They were awardees of the Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship (IACS) programme who performed to show off their artistic skills they had learned throughout the three-month course.
The 70-minute show featured vibrant and colourful performances boasting Indonesia’s cultural and religious diversity.
Addressing the event, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said arts and culture can connect all people regardless of religion, ethnicity, gender, age or political background. Since it was launched, the IACS initiative has served as a bridge of friendship and peace, she added.
The IACS will continue to create “Friends of Indonesia”, promote Indonesia among the international community and encourage young people to play a role in developing a global peaceful and diversity loving society, Marsudi said.
According to the minister, the awardees were sent to study at arts centres in six cities, Yogyakarta, Bali, Makassar, Padang, Kutai Kartanegara and Banyuwangi during the course. They explored local cultures, the Indonesian language and took part in local cultural festivals.
The IACS is an annual scholarship programme run by the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It has been conducted since 2003 and was initially offered to member countries of the South West Pacific Dialogue (SwPD), namely Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and the host Indonesia.
Because of the success the programme has expanded to include member countries of ASEAN, ASEAN+3, Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), as well as other countries from regions across the world.
It aims to introduce Indonesian arts and culture to the world's youths by providing learning facilities for practices such as choreography, gamelan (traditional instruments), batik, painting, museums, nature tourism, traditional food, and more.
To date, the scholarships have been awarded to 920 young people from 77 countries.
