SAGA Competition and SAGA Show 2024 are activities presented by the Postgraduate Arts Division of Universitas Gadjah Mada as a means to channel interests and talents in the arts. SAGA Competition and SAGA Show 2024 itself is a collaboration of 5 divisions in the Postgraduate Art Division of Universitas Gadjah Mada. The SAGA Competition itself competes in painting and photography, while the SAGA Show will feature dance, music, and theater. Both activities were held on the same day and for the SAGA Competition was carried out this afternoon and in the evening we will both witness the talent of UGM students. This activity was held on the 2nd floor of the Auditorium room, Campus V, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Kota Baru, Yogyakarta on June 9, 2024.

Approximately 3 months had been prepared for this activity, starting from the open recruitment stage, the inaugural meeting, talent training, until tonight we will present what had been prepared so far. The involvement of students in these 2 activities is not only limited to UGM S2 and S3 students, but there is also an important role from friends from the Vocational School and also friends from S1. Not a few students from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences joined and played important roles such as theater talents, dance talents, event committees, and so on. In the event, they performed their best. The activity also made them closer to each other even though they are from different majors.

Gadjah Mada Theater is one of the Student Activity Units under Gadjah Mada University. Its various sub-fields include acting, backstage (including lighting, costumes, makeup, and props), writing, and production. As part of the student activities at UGM, Teater Gadjah Mada acts as a place to channel talents and interests in performing arts. TGM actively contributes to the development of theater arts through performing arts activities and self-development. This process involves various competencies such as production, stage management, and stage art creation.

In line with its goals, Teater Gadjah Mada organizes their annual event, Studi Pentas, in order to be a means of education, improving social skills, and creativity for new members of Teater Gadjah Mada. The Gadjah Mada University students involved in the project come from various levels and study programs from various faculties at Gadjah Mada University, one of which is the Faculty of Cultural Sciences. Not a few students from the faculty joined and played important roles such as the main actor, director, treasurer, and so on. In this activity they performed their best. The activity also makes them closer to each other even though they are from different majors.

Social media is an online platform where users can share content, communicate with other users, and participate in community activities. Some examples include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn. There were 139 million active social media users in Indonesia in January 2024. This number is equivalent to 49.9% of the population in the country. Not only personal use, but a number of institutions also use social media to introduce their institutions more widely to many people, one of which is the Faculty of Humanities, Universitas Gadjah Mada, the Faculty has several social media accounts such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Facebook. They often share their activities on these platforms and reap various responses from other users.

Recently, social media was shocked by Tiktok FIB UGM content about students of the Master of Linguistics study program who were presenting presentations in their respective regional languages. This was considered unique by netizens and received a positive response. They think that this is interesting and can preserve local languages. Until now, the content has been shared everywhere such as on Tiktok, Instagram, and X by well-known accounts such as indozone, undercover.id, fyifact, and many more. Many praised the skills of each presenter and did not forget the psycholinguistics course lecturer who had taken the initiative to give this assignment. To see the video and want to follow other daily activities, follow our social media accounts at fib.ugm!

On Saturday, June 8, 2024, from 9:10 AM to 1:00 PM, undergraduate anthropology students from various cohorts and students from other study programs who took cross-departmental courses in anthropology participated in a rendang cooking event at the Selasar Soegondo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). This event was part of the Sumatra Ethnography course, which discusses Minangkabau culture, and aimed to instill respect and appreciation for cultural differences and ancestral heritage. The event was directly guided by the course supervisor, Agus Indiyanto, S.Sos., M.Si., who has ethnographic research experience in Minangkabau.

Rendang is a traditional Indonesian dish originating from Minangkabau, West Sumatra, known for its long cooking process to achieve rich flavors and tender meat texture. In this event, the rendang cooking process was done using a quicker method with two stoves: one for cooking the meat and the other for cooking the coconut milk, which would later be combined. The basic spices for cooking rendang were provided by the committee, but the students had to bring their own cooking utensils and were divided into seven groups, each consisting of 10-11 people.

The cooking activity began with a briefing from Agus Indiyanto about the ingredients and the method of cooking rendang. After the briefing, the students took the necessary ingredients and started the cooking process in their respective groups. Each group was free to innovate by adding their own additional spices, resulting in different rendang variations from each group. During the cooking process, the lecturer moved around to monitor and provide guidance to each group. Once finished, the rendang was presented to the lecturer for evaluation based on appearance and taste.

This quicker cooking process demanded a highly systematic method. Many groups failed because they did not stir the rendang continuously, even though one of the secrets to delicious rendang is the proper cutting technique and long cooking time. According to Agus Indiyanto, through this event, students became more understanding and appreciative of traditional food. Despite the significant effort required, this activity aimed to teach appreciation for cultural differences by experiencing firsthand how challenging it is to make traditional dishes.

Author: Afif Naufal Widiadi

The Merdeka Student Exchange Program is an initiative that allows university students to study at universities in Indonesia for one semester. It aims to enhance their learning experience and strengthen unity in diversity. PMM targets to involve 204 recipient universities and accept 15,505 students as participants of this program. One of the universities that received the program is of course Gadjah Mada University. There are many students who have exchanged to this campus and not a few who managed to qualify to study at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences. The students came from various universities from all over Indonesia, and some even came from abroad, namely 2 students from Hankuk University, South Korea.

After almost 6 months of PMM students studying, they will finally be released to return to their respective universities after completing the Final Semester Examination. Therefore, the Faculty of Cultural Sciences took the initiative to organize a farewell event for them. The event was held at Teras Langit Turi on Thursday, June 13, 2024 and was attended by 24 students and a number of lecturers representing each study program. They gathered at 4pm at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences and departed together using the bus that had been prepared for them. After traveling for about half an hour, they arrived at the venue. There they were served various drinks, food, snacks, and heavy meals. While eating the dishes, they were invited to share their respective experiences during college. They captured the moment together before going home.