Indonesia sends art mission to United Kingdom

Jakarta, July 30 (Antara) -- The Indonesian government sent an art mission to follow the United Kingdom National Tour 2015 - Discover Indonesia to promote tourism and raise the image of the country in the UK. "The United Kingdom National Tour 2015 - Discover Indonesia is expected to showcase Indonesian culture, as a way to commemorate Indonesia's independence," Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said here on Thursday. "We want this program to promote Indonesian art and culture in the British society," he added. According to the minister, performing arts can promote Indonesia to foreign countries effectively. Therefore, the Tourism Ministry has delegated three art groups to the United Kingdom. These are Kande (a rock ethnic group from Aceh), Papermoon Puppet Theatre (a contemporary puppet theater group from Jogja), and Soerya Soemirat (a Javanese traditional dance studio from Solo). The teams will promote the "Wonderful Indonesia" concept in big cities of the United Kingdom in the August-September period, to enliven the United Kingdom National Tour 2015 - Discover Indonesia. Indonesian art teams will showcase their work in prestigious art venues in major cities such as Edinburgh, London, Glasgow, and Cardiff. Moreover, it is crucial to promote the "Wonderful Indonesia" concept to British people as they are a potential tourism market. Yahya also pointed out that the tour of the Indonesian art team was a response to invitations from managers of several festivals and art galleries in the UK. These include C Venues in Edinburgh and Southbank Centre in London, England; Cryptic in Glasgow, Scotland; and the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, Wales. "They were fascinated with Indonesian art and culture, with all its traditional and contemporary uniqueness. They decided to organize a special festival named 'Discover Indonesia' on our country," he remarked. In addition, the event will hold workshops and talks by Indonesian artists and the local arts community. Each manager also presented the work of local art groups, which featured Indonesian artwork. Furthermore, Cryptic, an art production house in Glasgow, planned a residency program, art and photography exhibitions, film screenings, literary discussions, as well as Indonesian culinary activities. In the first quarter of 2015, as many as 51,663 British tourists visited Indonesia, an increase of 5.71 percent from that in the same period in 2014. On the occasion, the acting country director of the British Council, Summer Xia, said the program was an opportunity for Indonesia to introduce its culture to the world. "The delegated group of artists will showcase several Indonesian art forms," Xia added. She further noted that the United Kingdom has a long history of promoting culture. So Indonesia can use this opportunity of the tour. She also asserted that the program was expected to strengthen relations and cultural exchange between Indonesian and the United Kingdom.