Indonesia plans cultural road show in Germany
Indonesia plans cultural road show in Germany
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia plans to hold a major cultural road
show in various cities in Germany next year on a slightly smaller
scale than its highly successful show in the United States in
1992.
Edi Sedyawati, the director general of culture at the Ministry
of Education and Culture, said yesterday the show is intended to
introduce the German people to diversity and beauty of
Indonesia's art forms.
A team from the Hildeschein museum, in Hildeschein, Germany,
is currently in Indonesia to discuss the arrangement and also to
select some of the art works and cultural artifacts that will be
included, Edi said.
"Basically the exhibition is going to be a program to
introduce Indonesian culture to the German because the team
thinks it is not quite popular there," she said.
The show will be launched in Hildeschein and then move on to
other cities in Germany, she said, adding that Vienna will also
be on the itinerary. She did not say how many towns will be
covered.
Edi confirmed that the exhibition will copy the popular
Festival of Indonesian Arts and Culture in the United States,
which covered 50 cities in 1991 1992.
Popularly known by the Indonesian acronyms KIAS, the road show
included 250 art exhibitions, performing arts events, lectures
and various other programs. The festival chairman was Mochtar
Kusuma-Atmadja, the former Indonesian foreign minister.
KIAS received massive publicity and drew favorable reviews by
American arts critics in the U.S. The message, which was to
introduce Indonesia to the American people, reached scholars,
artists, critics, potential investors, tourists and even school
children.
Edi said the cultural festival in Germany, which will coincide
with the celebration of Indonesia's 50th independence
anniversary, will be on a smaller scale than KIAS.
The members of the Hildeschein museum team yesterday held a
meeting with Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman
Djojonegoro to discuss the arrangement. They were accompanied by
Ambassador Karl Walter Lewalter.
The team will also be visiting various museums in Indonesia to
select what will be displayed at the festival, Edi said.
Two people from the team are visiting Sumatra to make a film
about Indonesia's natural world, which will also be shown in the
exhibition.
Hildeschein has hosted several exhibitions featuring foreign
arts and cultures in the past, including showcase of ancient
Egypt and China. (01)