.

“The hope is that through this activity, students will understand Betawi arts and culture. This Betawi culture has been passed down through generations; even though their parents may not be of Betawi descent, they grew up in Jakarta,” Kusmanto said.