President to open National Culture Week 2021: Minister

The National Culture Week (PKN) 2021, held virtually, will personally be opened by President Joko Widodo on Friday evening, Culture Director General at the Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Ministry Hilmar Farid stated.

Farid noted that several activities have been readied during the event scheduled on November 19-26, 2021.

The PKN 2021 will be themed “Cultural Spark Guides the Future” that highlights the majesty of the local culture in terms of the food, clothing, and housing, he remarked.

“The three sub-themes are applied to programs in the form of competition, conference and workshop, exhibition, performance, and Regional Culture Week,” he elaborated.

The current PKN will be different from the previous year, he affirmed. Every year, the PKN provides an interesting breakthrough despite the difficulties presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This year’s PKN is held virtually. The pre-PKN activities have been conducted since July until now. Various regional activities have been prepared, and people can watch them on the cultural social media page,” Farid noted.

He expects the PKN, which focuses on the local culture for preservation, could be an educative platform to showcase the brilliance of the nation’s cultures.

In addition, he expressed optimism that it would serve as a point of reference regarding the greatness of the nation’s cultural diversity, but with a different presentation as compared to the earlier years.

“Since Indonesia is still in the middle of the pandemic, the entire production is conducted virtually, but without changing the substance of the curatorial concept,” he explained.

For the PKN 2021, several figures have been appointed as members of the curator board: Samuel Wattimena for the clothing sector, Helianti Hillman in the food sector, and Gregorius Antar Awal for the housing sector.

Moreover, the event involved creative figures comprising Riri Reza, Pritagita, Hanung Bramantyo, Jay Subyakto, lasja Susatyo, Ismael Basbeth, Eugene Panji, Robby Ertanto, Buyungreza, Adrianto Sinaga, Leon Lolang, Richard Buntario, and Raymond Ahari.

Among the various activities readied, Farid singled out East Sumba that is a region, with extraordinary richness in terms of the local culture and traditions.

The opening of PKN 2021 will be themed “Soul Breath,” a work of Rama Soeprapto directed by Jay Soebijakto and choreographed by Atilah Soeryadhaya. The theme is a form of response to the situation that is gradually improving.

The National Culture Week 2021 event can be watched on Indonesiana.tv or through PKN.ID in addition to the television channel TVRI from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. local time.

 

Source: Antara News