During a special occasion held at Bracknell Center, Kamil handed over a set of "Degung," or Sundanese musical ensemble; "Angklung," or bamboo musical instruments; and "Tarawangsa," or a two-stringed bowed instrument; as well as several pieces of Sundanese clothing.
The inauguration ceremony was marked by the cutting of "Tumpeng," a cone-shaped serving of rice offered along with several side dishes. Kamil honored his VIP guests by serving the first cut of Tumpeng to Bracknell Mayor and CEO of South Hill Park Arts Centre Craig Tiley.
The Sundanese musical instruments available at the Sundanese Culture Corner could later be used by Simon Cook, a Sundanese culture enthusiast in the UK and recipient of the Indonesian government's scholarship scheme (Darmasiswa), for being trained at the Academy of Indonesian Dance (ASTI) in Bandung.
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Speaking in connection with the inauguration of the Sundanese Culture Corner at South Hill Park, Attaché for Educational and Cultural Affairs at the Indonesian Embassy in London E. Aminudin Aziz affirmed that its existence was deemed important to promote Indonesia's art and cultural diversity.
Its presence is expected to contribute to the development of Indonesian art and culture in London and the UK, as Indonesia's cultural heritage is often intrinsically related to arts from Central Java, like Solo and Yogyakarta, and from Bali Island, he pointed out.
In fact, Sundanese people constitute the second-largest population in Indonesia, he remarked, adding that the embryo of Sundanese arts and culture had long existed in the UK and should be strengthened with assistance from the West Java provincial government.
During his working visit to the UK on July 21-24, Kamil is also scheduled to hold a series of meetings and to speak at a peace dialog, organized by the British Institute of Peace in Manchester.
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Furthermore, Kamil will meet with representatives of the UK-based Plastic Energy Limited at their headquarters. He will discuss issues linked to the Rp3 trillion investment for producing diesel fuel from plastic waste.
The West Java governor confirmed that he will also visit several British institutions for holding talks on the follow up of the English Program for Ulemas, as the UK will be one of the destinations of West Java's young Muslim scholars, who had been through the program in April this year.
He affirmed that the young ulemas passing the English Program for Ulemas, co-organized by the West Java government along with the UK Embassy in Jakarta, will become messengers of Islam that promotes peace to the world.
During this working visit, Kamil is accompanied by Head of the West Java Tourism and Cultural Office Dedi Taufik Kurohman, Director of the Bank Indonesia-West Java Office Pribadi Santoso, Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry-West Java Chapter Tatan Pria Sudjana, and Bogor Mayor Bima Arya.
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Translator: Zeynita Gibbons, Rahmad Nasuti
Editor: Azizah Fitriyanti
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
