After being officially opened by the Vice Rector for Research and Innovation, drg. Nurtami, Ph.D., Sp. OF(K)., yesterday, Universitas Indonesia (UI) Community Service and Empowerment Festival (PPM) is still ongoing until November 10th 2023 at the UI Library, UI Depok Campus. Different from previous years, at the PPM UI Festival this time, all elements of the festival are full of classic Indonesian cultural arts. Starting from the main stage, exhibition booths, the Cultural Carnival which will be carried out by UI lecturers and students, to Indonesian arts and cultural performances, such as Jathilan, Jlantur, Topeng Ireng, and Gong Si Bolong.
Under the lush trees, the 2023 UI PPM Festival stage stands majestically in the middle of the UI Library Building hallway. Plus, the stage faces the lake side which allows festival visitors to feel the beauty and greenery in UI Depok campus. The PPM UI Festival Stage is 8 meters wide and 7 meters high. The 2023 UI PPM Festival Cultural Stage design was created by the Service Team of the UI Community Service and Empowerment Directorate (DPPM), namely Dwi Kristianto, M.Kesos, and A. Donny Kurniawan.
This rice-shaped stage backdrop is dominated by gold to symbolize Golden Indonesia 2045. In the middle, with the Makara UI logo in the middle. The making of the festival stage took approximately one month, by empowering local craftsmen in Boyolali City and bringing it directly to the UI Depok campus by land. All decoration materials used are taken from natural materials in the form of bamboo, branches, and paper; which are the symbols of the spirit of this activity.
“The PPM UI Festival stage symbolizes Indonesia’s wealth which lies not only in nature, but also in the people and culture that accompanies them. The interaction between the three creates a dynamic and diverse life, which intertwines to form a notation of meaning. The interactions that emerge are not only in the form of harmonization but also challenges on how to manage nature, humans, and the environment. We hope that this festival stage will be able to translate the theme of the 2023 PPM UI Festival activities: Meraki Bentala—UI Service for Indonesia,” said Dwi Kristianto.
Dwi Kristianto further said that the words Meraki and Bentala may still be unfamiliar to the public. However, both words are Indonesian. Meraki means doing something with love, creativity and wholeheartedly. Meanwhile, Bentala means earth, land. “That being said, if we take the overall meaning, Meraki Bentala is the role and contribution of the UI academic community which is translated into the community service program as a form of service to our motherland. As the UI academic community, we want to create and do something wholeheartedly through knowledge and innovation for the benefit of Indonesian citizens,” said Dwi Kristianto.
The 2023 PPM UI Festival has a series of events in the form of exhibitions of 34 social innovation products; International Symposium and Talk Show; Archipelago Cultural Carnival; and Arts and Cultural Performances by directly bringing in arts activists from their respective regions, as well as performances from school students in Depok and UI students. On this occasion, UI also presented a performance of an endangered cultural art, namely Gong Si Bolong.
On the previous day (Tuesday, 7/11), the Director General of Culture of the Ministry of Education and Culture Hilmar Farid, Ph.D., was present as the keynote speaker in a panel discussion with the theme “Satya Citta Bhakti Nagarim: Synergy and Collaboration Towards a Golden Indonesia 2045”. Hilmar appreciated UI’s idea of holding a PPM Festival which was full of arts and culture elements. Apart from that, Hilmar fully supports the contribution of the UI community service and empowerment program as an effort to preserve Indonesian classical works of art.
