Solo Students to Receive Crash Course in Culture

Solo, Indonesia - Officials have made it mandatory for school children here to attend a theater performance and visit a cultural museum outside of class to boost interest in local traditions.

Purnomo Subagio, head of the local culture office, said that elementary and high school students would have to attend a wayang orang performance at the Sriwedari Theater on a Saturday and visit the Radya Pustaka Museum, one of the country’s oldest.

He hoped this exercise would help pique the youths’ interest in local culture and traditions, which he said was waning as a result of growing Westernization.

“We’re working on this campaign with the local sports and youth affairs office to offer these shows for free, to try and instill a love for Indonesian culture into the younger generation,” he said.

He added that after watching the wayang performance, the children could go backstage and see all the work that went into putting on the show.

“We’d also like the kids to write what they think about the performance, so that it’ll be a cherished memory for them.”

The first batch of students is expected to take part in the exercise on Saturday.

Because the Sriwedari Theater only seats 800, Purnomo said it would take several weekends before all school children in the district had seen the show.

Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com
Photo: http://team2art.wordpress.com

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