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Ecuador's CIDAP festival to feature Palembang 'songket'
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Hand-woven 'songket' fabrics. (Shutterstock/Ezz Mika Elya)
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ndonesia’s ambassador to Ecuador Diennaryati Tjokrosuprihatono told The Jakarta Post that Palembang songket (traditional gold-threaded woven fabric) should be exhibited at the CIDAP festival in Ecuador in September 2019.
CIDAP is a festival that aims to preserve unique art, culture and crafts, therefore it is the right event to feature songket and introduce Indonesia’s woven fabric culture. Diennaryati said Indonesia’s embassy in Ecuador was set to invite songket artisans from Palembang to participate in the festival’s bazaar.
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However, in order to introduce Indonesian culture to Latin America through Ecuador, the ambassador thinks that we need to see from a local perspective. Woven fabrics such as songket are not available, while fashion is developing well. Therefore, she wishes that artisans could also create ready-to-wear products from songket, and the songket artisans will receive international certification.
“The only Asian embassies in Ecuador are Japan, Korea, China and Indonesia. This makes a good opportunity for Indonesia to promote its wealth of tourism and culture,” said Diennaryati when visiting the official residence of the Palembang mayor on Thursday.
The ambassador went on to say that she was interested in Palembang not only because of its beautiful songket fabrics, but also because it has similarities with cities in Ecuador. Her embassy has also declared Bandung in West Java a sister city with Cuenca, and Komodo island with the Galapagos Islands.
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“Speaking of Palembang, in the future we could focus on its tourism and rivers, and this exhibition might build the path to head that way,” said Diennaryati.
Palembang Mayor Harnojoyo welcomes ambassador Diennaryati’s idea to introduce songket in Ecuador. He thinks it could be a good opportunity for Palembang to promote itself. (mut)
