Bali seeks UNESCO recognition for dance

Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar | Wed, 06/16/2010 10:36 AM

Bali is seeking global recognition by UNESCO for its traditional dances to be named an intangible cultural heritage.

Bali Cultural Agency head Ida Bagus Sedhawa said Monday that a team of five people from the Culture and Tourism Ministry was currently assessing several traditional dances as a preliminary step to gaining world recognition.

Governor Made Mangku Pastika recently reported his administration’s plan to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during the opening ceremony of the island’s annual cultural landmark event, the Bali Art Festival.

Sedhawa said the team had been working since last week with the Indonesian Institute of Art (ISI) in Denpasar to carry out the assessment in regencies throughout the province.

“The team is evaluating three types of dance: pependet, tetopengan or topeng sidakarya, and baris tombak. They will complete the evaluation in the next few days,” he said, adding that the dances belonged to the group of wali dance, meaning they could only be performed during rituals, not on

demand.

Sedhawa added that the evaluation included collecting literature and data on the dances and tracing the history of the dances, as well as finding out how the dances were currently practiced. The team will report its findings to the President.

“Of the three groups of dance, the team will likely select only one to be proposed to UNESCO. The selected dance will be one that truly represents our culture.”

“We have had kris, batik and wayang recognized by UNESCO as the country’s intangible cultural heritage, and now we’re seeking similar acknowledgment for Balinese dances. It would be a first

for Bali.

“Bali has been widely acknowledged for its rich culture so we are confident of gaining recognition, hopefully, this year.”

The province’s cultural agency is also preparing Taman Ayun and Jatiluwih to be acknowledged by UNESCO as cultural landscapes, as part of efforts to preserve the water catchment area amid rapid changes of land use on the island.

“The challenge facing us is to maintain the areas as historical sites and protect the ecosystem there, because we’re seeing rapid change in land use. Villas are being built everywhere,” Sedhawa said.

He added that local people would benefit from UNESCO recognition because of increased tourist numbers and more land devoted to farming.