KKU Delegation learns Yogyakarta Culture
After five days of conducting the academic visit to IP and IGOV Fisipol UMY, the postgraduate students and Khon Kaen University (KKU) lecturers, Thailand were invited to visit several cultural tourism destinations in Yogyakarta. The purpose of this agenda is to introduce customs and culture, historical places and various Indonesian arts (08/15/2018).
The Field Trip program starts at 09.45 am. The delegates are taken to visit Vredeburg fort, Yogyakarta Sultanate Palace and the Winotosastro Batik Shop. When it arrived at the diorama of the Fort Vredeburg Museum, the delegates were explained about the history of Indonesia’s struggle for freedom, the birth of the Yogyakarta Sultanate and the history of the Indonesian government. Winotosastro stores as well as batik production sites, the delegates try to make their own batik creation, see the process of making up for packaging.
When they arrived at the Yogyakarta Palace, the delegates were presented with the historic buildings of Yogyakarta City. According to Miss. Pornsan Piyanantisak (Khon Kaen University lecturer), Indonesia, especially Yogyakarta and Thailand have almost the same characteristics of historical heritage, buildings and arts. This is due to the Buddhist cultural customs that made it into the country of Indonesia to give a distinctive thick polish in each legacy, although it is closely related to Javanese customs. For example, the gamelan device located at one of the entrances of the Sultanate of Yogyakarta Sultanate, “in Thailand the gamelan and drum are smaller, but the shape is still the same”, explained Miss Pornsan.
Khon Kaen University postgraduate students admitted that it was quite difficult to follow the pattern of the picture when trying to make batik, because “night candles” had to be really hot to be easily polished onto the fabric that had been drawn on the pattern. Delegates are allowed to determine the image as desired and they are very enthusiastic. “It turns out making batik really requires skill because it requires patience and concentration”, said Miss. Patcharaporn Detkawinloet.