Ending 2023, the FCS UGM English Literature Pradangga (Prasasti) gamelan group will perform in two places. Saturday, December 30, 2023, invited by the Wonogiri Regency Youth and Sports Department to perform at the 2023 Creative Economy Festival (Fesmikraf). The activity was centered in the Wonogiri City Square, starting at 16.00 and ending at 22.30.

The annual festival was attended by 12 art groups, most of whom were junior high school students and art studios. Prasasti is the only student group that comes from outside the Wonogiri Regency. The gamelan group led by Jardin Urbania Basundoro was allowed to go on stage at 21.00.

After the performance in Wonogiri, Prasasti was invited by the Indonesian Art Lovers and Artists Student Forum (Formatasindo) to perform on New Year’s Eve, 31 December 2023. The arts performance activity entitled 12th Gamelan Parade 2023, is an annual activity initiated by the Trustee of Formatasindo, Dr.Sukisno, M.Pd. Activities are always placed at the Omah Tinggi Arts and Culture, Tritunggal Cultural Area, Tegalcorocanan Solodiran Manisrenggo Klaten.

The 12th Gamelan Parade which took place from 13.00 and ended at 01.00, was attended by 20 gamelan groups from various universities in Yogyakarta. Prasasti is one of the gamelan groups representing FIB UGM to perform this activity.

On that occasion, Prasasti performed two songs, respectively entitled Naliswati and Hyang, which were the works of Nanang Karbito. Nanang Karbito is an Inscription trainer daily. The man from Klaten is a composer of contemporary musical songs.

Naliswati tells the story of a couple’s relationship which fails halfway, while Hyang is a song that glorifies the glory of God. Through the song Hyang, humans are reminded to always remember the greatness and all the gifts from Almighty God.

Jardin Urbania Basundoro, who was interviewed by the MC after the performance, said that Prasasti is a gamelan group that has existed for a long time at FIB UGM. This group brings together English Literature students who are interested in practicing and playing gamelan which is a noble legacy of their ancestors. Through this activity, students are directed to carry out positive activities while practicing gentleness.

Author: Prof. Dr. Purnawan Basundoro, S.S., M.Hum.

Dean of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Prof. Dr. Setiadi, M.Si approved the collaboration program proposed by Ma’arif Nahdlatul Ulama University Kebumen on July 17, 2023. This program is a collaborative seminar activity with the theme “Cross Cultural Understanding” which involves students of the Indonesian Language and Cultural Learning Service (INCULS) FIB, UGM, and the English Language Education Undergraduate Study Program, FKIP, UMNU Kebumen. This program is intended as a resource assignment for lecturers/teachers who are native speakers of English for enrichment lecture activities. This collaboration is carried out by proposing, organizing, and evaluating collaborative activity programs; which are scheduled for four years.

This program began to be realized on December 23 2023 by holding a Sharing Culture Talkshow event which was held at UMNU University Kebumen. In this event, the Faculty of Cultural Sciences sent several INCULS UGM students, including Sundas Ejaz from Pakistan, Nor Najinah Saad from Thailand, Sabrina Joy S. Tan from the Philippines, Mbemba Badjie from Gambia, and Ahmed Abdallah Faouzi Attia from Algeria. They are students studying culture at INCULS UGM and were accompanied in this series of events by Dr. Rudi Ekasiswanto, M. Hum. as Deputy Coordinator of INCULS UGM and Muhamad Zamchasari, S.S. as INCULS UGM teaching staff.

This event began with a Wayang Golek performance which told the multicultural history of Kebumen and continued with various Kebumen regional cultural performances including Kuda Lumping, Lawet Dance, and Pencak Silat Pagar Nusa by the students. Apart from that, traditional Kebumen culinary delights were also served to all participants. The next session was a talk show and presentation of the culture of each country by native speakers presented through INCULS FIB UGM.

This activity will become an annual program for students taking the Cross Cultural Understanding course organized by UMNU Kebumen together with the UGM Faculty of Cultural Sciences as their final project (UMNU Kebumen). This program aims to implement the Tri Dharma of Higher Education by developing collaborative activities that are mutually beneficial.

On Monday, 27 November 2023, the Tourism Study Programme of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences Universitas Gadjah Mada (Tourism Study Programme FIB UGM) received a guest visit from Management and Science University Malaysia (MSU). This visit is part of the University Visit activity which is held with the main purpose of conducting a comparative study between the Tourism Study Programmes of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM and MSU Malaysia.

The forum began with a warm welcome from Wiwik Sushartami, a representative of the UGM Tourism study programme, which was then followed by remarks from Nur Amirah, who represented MSU as a substitute for the dean. The first session of the schedule started with a brief presentation on the profile of Management and Science University (MSU). In this session, Mrs Nur Amirah gave a comprehensive overview of MSU (what is MSU, how is their remark in Malaysian education etc). Furthermore, the forum continued with art performances (dancing and singing) from MSU students. This art performance’s purpose entirely covers the richness of Malaysian culture.The next session from MSU was followed by an in-depth presentation on Malaysian culture delivered by their students.

After that, the Tourism Study Programme of FIB UGM introduced its study programme, including the profiles of several teaching staff who play a role in the formation of the next generation in the field of tourism. Interesting information was also delivered through presentations about Pancoh Tourism Village and Jogja Philosophical Axis by Tourism Study Programme students.

The QnA session was the highlight of the interaction between the students of Tourism Study Programme of FIB UGM and MSU. In this session, there were a lot of interesting questions asked by both Tourism study programme students and MSU students. Both sides showed great interest in each other’s culture. In closing, the University Visit ended with a group photo session and a short campus tour, giving a positive final impression and strengthening the relationship between educational institutions. This event not only opened up space for academic discussions but also enriched cross-cultural experiences for all participants.

Komodo National Park, as one of Indonesia’s natural treasures, has attracted the attention of tourists from all over the world. However, behind the charm of the islands and the unique fauna that reside within them, there is a deeper story about the Ata Modo tribe, which has been impacted by the rapid development of the tourism industry in the region. The Ata Modo tribe itself is a community that has inhabited the island of Komodo for a long time, even before the establishment of Komodo Island as the Komodo National Park. With the designation of Komodo National Park and the influx of tourism activities, the Ata Modo tribe experienced changes in their socio-cultural activities. One of them is the shift in the livelihood of the Ata Modo tribe.

The socio-cultural dynamics that occur in the Ata Modo tribe have been seen and investigated in the latest research by a research team that is part of the Student Creativity Program in Social Humanities Research (PKM-RSH) in 2023. This research team is called AtaModo UGM, consisting of Arif Putra Pratama (Faculty of Law 2020), Avicenna Elang (Faculty of Law 2021), An Nuur Khairune Nisa (Faculty of Cultural Sciences 2021), and Noor Risa Isnanto (Faculty of Cultural Sciences 2021). The research team was accompanied by an accompanying lecturer, namely  Dr. Dian Agung Wicaksono, S.H., LL.M. The research was conducted in approximately one week using participant observation methods, in-depth interviews, and searching for secondary sources from various literature and legislation.

The research entitled “Coercive Transformation of Indigenous Peoples: Marginalization of the Komodo Tribe Amid the Hegemony of Komodo National Park Tourism Development” seeks to find out about three things related to the social, cultural, and economic conditions of the Ata Modo tribal community. The research team succeeded in getting direct answers from the Ata Modo tribal community regarding three problem formulations. First, the Ata Modo tribe has cultural potential that can still be maintained and developed according to the needs of the Ata Modo tribe community and related parties who are interested in collaborating. By discovering the cultural potential that still exists in the Ata Modo tribe, the research team realized that this was to Koentjaraningrat’s theory regarding the seven elements of culture consisting of language, knowledge system, social organization, technology, livelihood system, belief system, and art. Second, it was discovered that until now there has been no legal determination of Komodo Village as a Customary Law Community or designation of a Traditional Village, this could result in a conflict of interest and the overriding of the traditional rights of the Ata Modo tribal community. Third, the arrival of the Komodo National Park and the tourism industry has made the Ata Modo tribal community experience a coercive transformation in social, cultural, and economic aspects.

Therefore, through this research, the PKM-RSH team hopes that these findings will provide valuable understanding and considerations for all parties involved in developing Komodo National Park tourism. In this context, special focus is given to the Ata Modo Tribe which is the center of attention, so that they can be actively involved in efforts to protect their cultural heritage and local wealth. This approach is also in line with the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 11 regarding sustainable city and community development, in which the Ata Modo Tribe, as a community that has long lived on Komodo Island, also plays an important role.

Writer: Member of the UGM PKM-RSH AtaModo Team

Sleman (15/11/2023) – The Department of Archeology and the Archeology Student Association of Gadjah Mada University (HIMA) held a collaborative exhibition entitled Sagara Amarta in the series of the VI Archeology Festival with the theme of the Austronesian journey. The Sagara Amarta exhibition is located at the Soegondo Hall, 1st Floor, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University (FIB-UGM).

“At the Sagara Amarta exhibition stand at this year’s VI Archeology Festival, we from HIMA collaborated with several creative product business actors belonging to tourist villages around Borobudur Temple,” said HIMA Chair, Nurul Athifah, at Selamat Hall Soegondo, Wednesday 15 November 2023.

Nurul Athifah added that creative products belonging to tourist villages uphold local wisdom values. Apart from creative products from tourist villages around Borobudur Temple, creative products from UGM Archeology students were also displayed. The Sagara Amarta Exhibition also featured the UGM Majapahit Mandala. Apart from that, there are also culinary stands and photobooths.

“This event is free entry from 10 to 5 pm,” concluded Nurul Athifah.

Meanwhile, the collaborating parties were students’ creative product circles, one of whom was Mandira Brick, all of whom, Ahmad Zaki, said that the aim of participating in this exhibition was to introduce Mandira Brick products as student work. The Mandira Brick product itself is in the form of dismantling miniature temples like Lego, but using the interlock system in the temple.

“Mandira Brick has a mission to educate and introduce the preservation of cultural heritage, architectural art and temple construction techniques in Indonesia,” stressed Zaki.

Archaeological Festival VI: Sagara Amarta Exhibition on 15-17 November 2023 at the 1st Floor of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University (FIB-UGM) held in collaboration with the Department of Archeology and the Archeology Student Association of Gadjah Mada University (HIMA) in collaboration with Borobudur Village Exotica , Pasek, Kahitz, Mandira Brick, Botak Shoes Cleaner (BSC), and Cuci Motor Mas Boy, sponsored by RH Dental Clinic (RDH), Jogja Agrapana Water Filter, and Sekar Tanjung Dance Studio.

Credit by Aditya Revianur, S.Hum., M.Hum.