Thousands Participate in 2018 Angklung Day
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Bandung - Approximately 5,000 people from 172 art groups throughout Indonesia played traditional music instrument angklung to celebrate the 9th Angklung Day at Gedung Sate Bandung, Sunday, November 18. Among the participants were angklung enthusiasts from abroad.
Playing angklung simultaneously was a form of support for the existence of the instrument. The performance managed to break the record and won a record award certificate given by the RHR (Record Holders Republic).
West Java Governor M. Ridwan Kamil said the event was not merely a record-breaking one, but also an effort to introduce angklung worldwide. "Because since 2010 it has been declared as a non-object world heritage [by the United Nations]," he said.
Ridwan Kamil said that the West Java provincial government would donate angklung to all Indonesian embassies throughout the world, and so he had communicated the matter with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Vice President Jusuf Kalla, and President Joko Widodo.
Read: Indonesian Embassy Introduces Angklung in Saudi Arabia
"West Java will produce the angklung later because when I go everywhere, angklung is the easiest tool of diplomacy," said the governor. "So angklung is a contribution from the Sundanese to the world."
He further mentioned his plans to build cultural centers in all districts/cities in West Java, which would be a means of introducing angklung as a world cultural heritage. "Such as in Bandung, there is Saung Angklung Udjo."
Ridwan Kamil would also use vacant lands in West Java to plant bamboo as the material to make traditional musical instruments, especially angklung.
ANTARA