University of Indonesia to host ASEAN student arts and culture festival

Depok (West Java), The Gulf Observer: The University of Indonesia (UI) got its turn to host “The 18th ASEAN and 8th ASEAN+3 Youth Cultural Forum” organized by the ASEAN University Network (AUN).

“This event aims to share cultures and values that are different from each other. In practice, the activities consist of cultural workshops, cultural trips, and spaces to present unique traditional cultural performances,” Head of the Public Relations Bureau and KIP of UI Amelita Lusia stated here, Saturday.

She remarked that the event will be attended by 100-150 participants from all AUN members: Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, and ASEAN+3 (Japan, South Korea, and China).

“ASEAN and ASEAN+3 Youth Cultural Forum are annual activities that bring together students from various leading universities in the ASEAN region, China, Japan, and South Korea,” she remarked.

Lusia said the event will be held on May 14-19, 2023, at the campus building of UI in Depok.

“With the theme ‘Think-Feel-Act: Revive Stronger!,’ this event marks the return of the AUN event after three years of delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” she remarked.

Lusia explained that before the pandemic, activities were held at The National University of Laos in 2019. Meanwhile, UI had also been the host for “The 12 ASEAN and 2nd ASEAN+3 Youth Cultural Forum” on September 7-12, 2014.

In addition, she said, to strengthen the understanding of diversity in the ASEAN+3 regions, the forum also serves as a platform for boosting friendship and cooperation through intercultural exchanges.

With the existence of a creative process in art, the forum is expected to serve as an inspiration to best navigate through various types of differences, she added.

The delegates are scheduled to partake in a series of activities, such as an Academic Lecture on comparison of creative processes of placing artworks in the past and during the post-pandemic era, workshops, and collaborative cultural performances by inviting students to study regional dance forms and gamelan.

Activities will be spread across several places on the UI Depok Campus, including Balairung, Convention Hall, and Pusgiwa.

Moreover, students are scheduled to visit historical and cultural tourist attractions, such as Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII), and witness the performance of the Nusantara Regional Dance Medley and Angklung.