Indonesian culture on display

By Kimberly Absher
C120 was transformed into a rich exhibition of Indonesian culture this past Friday night. As soon as you walked in the door you were greeted by enthusiastic members of the Indonesian Culture Club, wearing unique and colorful clothing, the top called a “kabaya,” and the bottoms traditional batik pants. Over 100 attendees came in and out, many of them settling with a plate of food at cafeteria tables. Others walked around the room, taking in the impressive display of crafts, things to eat, and many other cultural artifacts. A video featured the landscape of Indonesia as well as traditional dances being performed.”This is great,” said the club’s advisor Alan Yabui. “I encourage other clubs to have a cultural celebration too.”
All of the club members bustled around, welcomed people to the exhibition, made sure there was enough food, or explained what the crafts were to interested patrons. The president of the Indonesian Fellowship Club, Paula Kosasih, had a big smile on her face when asked how she thought things were going: “This is our first event,” she said. “So we are really excited so many people came.”
There are about 45 members of the Indonesian Fellowship Club, and they were all at the event, with infectious smiles and plenty of willingness to share any information about their culture that people were curious about.
When asked who made this event happen, club member Jessica Andriany said, “We all helped. We all had a role in this event.”
Ardiles Setiadi, a former BCC student who has returned to school for additional education after graduating with both a Mechanical Engineering Degree and a degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America, played a key role in preparing the array of delicious food. He modestly explained that many of the members helped prepare the food at apartments near BCC.
The crafts were astonishing. club member Jessica Darmawan described all of the items, from bookmarks that were delicately hand-painted on cardboard, to key chains that featured a very famous character from a Wayang folklore, which are similar to American fairytales. There were also coin purses with Batik print, which is a design created by the Indonesians. Darmawan examined the different coin purses side by side and said that even if the Batik prints look the same, since it is all handmade, there will be small differences which is what makes it unique.
There were also Indonesian puppets on display, that are many times used in acting out the cultures legendary stories.
“This exhibition has been in the works for a long time, since last school year,” said Nora Lance, the Associate Director of Student Programs, a faculty member who helped make the event a success. She enthusiastically explained how students who went back to Indonesia this summer brought back the traditional clothing, spices and ingredients for the food, and handmade arts and crafts to sell at the event.
Kosasih said the idea came about because “Usually, twice in a year, we