Officials during the Indonesian Cultural Day celebrations, on Wednesday, led by Indonesian Ambassador to Qatar, H E Ridwan Hassan along with Faycal Haman Adama, Directorate of Cultural Diplomacy, Qatar Museums; Aysha Al Mudahka, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Qatar Foundation; Alexandru Rosca, from the Communications Office, Qatar Foundation, among others. PIC: Joelyn Baluyut/The Peninsula
The Indonesian Embassy in Qatar held a Cultural Day in Education City yesterday, featuring cultural performances, intangible cultural heritage items like Indonesian batik and angklung, as well as the best cuisine from the Southeast Asian nation.
In his introductory remarks, H E Ridwan Hassan, the Indonesian ambassador to Qatar, emphasised the value of cultural cooperation in advancing Qatari and Indonesian relations.
“We perceived cultural diplomacy as an important part of our mission. Building trust and understanding among nations could be started through cultural diplomacy,” the envoy stressed.
The relationship between Indonesia and Qatar is well-established not only in the political and economic aspect, but also in the social and cultural fields, including people-to-people exchange, noted Ambassador Hassan.
The envoy also disclosed that Qatar will build a new resort hotel in the Forest Island in 2024.
“This is not only the Qatari investment in Indonesia, there are many others especially in the telecommunication and banking sectors, but tourism has become one of the interesting sectors to be developed.” The said island is in the eastern part of Indonesia.
He also stressed that together with other nationalities, and the strong 32,000 Indonesians in the country that they “will support the progress of Qatar in the future.”
The Indonesia Cultural Day offered a variety of traditional dance, music, coffee demonstrations, and batik weaving. Traditional angklung dance and music were performed by Indonesian cultural organisations like Puspa Qinarya, Indonesian Ladies Angklung, and Sanggar Seni Messaied.
Angklung is a musical instrument from the Sundanese people in Indonesia made from a variety of bamboo tubes connected to a bamboo frame. It is among UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, inscribed in 2010.
The Angklung is closely related to traditional customs, arts and cultural identity in Indonesia, played during ceremonies such as rice planting, harvest and circumcision.
Batik weaving was also featured during the event. It is a traditional Indonesian clothing painted with night candle liquid using a tool called “canting.” In 2019, Batik was acknowledged as one of the Intangible Cultural Heritages by Unesco.
The event is in line to promote the rich culture of the Southeast Asian country and also to celebrate the 77th Independence Day of Indonesia.
Among the officials who attended the event are Faycal Haman Adama, Directorate of Cultural Diplomacy, Qatar Museums; Aysha Al Mudahka, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships, Qatar Foundation; Alexandru Rosca, from the Communications Office, Qatar Foundation; Farhan Al Sayed, Chairman of Qatar-Indonesia Business Council; Wipawan Khanthahiran of Thailand, Daphne Sohan of Singapore, Fazlinda Fuudzil of Malaysia, Farhanah Suhaili of Brunei Darussalam, and Tran Phuong Thao of Vietnam.
And, the Association of Indonesian Communities in Qatar, students at the Education City, among others.
