The Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology presented awards to three foreign individuals at the 2024 Indonesian Cultural Awards this September.
The diversity and richness of Indonesian culture not only attract local cultural figures and artists but also draw the interest of the international community. Many foreign institutions and individuals are actively involved in studying and promoting Indonesian culture worldwide. With that spirit, at the climax of the 2024 Indonesian Cultural Awards (Anugerah Kebudayaan Indonesia) which took place in Jakarta on Tuesday, the 17th of September, 2024, the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology decided to honour three foreign nationals: Andrew Timar, Marianna Zofia Lis, and the music group Boi Akih.
These three were recognised by the ministry for the former’s appreciation and love of Indonesian culture as demonstrated by their dedication to working with and introducing Indonesian culture in their respective countries.
Andrew Timar, who is an artist, composer, and teacher from Canada, has been fascinated by traditional Indonesian music since 1970. He is known as a Sundanese flautist in the Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan (ECCG) group in Toronto, which actively promotes Indonesian art through various performances in Canada and abroad. Additionally, Timar has collaborated with the Indonesian Embassy to promote Indonesian culture; some of their programmes included organising gamelan workshops and sending gamelan instruments to schools in Toronto.
“Through the ECCG group, I actively popularise Indonesian arts [and] even perform in various shows in Canada and overseas,” said Timar, in a written statement to the press, on Wednesday, the 25th of September.
Marianna Zofia Lis, a Polish woman, was captivated by the art of wayang and its philosophical depth. She went on to study the subject as a wayang researcher, an Indonesian puppet theatre artist, a gamelan player, and a translator of Indonesian literature. Zofia is also the first and only author (to date) of a monograph on traditional and contemporary wayang kulit in Poland, which she has researched for the last 18 years. Moreover, she plays an important role in developing the Warsaw Gamelan Group community and actively performs gamelan in her country of origin.
Last but not least was Boi Akih: a music group formed by Monica Akihary and Niels Brouwer in 1997 after completing their artistic education in Indonesia. The group blends ethnic music elements from Maluku, Sunda, and Bali, which enjoyed immense popularity in the Netherlands. Boi Akih has released eleven albums and frequently performs at international music festivals, namely the North Sea Jazz Festival, the Radio France Festival, and the Korea Music Festival. They were also awarded the 2023 Jazz and Improvisation Boy Edgar Prize.