The elected Chair of the KAGAMA FIB-Ikasasdaya Alumni for 2022-2027, Paksi Raras Alit, is a graduated student of Javanese Literature at his Bachelor’s level and Master of Literature at his Master’s level at from Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University. This man, who was born on June 16th 1985 in Jogja, apparently has had the blood of an artist since birth. How could it not be, he was born into a family and environment of artists. His mother, Noor W.A (rest in peace), was a Jogja theater figure who founded the Jeprik Theater and initiated the sampakan theater genre in the 1980s. Since he was a toddler, Paksi has even been involved in staging several Jeprik theater plays, such as “Megatruh (Sendrek)”. During his school era, his artistic skills were further honed by regularly representing his school in several art competitions and winning several trophies and awards. He continued his enthusiasm for art at school after entering college. 

During college, Paksi increasingly demonstrated his existence in the world he was interested in. He was a part of several music arts communities and several bands such as Revolver, Community of Terang Bulan Acoustic Malioboro, Bonanza, and Jasmine Akustik which released an album in 2011. It wasn’t enough just to join, Paksi then created the Mantradisi Arts Group which explored music and Macapat, and released works in the album compilation of Tembi Music Festival in 2016. Paksi then acted as a scriptwriter, director and musician in Mantradisi’s works. Apart from Mantradisi, Paksi also founded a group called PAKSIBAND. This Javanese keroncong group has successfully released several singles such as “Keroncong Suka-suka” (2021), “Gembira Loka” (2022), and “Keroncong Lebaran” (2022).

Beside being busy in the world of music, Paksi is also involved in the world of acting. He was involved as an actor in the performance “Dongeng Cinta-Ceuk Aing” (2020) by Sujiwo Tejo, and played as the main actor in the musical film “Ayun-ayun Negeri” (2021) by Garin Nugroho. In the world of literature and culture, Paksi is active in the movement to preserve Javanese language and script. This is proven by him establishing the Jawacana community which is involved in Javanese literature. This community consists of UGM Javanese Literature alumni as well as Javanese literature and culture activists in Yogyakarta. Paksi Raras Alit also has activities in organizing arts and culture festivals in Yogyakarta. Amazingly, Paksi was appointed as a member of the Yogyakarta City Cultural Council in 2021.

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The Department of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture at Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) has once again achieved a prestigious achievement. This time, the Wignyasta UGM group successfully won first place in the Javanese Literature Reporting Competition organized by Universitas Negeri Surabaya (UNESA). The competition took place from November 7, 2023, until the announcement on December 3, 2023, online.

The Javanese literature reporting produced by Wignyasta UGM is titled “Sapa sing Temen, Bakal Tinemu.” In this report, the Wignyasta UGM team interviewed Nini Klenyem, a Javanese literature writer from the past to the present. Nini Klenyem tells the story of her ups and downs in publishing her work. Even though she did not continue her formal education like most people, her strong determination to create brought her works to become more diverse and published until today.

The Wignyasta UGM group consists of four students of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture from the 2023 class, namely Alma Syahwalani, Bernadetta Rahayuning Tyas, Rachel Aulia, and Dian Nitami.

Etymologically, Wignyasta comes from the word “wignyan,” which means “3 sandhangan panyigeg,” and “asta” which comes from the Javanese word for “hand.” The word “wignyan” is interpreted as having a value of 3, while “asta” is interpreted as having a value of 2, resulting in the number 32. By following the sengkalan system, the numbers are reversed to become 23. “We made it our team name to lift the 2023 Batch,” Alma revealed in an interview on Thursday (December 21, 2023).

The process of creating the report was not without challenges. Alma explained, “In the creation of the report text, we faced the obstacle of having to know and use the appropriate Javanese language level, especially when interviewing Nini Klenyem. We also faced other obstacles such as limited storage on our devices, while we had to revise the work.”

“However, Alhamdulillah, we managed to overcome all of that so that the reportation work was ready to be competed. The creation of this Javanese literature report was also not without the guidance of Ibu Wiwien (Dra. Wiwien Widyawati Rahayu, M.A), our lecturer of the “Introduction to Javanese Literature” course. She also helped in the selection of the interviewee, because we did not have much information about Javanese literature writers,” Alma continued.

With the achievement achieved by Wignyasta UGM, it is hoped that students of the Department of Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture of UGM can continue to improve their skills and knowledge related to Javanese culture, language, and literature. It is expected that students will continue to be enthusiastic in creating, as well as be able to use their time to achieve achievements. This achievement is also in line with point four of the Sustainable Development Goals, Quality Education, which is to provide and develop the quality of education.