Culture

Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY) supports various efforts to preserve and develop traditional Indonesian culture. One of these efforts appeared at the "Curation of the Wiyata Dance- Di Hanjayeng Bawana as a ceremonial dance at Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta" on August 24, 2022, at the Performance Hall UNY Building.

"I appreciate this new dance, and I am very proud because the Wiyata Dance Di Hanjayeng Bawana will be a dance at the graduation ceremony on August 27, 2022," said UNY Chancellor, Prof. Sumaryanto.

Javanese have distinctive traditional fabrics, namely Batik and Lurik. According to a lecturer at the Department of Food and Clothing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNY, Afif Ghurub Bestari, M.Pd lurik comes from the Javanese word "lorek" or "larik" which means "line". “Lurik, according to its name, symbolizes simplicity, honesty, direction, wisdom in thinking, even to the point of strength. Straight and strong like a line,” he said on Monday, August 8, 2022. Every line size, color, and pattern also hints at the Javanese's depth of taste and mindset.

Swara Wadhana Student Choir of Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta (UNY)won the title of Grand Prix Champion in the 11th Bali International Choir Festival competition. This international-level choir competition takes place from 25-28 July 2022 onsite in Bali, Indonesia, with the implementation of strict health protocols. The Bali International Choir Festival is a choral competition organized by the Bandung Choral Society with the support of many conductors, teachers, and coaches.

UNY's Early Childhood Education Laboratory held a holiday program for early childhood children from July 4 to 8, 2022. "It is possible to have school vacation as an opportunity for playing together and learning more about culture in Yogyakarta. For this reason, we conduct a special program that successfully attracts children aged 18 months to 7 years old. The participants of the activity are the children of UNY lecturers and employees, as well as the community around UNY," said the Coordinator of the UNY Kinanthinastiti Laboratory, Martha , M.Pd.

Malin Kundang is a folk tale from Sumatra, while the story of Bandung Bondowoso and Roro Jonggrang is a legend in Java. These two stories then met creatively in a 'slapstick' ketoprak performance, Faculty of Economics, UNY, on Saturday, June 18, 2022. The entire cast was from lecturers, staff, and students interested in the arts. Director and event coordinator Rr. Chusnu Syarifa revealed that the ketoprak performance is a part of the effort to preserve traditional Javanese culture

In karawitan, lancaran is one type of gendhing, as are the kinds of ladrang, ketawang and so on. In general, in practicing karawitan, the lancaran is taught relatively early. Lancaran UNY is part of gendhing laras pelog pathet enem. The idea to develop lancaran was initiated by Prof. Dr. Suminto A. Sayuti and Prof. Dr. Endang Nurhayati. In 2018 this idea was then realized by Sutrisno, M.Sn to become lancaran of the Faculty of Language and Arts (FBS). Lancaran was created to inspire and spread the values of local cultural wisdom.

Preservation of arts and culture can go hand in hand with technological development. This message emerged from the participation of the Yogyakarta State University (UNY) Robot Team in the Regional 2 Dance Robot Contest in 2022 at the Sepuluh November Institute of Technology, Surabaya. The UNY robot team featured Robot Rosemery, who danced Kancet Ledo and won second place. This robot contest is a part of the Indonesian Robot Contest (KRI).

Kunta Wijaya started holding the gunungan (Mountain shaped puppet) as a sign of the start of the wayang ( shadow puppet) performance entitled "Kangsa Lena". The young dalang (puppeteer) from Klaten has loved wayang since three years old. Kunta received guidance to learn to perform at the "Omah Wayang" studio led by Kristiaji. The performance of Kunta and several other young puppeteers enlivened the 2022 Festival Dalang Cilik (Young Puppeteers Festival) organized by the Faculty of Language and Arts (FLA) of UNY, which took place from 15-19 May 2022.

Javanese farmers traditionally use memedi sawah or scarecrow to protect their crops, especially rice, from bird attacks. The custom of installing memedi  sawah as part of local ecofriendly tradition  on the rice fields has attracted students of the Social Sciences Education Study Program, Faculty of Social Sciences, UNY, who researched the values ​​ in the memedi sawah festival in Bantul. They are Basid Elmi Izzaqi, Diah Nadiatul Jannah, Rina Suhartanti, Eva Riska Amalia and Marlinda Putri.