From April 22 to 25, the Deutsche Schule Jakarta (DSJ) hosts Kulturantara 2026, an international cultural festival bringing together around 80 students and educators from German international schools across Southeast Asia.
Participating schools from Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi, Manila, and Jakarta come together for four days of creative exchange, collaboration, and shared cultural experiences.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
At its core, Kulturantara is built around one idea: students learning with and from each other across cultures.
For these days, DSJ becomes a meeting point where cultures are not only discussed, but experienced – through sounds, colours, movement, and shared creative work.
Throughout the festival, students collaborate in mixed international groups, exploring new ideas and perspectives. Beyond the structured program, the experience continues off campus: participants stay with host families from the German school community, creating a fully immersive environment that extends cultural exchange into everyday life. An additional Jakarta excursion further connects students with the local context beyond the school campus.
Workshops – Created Across Countries, Shared Across Cultures
The heart of the festival is a diverse workshop program, designed and led by the participating schools themselves. Each delegation contributes its own cultural perspective, creating a program that reflects both regional diversity and international collaboration.
Students take part in hands-on workshops in short and multi-day formats, working towards a final presentation at the end of the festival.
Across more than 20 workshops, students explore a wide range of creative disciplines – from traditional crafts and music to contemporary dance, theatre, and visual arts.
Examples include:
- Indonesian traditional arts and crafts, such as Ondel-Ondel, Bamboo Weaving, and Angklung Music
- Textile and design workshops combining materials, colours, and cultural identity
- Dance and performance, from ballroom and hip-hop to traditional Southeast Asian forms
- Theatre and storytelling projects, including Indonesian Randai
- Music, photography, and creative production developed collaboratively across schools
Rather than focusing on results alone, the emphasis is on courage, experimentation, and collaboration – creating space for students to express themselves and learn from one another.
A Shared Cultural Experience
The festival begins with an opening event on Wednesday evening, where each participating school presents itself through a cultural performance.
Kulturantara 2026 concludes with a final showcase on Saturday evening, presenting the outcomes of the workshops and reflecting four days of creativity, teamwork, and intercultural exchange.
Both the opening and closing events are open to the public, welcoming families and guests to experience the festival. For more information and daily highlights from the event, visit our News Blog, which will be updated each day with impressions from the previous day.
About Deutsche Schule Jakarta (DSJ)
The Deutsche Schule Jakarta is one of Indonesia’s leading international schools, offering education from early years through to the German International Abitur – opening doors to Top Universities worldwide.
Located on a large green campus in central BSD City, DSJ combines German educational Excellence with an international, multicultural environment, with a strong focus on language, creativity, and global perspectives.