"This activity aims to contribute to efforts of strengthening the resilience of Indonesian culture amid the world civilization," the ministry's Director General of Culture Hilmar Farid stated here on Tuesday.
The program "Increasing the Human Resources Capacity in the Field of Cultural Heritage Preservation, Especially Underwater Cultural Heritage Preservation" was held at cultural preservation centers across Indonesia.
This program was a form of the government's commitment to advancing culture by creating competent personnel and institutions in the field of culture.
Farid expressed hope that the program would contribute to increasing the resilience of Indonesian culture through protection, development, utilization, and mentoring.
He emphasized the importance of technical guidance and certification for human resources in underwater cultural heritage preservation, considering the fact that two-thirds of Indonesia's territory is the seas or other water bodies that store several undiscovered historical objects.
"Hence, qualified human resources are needed in order to protect and preserve these objects," he remarked.
The program was recently held in Tulamben, Karangasem, Bali, which is one of Indonesia's underwater cultural heritage sites, namely the USAT Liberty shipwreck point.
This activity involved 30 participants that were mentored by 12 experts for 12 days, from September 20 to October 1, 2023.
The mentors taught the participants about the technical skills needed in taking care of underwater cultural heritage sites.
Farid emphasized that conserving the underwater cultural heritage should be conducted carefully and based on the applicable procedure and regulation.
Human resource capacity-building is expected to support the research on existing cultural heritage and contribute to the preservation and advancement of culture, he added.
Related news: UNESCO encourages protection of underwater cultural heritage
Translator: Astrid H, Kenzu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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