SDG 4: Quality education | SDGs 4: Basic literacy skills | SDGs 8: Creativity and innovation | SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities | SDG 17: Partnerships for goals | SDGs 17: Fostering innovation

Sunday, May 5, 2024 was the last day of a series of Pasar Jembar events held at Jogja Nation Museum Bloc. The event offered many diverse UMKM stands that you could try on the spot or take home. Everything from traditional cuisine to antiques were sold there. Aside from selling local brands, the event also provided an open stage for entertainment where local communities could take part. One of the communities that enlivened the stage was the Gadjah Mada University Postgraduate Art community, commonly known as SAGA. SAGA sent representatives from the dance division to perform their Nyawiji Mukti dance and from the theater division to perform a poetry musicalization entitled “Kau Peluk Luka Punyaku” by Inri Savitri.

Interestingly, the delegate of the theater division is a graduate student from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Linguistics study program, class of 2022. Her name is Aisyah Riska. Apart from being active in the academic field, she is also active in developing her talents in the arts by joining several art communities during lectures. This 25-year-old woman often performs at various events and art performances, one of which on this occasion was at the Pasar Jembar event. With her ability to read poetry, she managed to hypnotize the audience with her poetry musicalization. The audience was touched by her recitation of a religious poem about God who accompanies us when we are wounded and is able to heal it. “I want to awaken people to remember that in the most painful situation they are not alone, there is God who always holds them tight, so be strong and get closer to Him,” she said.

SDG 4: Quality education | SDGs 4: Basic literacy | SDGs 4: Basic literacy skills

As a continuation of the Catatan Perjalanan workshop, the Gadjah Mada University Research Directorate was proud to present a Penulisan Novel Workshop which was held on Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 08.30 – 11.30 am. The workshop, which was held virtually through a Zoom meeting, invited all Civitas Academica of Gadjah Mada University including lecturers, education staff, and students who were interested in writing Catatan Perjalanan to join the activity. This inspiring event gave participants the opportunity to gain valuable insights and discuss with experts in their fields. Interestingly, the speakers and moderators on this occasion were each lecturers at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University. They were Dr. Arifah Arum Candra H., M.A. as a moderator and Ramayda Akmal, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. as a speaker.

Ramayda Akmal, S.S., M.A., Ph.D. as a speaker has no doubt about her ability in the world of writing, especially novels. She is a literary writer who has published many books and won awards for her works. Her fiction books include the Jatisaba Novel, the short story anthology of Lengkingan Viola Desingan Peluru, Tango & Sadimin Novel, and the short story anthology of Aliansi Monyet Putih. With such an extraordinary background, she was given the opportunity to share her knowledge at the workshop by providing material about what a novel is, the division of genres and subgenres in novels, things to consider before writing a novel, novel story ideas, plotting tips, creating characters, and others related to novel writing. In the question and answer session, one of the participants named Farah Ramadanti asked a question about how to write a page turner narrative. She briefly explained, “We have to practice recognizing different readers, not tell too much, and always divide chapters into sub-chapters so that it is not boring”.

SDG 4: Quality education | SDGs 4: Basic literacy skills | SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth | SDGs 8: Economic productivity | SDG 17: Partnerships for goals | SDGs 17: Fostering innovation

An interesting agenda at the “NGABUBUREAD” event held by Perpustra on Thursday, 26th of March 2024 in the courtyard of the Soegondo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences yesterday was Baca Sastra and Ceritra (Cerita bareng Perpustra). Baca Sastra is an expression space for reading literary works presented by Lincak. As a community of poetry lovers at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, Lincak is an expression space for the exploration of poetry and literary works. On the occasion of that afternoon, accompanied by the sound of serene rainwater, Lincak invited people to enjoy the presentation of literary works together.

Ari Bagus Panuntun, founder of Warung Sastra and also a Lecturer in French Literature at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, joined them for a book talk as a speaker at Ceritra. Despite his background in French literature, Bagus was interested in the book industry and founded Warung Sastra. The bookstore with the slogan “Books, Coffee, Penyetan” is a place for book lovers in Yogyakarta to read and discuss. Here, Bagus reviewed the journey of a book from the author’s hands to the buyer. In the discussion session with the audience, he also shared tips on publishing a book, especially how to choose a good and trusted book publisher.

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.