Try closes second Istiqlal Festival

Try closes second Istiqlal Festival

JAKARTA (JP): Vice President Try Sutrisno closed the two-month long second Istiqlal Festival of Islamic Arts and Culture during an impressive ceremony at the Grand Istiqlal Mosque last night.

Starting with the reading of the Koran and closed with songs and dances by the Bimbo group, the closing ceremony was attended by a number of cabinet ministers, Jakarta Governor Surjadi Soedirdja, foreign ambassadors to Indonesia and thousands of people.

In his speech, Try called on the people to strengthen their religious faith in the face of globalization.

"We should bear in mind that we are a pious nation which upholds religious norms in our conduct," Try stressed.

According to Try, it is obvious that religion is a source of motivation, inspiration and a stimulus for Indonesians in their effort to develop the country.

The vice president also warned that the religious tolerance that has been the pillar of this nation should not mean that followers of the various religions should sacrifice their beliefs for the sake of religious harmony.

"But it should not mean a malpractice of religious teachings either," he maintained.

Chairman of the festival's organizing committee, Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad, said a total of 11 million people visited the festival. The number was above the target of 10 million visitors.

"The number should make us proud because it shows that religious spirits exist inside everyone of them, especially because most of the people who attended the seminars and dialogs, which were held as part of the Istiqlal festival, were Moslem youths," said Mar'ie in his report.

Mar'ie on the occasion handed over the blueprint of the Istiqlal Mushaf to Try, who presented it to the chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, Hasan Basri.

Huge Mushaf

The festival committee announced earlier this week that the huge Mushaf will be published in book form, both in standard and luxury editions, and will be distributed to the public.

"For the first edition, we will distribute it for free to limited people such as public figures and Islamic centers. The standard edition is expected to be completed at the end of this year and the luxury edition during the Ramadhan (Moslem fasting month)," said festival organizer Pontjo Soetowo.

The 5,000 copies of the standard edition will be printed in five colors and the 1,000 copies of the luxury edition in seven colors.

The Istiqlal Mushaf, a compilation of Koranic scripture with traditional decorations representing Indonesia's 27 provinces, was the highlight of this year's festival. The 970-page Mushaf measures 123 cm by 88 cm and took 70 experts four years to complete.

The second Istiqlal Festival activities were also held in Gedung Kesenian Jakarta, the National Gallery of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center, the Ministry of Tourism, Post and Telecommunication and other venues.

Deputy chairman of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas, Ali Yafie, said the festival is a vehicle to help develop the great potentials of Islamic culture, and should not stop at the festival's activities.

"The festival is also expected to support our material advances with our spiritual and artistic accomplishments, to show that we are civilized," said Ali.

Indonesia's Moslem population of more than 160 million is the largest in the world.

The second Istiqlal Festival was bigger and larger than the first one held four years ago and had more participants, including exhibitions from foreign countries.

Four years ago, foreign participants were limited to other Association of South East Asian Nation (ASEAN) countries. This year, they included Bangladesh, Bosnia, Britain, Brunei, China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Singapore, Spain, Sudan, Tunisia, and Turkey. The countries took part in the festival's exhibition, bazaar and seminar.

The festival also provided a box for donations for Bosnia and managed to collect over Rp 62 million (US$26,956) and several gold rings from visitors.

The Rp 10 billion festival featured various arts and cultural works and performances inspired by Islam. (31)