Portuguese mission in Yogyakarta

YOGYAKARTA (JP): A team from Portugal's Centro National de Cultura (National Cultural Center, CNC) arrived here on Tuesday to trace the influence of Portuguese culture on Indonesia.

Nusiaga Putri, a staff member at Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Social and Cultural Relations Office who accompanied the team, said the 28-member team led by CNC manager Helena dos Da Silva would investigate Portuguese cultural heritage in Yogyakarta.

"The team will be in Yogyakarta until Wednesday to visit Taman Sari (the sultanate's Water Castle), the design of which was said to be influenced by Portuguese architecture. The team will also visit Sono Budoyo Museum in Yogyakarta's palace complex," she said.

According to Nusiaga, members of the team will travel to Jakarta on Thursday where they will stay until Sunday.

"They will enjoy a Keroncong band performance in Jakarta," she added.

Keroncong Tugu, based in North Jakarta, has strong links with Portugal as most of the players are descendants of Portuguese families living in Tugu district, North Jakarta, which also has a famed, old Portuguese Church.

The Indonesian foreign ministry's director of social and cultural relations, Hupudio Supardi, said in a statement that Indonesia fully supported the mission.

"We hope the mission will help promote Indonesian tourism, art and culture in Portugal," said Hupudio.

Diplomatic ties between Jakarta and Lisbon were frozen following the incorporation of East Timor into Indonesia as its 27th province in 1976.

Ties resumed after the ex-Portuguese colony officially separated from Indonesia in 1999.(23)