Ambassador of Indonesia to Ukraine Yuddi Krisnandi and OUTLOOK project Director General Dariia Kariakina hold a FEEL Indonesia special project

Culture presentation of bright Indonesian holiday was held in 5 SENSES format. The organizers decided to give guests the opportunity to experience all five of the main human sensations and discover the culture of a unique island country.

The event was also attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Kyiv Regional State Administration, Kyiv City State Administration and Foreign Diplomatic Corps, namely Ambassadors of Sudan, Iran, Moldova, Pakistan, Slovenia, diplomats from Turkmenistan, Serbia, Serbia , Greece, Iraq, Qatar, Japan.

The evening began with official speeches by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Indonesia to Ukraine, Yuddi Krisnandi, and OUTLOOK project Director General Dariia Kariakina, who thanked everyone for their presence and wished to successfully immerse themselves in the Indonesian culture by discovering five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell.

And immediately guests were greeted with musical gifts by the Ambassador, who, in a loud applause, performed a song dedicated to his homeland and a dance from his daughter Ayesha Nandira called "Sintren".

The name of the Sintren dance is derived from the composition "Si", which means he/she and "tren" - a call from the "princess". "Sintren" differs from other dances because the performance involves both artists and spirits. It is believed that dancers move not only according to their wishes but also to the wishes of the supernatural forces themselves.

A separate location for the FEEL Indonesia event was set aside for the Wayang Golek puppet theater.

Painted Wayang Golek wooden dolls are puppets of the Puppet Theater of Java Folk Art in Indonesia. They have been used for many years in theatrical productions - presentations of Hindu epics, plays on the history of Javan and Islamic cycles of Menak. These performances were held in towns and villages on holidays and at various festivals.

Each doll has a carved and painted head with a graceful headdress and a long neck that can be rotated. It rests on a rod that extends from the base of the trunk.

The word "Wayang" refers to both puppets and theater. Beginning in the early 16th century, traditional Javanese tales and plays by Ramayana and Mahabharata began to be played in Indonesia. This variety of plays combines Hindu motives with Buddhist and Muslim teachings and Javanese folklore. Usually, stories are divided into different episodes. They illustrate the struggle of good against evil through conflict and then demonstrate the victory of good forces and the destruction of evil. Characters are always placed on stage in the following manner: good ones are on the right of Dalang (puppet), negative ones are on the left. Dalang's performance is accompanied by a gamelan (percussion) orchestra and singers.

The headdress, costumes and colors are different for each doll, in addition this element indicates the temper of the character. White means purity, virtue and moral integrity, and it is often the color of princes. Red means aggression and anger and it is usually the color of the irises face. Blue and green symbolise cowards and hypocrisy.

Performances take place in the open air. They celebrate events such as births and weddings and can last all night or even for three nights.

Everyone present could feel the true touch of Bali thanks to our Indonesia massage masters. Sayana Bali Spa - a salon that combines ancient Balinese traditions and modern achievements in SPA-body care provided a pleasant attraction for the guest.

The unique technology of Balinese massage is the technique of classical massage, acupuncture, medicine and aromatherapy, collected over the centuries. Everyone was able to experience what Balinese traditional massage is and stories about how it promotes healing at the physical, psychological and energy levels. Also, one of the guests of the event, Marianna Khomitska, won a certificate for an hour of massage pleasure from our partner.

"Margapati", "Lenggang Nai" and "Batik" dance artists also filled the cultural program with graceful movements.

"Margapati" dance was created by Alm. Nyoman Kaler in 1942. The word Margapati comes from the words "marga" = animal, "pati" = king. This dance depicts the movements of a forest king (lion) wandering in the middle of trees to hunt their prey.

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"Lenggang Nai" dance is one of the original dances of Betawi, Jakarta, which was created in 1998 by an artist from the city of Yogyakarta Vivik. It is based on the life story of Naya Dasima girl. The name of the dance comes from the word "lenggang", which means to consider the word "Nai", the name of the girl from the story who chooses her life companion according to the story.

"Batik" dance is a group dance originally from Central Java. The movements of the artists reflect the hard work and diligence of creating a batik. The dance was created after a book about the batik of the Jogjakarta region, the author of the dance inspired by Garuda, a large, bird-like, mythical creature in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.

The exhibitions of traditional Indonesian musical instruments that Mr. Ambassador personally presented to the visitors and traditional elements such as the Baronga have also become beautiful "photographic zones" for numerous visitors.

Fragrances of Indonesian incense filled the space of "Art Prichal" and are now "decorating" the homes of our guests, because in addition to the smell of jasmine and orchid, visitors could also pick up and bring with them pollen incense made in Indonesia ARJUNA.

Pollen incense is made using natural resin, flowers, spices, aromatic and medicinal herbs. The base is bamboo chips, and the aromatic composition itself is treacle and cake made from a mixture of pressed leaves, roots and flowers. All this mass is impregnated with natural essential oils, and then in a twisted state the sticks are strewn with pollen. It is because of this that the aroma turns out to be even more saturated, sweeter and more spicy than in charcoal.

Everyone could also look at the costumes of different islands in Indonesia while displaying traditional clothing models. Among the outfits on display there were a minangkabau bridal gown, a peacock costume from East Java, and a bridal costume from Sumatra.

And of course getting acquainted with the culture is impossible without tasting national dishes. Indonesian cuisine is a combination of regional (Javanese, Padanese, Peranakan, Balinese, Sumatran, Sulawish) and ethnic (Batak, Malay, Minangkabu, Minahasan) cuisines with their own characteristics, which at the same time have a number of common aspects. The main products for cooking are rice, yam, corn, vegetables and fruits.

According to a good tradition we have started during the FEEL events, we conduct a drawing of tickets to the country we are presenting. The winner of the draw from our partner Qatar Airways Company - Qatar's national airline and the ticket holder in Jakarta was the guest of the event, Esma Ajieva.

We thank the guests who felt the Indonesian atmosphere with us in Kyiv. Follow the draws of invitations to our events on OUTLOOK's Facebook page and maybe next time we will meet you on a bright holiday knowing other cultures!

We would like to recall that OUTLOOK WORLD CULTURE FESTIVAL is an annual festival of cultures of peoples of the world, started by the OUTLOOK project in 2014, which is attended by embassies of foreign countries in Ukraine. This fact makes the festival unique and unparalleled. During its existence, the event has become a landmark cultural event and has received public recognition.

We also want to thank for the contribution to the bilateral relations between Ukraine and Indonesia the partners and sponsors of the event who supported the FEEL Indonesia project: