Conservation is not the only way to promote culture, Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Minister Nadiem Anwar Makarim has emphasized.
This can also be achieved by making a culture popular, he said
“Advancing a culture also means mainstreaming it as an important element in the development of the country,” he stated at the Lake Toba Indonesian Traditional Music Festival (FMTI), held in Samosir district, North Sumatra province on Tuesday.
Traditional music has accompanied the development of Indonesia as a nation with its culture passed down from generation to generation, he observed.
“Continuing to sing traditional music means keeping our solemn and sacred local wisdom alive,” he remarked.
The minister said he expects that through the implementation of the festival, traditional music from the Lake Toba region can become known nationally as well as internationally.
“In 2018, at the Indonesian Cultural Congress, we had established a strategy for the Advancement of Culture as a new directive for maintaining our traditional heritage,” he added.
Hence, the ministry is striving to provide various initiatives of cultural promotion, comprising the Indonesian Traditional Music Congress, which has led to the establishment of the Music of Archipelago Collective Management Agency (LMK MN), Makarim said.
“The agency plays a very important role in advancing culture, especially in helping musicians to get their rights as artists,” the minister remarked.
In addition, the ministry is trying to provide and include lessons on traditional music in formal and informal education so that students can be culture conservation agents, he said.
Saying he greatly supported independence in learning, the minister said he was delighted to see students learn more about their origins by studying traditional music.
“My little brothers and sisters, I encourage you to always maintain your cultural identity and keep creating various artworks,” he remarked.
Source: Antara News