Istiqlal Mushaf to be published

Istiqlal Mushaf to be published

JAKARTA (JP): The organizers of the Istiqlal Festival of Islamic Arts and Culture plans to print in book form the huge Istiqlal Mushaf, a compilation of the Koranic scriptures, and distribute it to the public.

Chairman of the festival's organizing committee, Pontjo Sutowo, said yesterday that the plan was to initially print 6,000 copies of the Mushaf, with its decorations representing each of Indonesia's 27 provinces.

Of the copies, 1,000 will be printed in luxury edition, he said.

"Unfortunately, we will only be able to give it away to a limited number of people, such as public leaders or institutions, such as Islamic Studies centers," he said.

The Mushaf, the fruit of years of hard work by Moslem scholars and artists, was initially planned to be printed to mark the opening of the Festival on Sept. 23.

"As it turns out, we will only be able to finish printing the standard edition of the Mushaf by the end of this year, and the luxury edition by Ramadhan next February", he said.

Opened by President Soeharto, the festival will be closed by Vice President Try Sutrisno this Saturday.

"We will give the first print of the Mushaf to the Vice President during the closing ceremony," Pontjo said.

The Istiqlal Mushaf is the highlight of the Second Istiqlal Festival. The work is regarded as a strong reflection of Islamic esthetics, enriched with Indonesian elements.

The 970-page Mushaf measures 123 centimeters by 88 cm and took 70 experts four years to complete. It has 95 decorated page borders and page designs representing 42 cultural regions of Indonesia's 27 provinces. (31)