TEMPO.CO, Surakarta – The Tourism Ministry is teaming with the Surakarta government to hold Indonesia Umbrella Festival on November 28-30. The umbrellas showcased in the festival are traditional umbrellas used for ceremonies, as opposed to the usual umbrellas used to take cover from the rain. The event will be held at Balekambang Park, Surakarta.
Heru Prasetya, the person in charge of the festival, said traditional umbrella industries in Klaten and Tasikmalaya were diminishing. Traditional umbrellas combine culture, ritual and creativity and can be used as house decorations.
“There’s a side of creativity in making traditional umbrellas,” he said. Therefore, there will be traditional umbrella makers from Klaten, Tasikmalaya, Yogyakarta, Bali and Makassar during the festival.
The events in the festival comprise shows about umbrellas, training on how to make traditional umbrellas, umbrella markets, fashion show with umbrellas, an umbrella painting competition and umbrella art installations. “We want to make traditional umbrellas as a source of inspiration and creation,” said Heru.
Heru continued the creative umbrella industry had a chance to bounced back to glory by introducing its existence and inviting young people to be actively involved. He added that the young generation must shun being trapped in the view that traditional umbrellas were only for traditional rituals. During the Dutch era, many Dutch women used paper umbrellas when going out to protect them from the sun.
Karina Dwi Septiarini, a participant of the festival, said many people had never heard of traditional umbrellas. Most of them think paper umbrellas are only used for keraton (Javanese palace) traditional rituals. “They can also be used as house decorations,” she said, adding that the festival could hopefully popularize traditional umbrellas.
UKKY PRIMARTANTYO
