THE EDITOR – Culture can be a tool to unite Indonesia to prevent inter-ethnic conflicts such as those occurred in 1998.
It was said by the Dance Maestro Didik Nini Thowok in a talk with The Editor during the Kongsi Exhibition held at Museum Indonesia not long ago.
Didik revealed that he is eager to introduce Indonesian cultures that have been influenced by China.
According to him, a deep understanding of cultures could help people in holding back and respecting each other despite coming from different cultures. It will lead them, especially the young folks, not be easily pitted against each other even though they are in a critical situation.
Unfortunately, the interest of young people living in big cities on culture is quite low. Didik wishes there will be a new generation having desires to learn about culture in detail, remembering Indonesia’s culture is no less than other countries’.
“I really want to tell people that a lot of Indonesian culture is influenced by Chinese culture. I am very happy to tell this through dance and culture. One of them is from Bali, through the Barong Landung Dance,” Didik said.
About the Barong Landung Dance, Didik Nini Thowok did a special research about it in 2004 in Dalem Balingkang Temple, Kintamani, Bali.
The temple was visited by many Chinese living in Bali. The ornaments used in parts of the temple are also Chinese in character with dominant shades of yellow and red.
“One way to prevent such conflicts (like conflicts happened in 1998) from happening is to study the acculturation of Chinese culture in Indonesia,” Didik says.
To know more about Landing Dance, please click here: Phenomenal as Always! Didik Nini Thowok Showcases Bali Dance during The 2025 Chinese New Year Celebration
GOVERNMENT: CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE IS NECESSARY
Special Staff for History and Cultural Heritage Protection of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Indonesia Basuki Teguh Yuwono also confirmed this.
He firmly said that the bloody events of 1998 that hurt the Chinese community would not happen again if awareness of differences exists in people’s hearts.
“For example, we see many Javanese and people from other cities performing lion dances. Kung Fu is also very popular. Cap cay is found in many Javanese stalls, including spring rolls. This understanding, if opened widely, means that all Indonesians are brothers and sisters,” he said to The Editor at his office.
Basuki also showed his disapproval if cultural workers are accused of exploiting the culture. It follows many unfounded accusations given to people who are able to package culture into an interesting and productive spectacle.
“Don’t necessarily only see culture as commercial,” he said.
“The values in it must be held, but it must still grow,” he added.
He reminded that society has yet to develop a broader communication about how to respect and appreciate Indonesia’s diverse cultures. Surprisingly, however, from Basuki’s perspective, respect for culture in the country is generally more fluid in religious circles.
Cultures in a Profitable Advantage Perspective
Basuki said that culture has not been used as an economically profitable livelihood in Indonesia, even though it is one of the countries that has a rich culture in the world.
“Culture actually has a very broad ecosystem of impacts. Most of the time, the economic impact of culture is only measured purely by its form. Meanwhile, when it is packaged in the perspective of tourism, creative economy, and if it can be packaged in other activities, the ecosystem impact is very broad on the economic aspect. Unfortunately, the indicators used to assess it are still limited to the notion of culture itself,” he said.
In order for culture to become a source of money, Basuki believes that people must look at it from a broad perspective. For example, in art performances, people do not realise the economic activities that revolve during the performance.
According to him, the economic space that arises in an art performance is not limited to the sold food or beverages or money to pay for artists’ services, but also extends to costumes and properties (objects used during performances).
So far, according to him, there is no indicator used to assess the amount of profit that will be obtained from a cultural performance. In addition, most people still think that culture is only for foreigners to enjoy, so performances are only done abroad.
Basuki thinks that the economic turnover of culture in the country is actually no less high. He agrees that foreigners are also eager to come to Indonesia to see the richness of local culture, as is the case in Thailand, South Korea, and Japan.
He suggested that each individual can see culture as a subject and make it more dynamic without leaving its meaning.
“That culture does not solely belong to the community, but must synergise with many parties, institutions, and so on. And there is no more rigidity that culture is purely the responsibility of the government, but there are upstream and downstream cultural ecosystems that are part of every party,” he said.
Basuki is also very confident that culture will be very profitable in the future if it has strong management.
