The Intensive Course on Javanese Culture organized by PUI Javanologi UNS and PBM Confucius Institute UNS is an intensive virtual summer course on Javanese culture which has been held from July 25 to July 29, 2022. This Javanese culture course is an annual routine program for PUI Javanologi UNS as an effort to spread and preserve Javanese culture throughout the world.

In 2022, PUI Javanologi UNS collaborates with PBM Confucius Institute UNS in organizing TEKO JAHE by connecting participants from Xihua University, China. There were 35 Chinese students who took part in this activity.

The first day was opened with remarks by the Education Attache of the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, Mr. Yaya Sutarya, and Prof. Dr. Ir. Ahmad Yunus, M.S. as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs. Then the first session was opened with an introduction or overview of the course by Prof. Sahid Teguh Widodo, M. Hum., Ph.D. as the Head of PUI Javanologi UNS. The first session was moderated by Stephanie Phanata, B.Ed., M.TCSOL. who is also the Chair of the PBM Confucius Institute UNS.

First day

The first day was opened with remarks by the Education Attache of the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing, Mr. Yaya Sutarya and Prof. Dr. Ir. Ahmad Yunus, M.S. as Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs. Then the first session was opened with an introduction or overview of the course by Prof. Sahid Teguh Widodo, M. Hum., Ph.D. as the Head of PUI Javanology UNS. The first session was moderated by Stephanie Phanata, B.Ed., M.TCSOL. who is also the Chair of the PBM Confucius Institute UNS.

Prof. Sahid Teguh Widodo as the first speaker conveyed the outline of Javanese culture and why they should be interested in learning Javanese culture. The presenters also gave a glimpse of the material of Javanese culture and traditions that will be delivered by all presenters in the next 5 days such as Keris, Batik, Dance, virtual exploring the city of Surakarta, and learning Javanese language and script.

 

The second session course on the first day was presented by Dr. Basuki Sumartono, M.Sn, as Secretary of PUI Javanologi UNS and Javanese cultural activist. He delivered material about Keris in Javanese Culture. Starting from how the kris was in the past, the existence of the kris in the modern era, and also the parts and examples of keris that are popular in Java. The students seemed enthusiastic about learning Javanese keris and gave many questions about the kris to the presenters.

Second day

The second day of the Intensive Course on Javanese Cultural Heritage (TEKO JAHE) began with the speaker of the first session, Mr. Rahmat, S.S., M.A. with Learning Javanese Language and Alphabet or Learning Javanese Language and Javanese Script.

In this course session, the speaker introduced Xihua University students to the Javanese language and also the level of speech used in Javanese. After studying general facts in Javanese, the presenter gives examples of basic words used in Javanese conversation. The students also enthusiastically and actively recite and string words in Javanese such as mentioning names, places of residence, and basic-level conversation. There is a little difficulty in pronunciation, but in practice, they can understand the meaning of the word in Javanese. The basic introduction in this course is intended to make them familiar and happy with the Java language.

Participants are also introduced to Javanese characters and their pronunciation. Beginning with the presenters who practice writing Javanese script by writing the names of participants in Javanese script. Xihua University students seemed enthusiastic about following the Javanese script material. The first session on the second day was closed with a game session to read characters and recite the names of animals in Javanese. This is done to see how well the students capture the material given.

The second session of the second day was the material “Surakarta: The City that Never Sleeps” where students were introduced to the city of Surakarta and all the diversity of Javanese culture contained in it. The material for the second session was presented by Karunia Purna Kusciati, S.S., M.Sc.

The material for the city of Surakarta is important to be given to foreign students to provide an overview of the culture that still coexists with modern society. Surakarta, which is nicknamed “The Spirit of Java”, is one of the cities in Java that can combine Javanese culture with a modern lifestyle. With the holding of cultural festivals, the persistence of authentic culinary specialties that are still loved by the community, as well as various cultural elements that are applied in various corners of the city, Surakarta deserves this nickname.

In this session, many students were amazed by how Javanese culture in the city of Solo is still a “living” thing in the midst of rapid modernization. The material for session 2 was then closed by giving writing assignments with the theme “Solo: The Spirit of Java”.

Third day

The third day of the summer course was opened with traditional Javanese dance materials in the Surakarta style and Javanese songs by dance maestro, Fajar Satriadi, M.Sn. He introduced to foreign students that Javanese dance has a deep philosophy, resembling the pattern of the Borobudur temple. This mandala pattern symbolizes harmony and harmony in Javanese dance. Javanese dance is not only about the beauty that can be seen from the packaging, but also many intrinsic factors that influence the elegance of the dance.

The next stage, the speaker gave some examples of traditional Javanese dances such as the alus dance, the putri dance, and the gagahan dance. The summer course participants were then given an example of a female dance as an example of the dance being taught. The presenter interactively invited the participants to imitate the dance movements that were practiced in their respective homes. The students seemed enthusiastic about imitating the dance movements that were taught.

After learning about traditional dance, the speaker continued the material on the Javanese macapat song, namely the Pangkur and Sinom songs. The speaker also explained that the Javanese macapat song is a picture of the human life cycle from birth to death. Starting from the maskumbang song describes the beginning of the journey of human life which starts from inside the mother’s stomach, to the pocung song which shows a ritual when releasing someone’s departure. The students were also interactively invited to sing a Javanese song together and were then given the task of singing one of the Javanese songs.

Entering the next session, which was presented by the Head of PUI Javanologi UNS, Prof. Sahid Teguh Widodo, M. Hum., Ph.D. about Javanese society. In addition to the Javanese society, the students were also introduced to how the current Javanese society was formed. Starting from introducing students to the general picture of Javanese society, the great kings in Java, and also specific material about Javanese culture in the city of Surakarta/Solo.

Fourth day

On the 4th day of the Intensive Course on Javanese Cultural Heritage with Confucius UNS, the material introduced to participants was material about Batik and Wayang. The first session was about Batik and the influence of Chinese culture on batik in Indonesia. Brought by Mrs. Dra. Tiwi Bina Affanti, M.Sn. and Ms Apika Nurani Sulistyati, S.Sn., M.Sn., the first session ran with great enthusiasm from the participants.

Many of them just found out that Chinese culture has an influence on several batik patterns in Indonesia. Participants were also given the task of drawing batik with patterns given by the committee such as turtle, kilin, hong bird, and butterfly patterns.

 

The second session was material about Wayang which was presented by Drs. Imam Sutarjo, M. Hum. He introduced various Javanese puppets, Javanese wayang characters, and various stories that were usually performed. Not only explaining orally, the presenters also practiced how to play the puppet directly. Several students showed their enthusiasm in the question and answer session and said they were interested in coming to Indonesia to witness the Wayang Jawa performance firsthand.

 

Fifth day

The 5th day as well as the closing day of TEKO JAHE 2022 began with a session by Dr. Dewi Retno Sari Saputro, S.Si, M.Kom who brought material about the reasons why the city of Surakarta is an attractive city to be used as a study or study destination. The students were introduced to the characteristics of the people of the city of Solo who are known to be friendly, cultural and complete city facilities, as well as delicious and affordable culinary.

The closing of TEKO JAHE was carried out by the committee from the UNS Mandarin Language Center as well as announcing the best students who were judged by their activeness in participating in the course.