Ministry holds traditional music festival to boost cultural economy

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Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Culture Ministry is holding the 2026 Indonesian Traditional Music Festival (FMTI) in 10 districts and cities to bring together traditional music, knowledge, communities, artists, and the public, while driving a culture-based economy.

“We must be present in various places, which now face much competition from the many music genres in Indonesia and around the world,” the Culture Minister Fadli Zon said in a statement received here on Monday.

FMTI, an annual programme running since 2021, is scheduled to be held in Wonosobo, Maumere, Makassar, Kuningan, Aceh, Mataram, Pontianak, Bengkulu, and Batusangkar.

“There is Didong in the Gayo Highlands, Dol in Bengkulu, Talempong in Tanah Datar, Gendang Beleq in Lombok, Bundengan in Wonosobo, and Angklung Gubrag in Bogor. All were born from strong arts ecosystems that endure because the communities themselves maintain them,” Zon said.

Opening the series in Bogor, the minister said the theme “Bamboo and the Sound of Rituals” was chosen because it carries deep meaning.

Bamboo was chosen not merely because it is a material for musical instruments, but also it is very close to the lives of the Sundanese people. Bamboo is always present in social life, the environment, symbols, culture, and ritual practices.

“The sounds born from bamboo carry stories about the relationship between humans and nature and their culture. Music is the soul of culture and the sound of the times, the pulse of a nation’s life,” Zon stated.

Indonesia, he continued, has extraordinary cultural wealth or megadiversity. One of the arts ecosystems being developed by the ministry is music, including traditional, classical, and contemporary music.

More than 1,000 types of traditional music are recorded across various regions.

With this cultural wealth, Zon invited people to take part in developing and creating with new innovations so they can drive a culture-based economy.

FMTI places traditional music as the main part of arts and cultural events. The FMTI in Bogor was held under the name Sangitaloka, derived from the words sagta, meaning music or performing arts, and loka, meaning space or world.

Sangitaloka means a world of music that brings together tradition, knowledge, communities, and artistic expression in one cultural ecosystem.