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YouTube to digitalize Indonesian children's folktales
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Presenters on stage at the #DongengYuk event at The National Museum in Jakarta on Saturday, Jan.27. (YouTube Indonesia/File)
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ouTube in partnership with storytelling community Ayo Dongeng Indonesia held a storytellers gathering titled "#DongengYuk" at the National Museum in Jakarta on Jan. 27. The event launched a joint project to create videos of Indonesia's folktales for YouTube.
The public event featured Najwa Shihab, Indonesia’s reading ambassador, who read a tale from South Sulawesi titled "La Dana and the Buffalo." Founder of Ayo Dongeng Indonesia, Ariyo Zidni, also read a story from Aceh titled "Padi Muda (Young Paddy)." Several YouTube content creators were also present and read several traditional stories at the event.
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The project is supported by the government. The Education and Culture Ministry’s directorate general of culture Hilmar Farid said in an official statement, “The directorate general of culture supports the digitalization Indonesia's folk tale heritage through the initiative at #DongengYuk. The partnership between YouTube and Ayo Dongeng Indonesia must be supported so that the traditional stories from all 34 provinces of Indonesia can be introduced to the younger generation’s imagination.”
Meanwhile, head of public policy at Google Indonesia, Shinto Nugroho, said Google wanted to make Indonesian folktales more accessible to assist in the education of coming generations.
Najwa Shihab, who has campaigned to increase the interest in reading in Indonesia, said she was delighted to be involved in #DongengYuk. "Storytelling or reading folktales to children before bedtime has been a tradition for generations. I am delighted to be involved in #DongengYuk because it is one of the contributions helping to preserve our national culture using the digital platform,” Najwa said.
The folktales from Indonesia’s 34 provinces will be uploaded to YouTube's Google Indonesia channel. Uploaded videos can be found using the hashtag #DongengYuk on YouTube. (asw)
