MALUKU BEGINS INVENTORIZING TRADITIONAL ARTS, CULTURE

Ambon, Moluccas, Sept 9 (ANTARA) - Maluku province's culture and tourism office has begun inventorizing the region's traditional arts and culture as a precaution against cultural theft by other countries.

All traditional arts and culture, namely dances and songs, are going to be patented so that no other country can claim them as theirs, the chief of Maluku province's culture and tourism office, Florence Sahusilawane, said here on Wednesday.

"We will start by collecting data from the educational department, the Historical and Traditional Value Research Center and other institutions," said Florence.

The initiative to patent the province's arts, she said, was based on an instruction from Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu and the aim was to prevent the recurrence of situations like Malaysia claiming the Maluku traditional song "Rasa Sayange" as theirs.

"The inventory of Maluku's indigenous arts and culture will include such data as the names of their creators and the places where the arts were first displayed or performed. The next step is submitting the inventory to the Department of Culture and Tourism and obtain patent rights from the Department of Justice and Human Rights," Florence stated.

She said traditional ingredients in medicines would also be patented.

But apart from patenting the traditional arts, efforts also needed to be made to instill a sense of cultural identity in Maluku's younger generation through school curriculum.

Traditional arts and culture must be passed on to the younger generation to prevent them from becoming extinction in the future, she said.

Earlier, Aceh province`s culture and tourism office had also begun inventorizing the region`s traditional arts. ***5***