Correction appended
The world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia, is a Southeast Asian country composed of more than 17,500 islands located nearly 13,000 miles away from Oregon. Tomorrow night, University students will have the chance to learn about Indonesian culture when Permias Eugene presents its first Indonesia Night in the Gerlinger-Woodruff gym.
A nationwide network, Permias is an acronym for Persatuan Mahasiswa Indonesia di Amerika Serikat, which translates to “organization of the Indonesian students in the United States” in English.
“People maybe know about Bali, but not really about Indonesia,” said Permias director Vania Situmeang, a University junior who’s from the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. “People say, ‘Is Bali a country? Where’s Indonesia?’ From the event, we want to promote (Indonesia’s) richness – it’s not just about Bali, it’s not just about Java. We want to show the whole thing.”
At a glance
| Indonesia Night will take place tomorrow night from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Gerlinger-Woodruff gym. Admission is $4 for University students, $5 for the general public. |
Permias program coordinator Maureen Tandiono, who is also from Jakarta, added, “We’re not just based on one culture. We have so many islands and so many tribes and also races. It’s so diverse.”
Indonesia Night will include video clips, cultural demonstrations and food such as putu ayu (steamed cake made with pandan leaves), lumpia jawa (spring rolls), panada (bread with Sulawesian tuna) and cantik manis (coconut custard). There will also be teh kotak, a popular jasmine tea drink and snack boxes like those Indonesians commonly serve their guests.
“We thought this can be a fun thing to serve the snacks with the same way in Indonesia,” Situmeang said.
Indonesian food is different from what most Americans are used to, but it’s very good, said Qehn, director of Gamelan Sari Pandhawa, a local Javanese performing ensemble.
“Gamelan basically means orchestra,” explained Qehn, who will lead the Gamelan performance at Indonesia Night. “We’ll be playing instruments from central Java, primarily percussion instruments.”
He said the word “percussion” typically makes people think of drums and while there will be drums, the Gamelan performance will mostly consist of melodic instruments such as gongs, chimes and metallophones.
Members of Permias will also perform the kecak dance, also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant.
The dance depicts a battle from the ancient Sanskrit epic Ramayana, in which an army of monkeys helps the protagonist fight the demon king who had kidnapped his wife.
“The dance usually has 70 to 100 guys basically making sounds and moves that look like monkeys,” Qehn said.
Situmeang said a traditional kecak dance is performed by men and can be two or three hours long. Permias will perform a simplified four-minute co-ed version, just to give attendees a taste of the dance.
“It’s usually performed in Bali,” Tandiono said. “I’ve been there and I’ve seen it, but I’ve never been involved in it so I’m excited.”
Other demonstrations at Indonesia Night will include batik, an ancient art Situmeang said is similar to tie-dyeing; Sumatran and Javanese martial arts; and a performance of poco-poco, a popular line dance from the island of Sulawesi.
“There’s going to be music, there’s going to be dancing, there’s going to be displays to look at, there’s going to be movies to look at, there’s going to be food,” Qehn said. “It’s going to be fabulous. And it’s what, four bucks? You can’t even stay home for four bucks anymore, can you?”
Because Indonesia Night is largely performance-based, Situmeang said learning about her country will be fun for University students.
“It’s an excellent event to promote culture through music, dance and food,” she said. “It’s about entertainment so people can just enjoy. If you can’t go to a specific country, you can have that experience here.”
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Because of an editor’s error, the headline incorrectly stated the day of the event. As the story correctly said, Indonesia Night will be held Saturday night. The Emerald regrets the error.
