Jakarta, 22 April 2022
– Minister of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, highlighted the urgent need to foster global collaboration in finding a culture-based everlasting solution to promote sustainable development. "This is a high time for us to meet today to foster our common action to recover the cultural sector after Covid-19. I would like to emphasize that we are here not to look for a short-term solution, but an everlasting answer that promotes culture as the driver of sustainable development," said Minister Makarim to the delegates of the First Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) G20 Culture on Friday (22/4).
"It is a momentous opportunity to demonstrate that through the G20 presidency, Indonesia will lead a global gotong royong, or collaboration, in the cultural sector recovery, as culture is Indonesia's DNA," he added.
The Minister further emphasized in his opening remarks, "in line with President Joko Widodo's request for concrete results from Indonesian Presidency, G20 Culture Ministers' Meeting which begins with the first meeting of SOM G20 culture aims at fostering collective actions to recover arts and culture that have been drastically hit by the pandemic."
He believes that the solutions for recovery can be taken from various cultural practices and expressions that have been preserved and passed down for generations and proven to have successfully maintained harmony among humans as well as between humans and nature.
"We have local food systems that respect the dignity of living beings, traditional practices of sustainable fashion that encourage the use of natural materials, as well as knowledge and technology that promote environmentally friendly lifestyles. We can offer these to the world," said the Minister.
The Minister then explained that the senior high official meetings of G20 Culture will examine challenges and potentials pertaining to the agenda of global sustainable recovery in accordance with the theme 'Culture for Sustainable Living'.
"If agreed, we will officially launch the Global Arts and Culture Recovery Fund initiated by the Indonesian presidency. It is only through global collaboration that we will be able to recover and reemerge from these challenging times," the Minister pronounced.
With support from G20 member countries, special invitees, and UNESCO, explained the Minister, the funding platform Global Arts and Culture Recovery Fund will serve as a necessary means in restoring the cultural economy sector, especially in developing countries severely devastated by the pandemic.
G20 Culture will culminate with the Culture Ministers' Meeting which will be held at the Borobudur Temple Compounds in Magelang, East Java, on 12-13 September, 2022. During the meeting, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, through the General Directorate of Culture, will organize a series of cultural events that include Kirab Budaya (cultural festival), Rapat Raksasa (mass meeting), G20 music concerts, and Ruwatan Bumi (purification ritual).
The Kirab Budaya and Rapat Raksasa will invite more than 2,000 artists, cultural workers, and traditional and cultural communities. Meanwhile, the concerts will bring together musicians and music artists from G20 countries. In addition to that, the presidency will organize Ruwatan Nusantara, Student Festival, Indonesia Bertutur, International Conference of Indonesian Culture, and many other activities that enrich Indonesia's G20 culture presidency.
