VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian  Embassy Tokyo held a cultural and historical exhibition entitled Batanghari River in History Civilization. The exhibition aims at introducing the variety of Indonesian cultures in Japan. The event is held at the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo on June 17-23, 2024. This activity is a collaboration between the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo with the Directorate General of Culture of the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology and Serumpun Bumi Melayu.

Moreover, the exhibition was officially opened by the Indonesian Ambassador to Japan, Heri Akhmadi  on Monday June 17, 2024. In his remarks, Ambassador Heri emphasized that Batanghari plays an important role in encouraging cultural exchanges. Besides that, it also enriches the Indonesian art tradition in the history of Indonesia's relations with the outside world.

Ambassador Heri in his statement on Wednesday (19/6) conveyed  Batanghari which is geographically located in Jambi  has become a channel of cultural exchange and human endeavor ranging from ancient trade networks to modern artistic expressions. He explained the area around the Batanghari River is also a melting pot for many religions in Indonesia  such as Hinduism , Buddhism, Islam  and other local beliefs.

Ambassador Heri affirmed  the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo always promotes the variety of cultures of the archipelago on various occasions as part of Indonesia's diplomacy. According to him, this effort continues to be made so that the rich variety of Indonesian culture continues to be embedded in the memories of Japanese and world citizens. He hopes  this exhibition will inspire many people especially the Japanese . He also hopes  Japanese citizens visit Indonesia  including the Batanghari.

The exhibition was also attended by the Egyptian Ambassador to Japan and diplomatic representatives from the United States, China,  Philippines  and Laos. There were also a number of Nusantara cultural experts  including Sativa Sutan Aswar as a representative of Serumpun Bumi Melayu. Sativa also explained Batanghari is one of the centers of civilization in Indonesia which has received and influenced by other cultures . One of them is traditional cloth or wastra around Batanghari.

The exhibition also displays various Batanghari handicrafts including porcelain plates, wastra  and silk kurung clothes  as well as Batanghari specialties  namely Gandus Cake.