Nusantara Palace Festival IV to open in Yogyakarta

Nusantara Palace Festival IV to open in Yogyakarta

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

In the past, the kraton (royal palace) played a central role in the community. It was the source of culture and an inspiration to its people.

In today's modern world, however, in which the values of feudalism are fading away, a kraton's very existence is questionable. Can it maintain its role as a source of inspiration and a place for people to take their daily problems?

It is this question that motivates members of the country's noble families to gather periodically and participate in the Festival of Nusantara Kraton (FKN).

This year's festival, the fourth, begins on Sunday at Yogyakarta Palace and continues until next Friday.

Organizing committee chairman KGPH Hadiwinoto, of Yogyakarta Palace, said this year's FKN was aimed at preserving the culture of nobility and historical royal artifacts.

It also aims to encourage nobles to play a more significant role in the community, without being trapped in historical romanticism.

"Apart from preserving the nation's arts and traditions, the custodians of palaces must also regard themselves as national assets and help the country cope with the problems it is encountering.

"There is no need to look back. We have to face the future instead," said Hadiwinoto, who is the brother of Yogyakarta Sultan Hamengkubuwono X.

The organizing committee also held a series of discussions on culture involving historians, academics and palace representatives from throughout the country, prior to the four- day festival.

The first meeting was held on June 9, in Riau for palaces in the western part of Indonesia, the second on June 17 in Makasar for those in the east, while the third was held in Surakarta, Central Java, on June 29.

The ideas which emerged in these forums will be discussed further in a two-day meeting to be held during the festival, from Sept. 27 through Sept. 28.

It plans to discuss how palaces should play a role in modern society, preserve their cultural heritage and historical artifacts and how they should interact with the world around them.

"Hopefully, the results will be a useful reference for palaces, historians and respective local governments in determining related policies," Hadiwinoto said.

In line with the festival's objective of empowering the palaces to make them useful institutions for society, all of those participating would be placed on an equal footing, he said.

The festival would not interfere in any internal problems of palaces, including those Cirebon and Surakarta, each of which currently has two rulers.

"We don't want to give legitimacy to either of the two pairs of rulers currently in dispute by accepting or rejecting either one of them," Hadiwinoto said,

At Cirebon Palace Sultan Saladin and Sultan Emiruddin had registered for the festival while at Surakarta Palace both Tedjowulan and Hangabehi would be accepted if they registered, he said.

The opening ceremony of the Rp 2 billion-plus festival is scheduled for Sunday evening at Jogja Expo Center (JEC). A series of supporting events has also been prepared for the festival.

These include a tourism exhibition, a royal food festival, a display of the palaces' heritage and historical artifacts, and a show to present clothing worn by royalty.

"During the festival we shall also present a selection of traditional performances such as classic dances from India, a ketoprak (Javanese traditional drama) festival, wayang golek (a wooden puppet show), and many other performances from throughout the country, as well as from the participating palaces," M Helfi Dirix of the organizing committee said.

At the conclusion on September 29, a traditional parade involving the palaces will be held, with royalty traveling around the ancient city on specially prepared, horse-drawn carriages.

"It's the first time a number of rulers from different palaces will be in the same parade around the city," Helfi said.

The first festival, FKN I, was held in 1992 in Yogyakarta while FKN II was held in 1996 in Cirebon.

FKN III, which was initially scheduled to be held in Bima, was canceled due to the economic crisis. It was eventually held in 2002 in Kuta Kertanegara.