Jakarta - Indonesia is planning to hold its first national embroidery festival later this month to display the nation`s skill and creativity in traditional needlework and to help preserve the ancient craft, organizers said on Tuesday.
The five-day event, to be held at the National Museum from April 24 to 28, would support the “Indonesian Year of Creativity 2009,” which was launched to stimulate ways to deal with the global financial crisis.
Chief organizer Triesna Jero Wacik, the wife of Minister of Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik, said that she was concerned people were gradually forgetting embroidery, which has for centuries symbolized the country`s rich cultural tapestry.
“We want people to love their country`s embroideries, which are also the priceless heritage of this country,” she said.
The festival would feature embroidery from all across the archipelago, Southeast Asia, Africa and countries such as Hungary, and hold seminars, workshops, fashion shows and a bazaar.
Seminars, in both Indonesian and English, would be hosted by world experts who are expected to discuss connections between embroidery traditions from their respective countries.
Attendees would also be able to try their hand at making their own tapestry at one of the festival`s workshops, or watch more than 200 professional craftspeople taking part in the competitions.
The Indonesian Embroidery Foundation, of which Triesna is a member, is also planning to launch the Rumah Sulam Indonesia, or Indonesian House of Embroidery, project in Jakarta`s Senayan in June. The project aims to promote the country`s varied embroidery traditions.
“We hope that every region in the country can follow this so that embroidery will not die,” Triesna said. Nurfika Osman
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