VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

"Make the art work as a source of inspiration to unify the nation, and unify the existing tribes of this nation and make the art as a source of energy of civilization of the nation." This is the message expressed by President Joko WIdodo, while closing a public lecture at the Campus Institute of Arts Indonesia, Denpasar, Bali on Saturday. In particular, he delivered the message in his public lecture entitled "The Advancement of Indonesian Art in Maintaining Indonesian Diversity and Unity." The explanation of the art was indeed presented in the framework of the 40^th Bali Arts Festival being held for one month by displaying various arts, including the art work from abroad. But a deeper message is meant that Indonesian people continue to explore, maintain and develop the art. Indonesian nation with 714 different tribes certainly has a lot of art. According to 2015 data from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia, there are more than 5,700 types of art. Unfortunately throughout Indonesia, there are at least 58 kinds of dance art and 33 kinds of musical which are threatened to be almost extinct. The loss of Indonesian art will certainly reduce the character of Indonesia. Because in every region in Indonesia, the art becomes one of the characteristics and it’s unique for each region. In fact, this diversity is one of the advantages of the Indonesian nation, which is not owned by other nations. This diversity and characteristic are also possibly developed to become attractive performance. Besides having cultural values, art also has creative economic values. The efforts to promote Indonesian art are not only the responsibility of the government, but also the task of artists, students, lecturers of art schools. All related stakeholders are certainly expected to produce art work by exploring wealth and strengthening local wisdom. It is expected that more opportunities and facilities will be given to art groups to showcase their artwork. It’s necessary for many parties to cooperate and to further promote the art of Indonesia. There are some Indonesian art works which have been registered at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization -UNESCO. So, the sense of belonging is possessed by not only the tribe, but also by all Indonesian people. The art work becomes the identity of the Indonesian nation.