"The recognition is something to be pride of by the people of Aceh as it proves the good quality of Saman dance."Banda Aceh, Aceh (ANTARA News) - The plan of Unesco to include the Saman dance into its list of world intangible heritage of humanity is hailed by the people of Aceh, an Indonesian province in the western tip of Sumatra, an artist said.
"The recognition is something to be pride of by the people of Aceh as it proves the good quality of Saman dance. For this, the government deserves a thumb-up," Imam Juwaini, director of the Asleum Ethnicity Group of Aceh, said.
Head of Tourism and Cultural Resources of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, I Gde Pitana said on Monday that the Saman dance will be announced as a world intangible cultural heritage by the Unesco in Bali on November 19, 2011.
He said that the recognition by the Unesco of Saman dance would increase the number of Indonesian cultural heritages which had been recognized by the world body like the wayang puppet, keris dagger, batik clothes and the angklung bamboo music.***6***
According to Imam, the Saman dance that would be included in the Unesco`s list was still a general sense in term of name as in Aceh there were different kinds of Saman dances. Saman dances were basically divided into two kinds, namely the Rateb Duek dance and the Rateb Dong one.
Therefore, Imam expressed hope that the government would explain which of the Saman dances that would be included in the Unesco`s list of world intangible heritage of humanity. This is important for preventing unilateral or overlapping claims among the people of Aceh.
(Uu.A014/HAJM)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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