The Ministry of Culture Opens Opportunities to Fund Islamic Culture Programs through the Indonesian Raya Fund

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Culture (Kemenbud) opened funding opportunities for programs to strengthen Islamic culture through the Indonesian Raya Fund. Programs that can be submitted include writing Indonesian Islamic history, compiling an encyclopedia of Islamic culture, the Santri Film Festival, to the development of Islamic music art.

Minister of Culture Fadli Zon conveyed this when receiving the Islamic Culture and Civilization Institute of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) at the Ministry of Culture Office, Jakarta, Tuesday (30/6).

"The Ministry of Culture invites the Islamic Culture and Civilization Agency of MUI to submit a program proposal in accordance with the applicable mechanism, including for the program of writing history, compiling encyclopedias, and various other cultural promotion activities," said Fadli.

During the meeting, MUI explained the plan for the Pre-Congress of the Indonesian Islamic Community Congress entitled New Directions for Indonesian Islamic Culture which will be held in the Maestro Summit series on July 18-19, 2026 at Pondok Pesantren Daar El-Qolam, Balaraja, Tangerang.

Deputy Secretary General for Arts and Culture of the MUI, Erick Yusuf, said that the forum was expected to be a meeting room for artists, cultural activists, scholars, and Islamic cultural figures. MUI also hopes that there will be a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Culture.

Fadli said that the preservation of Islamic culture has been carried out through the protection of cultural heritage of objects and intangibles. For object culture, the government supports the preservation of historic mosques that have been designated as cultural heritages. For intangible culture, the government provides space for the expression of Islamic culture that grows from the process of acculturation in Indonesia.

One of the programs that has been running is the Santri Film Festival. Fadli said the festival was included in the strategic activities of the Indonesian Raya Fund because it provided space for creative talents of pesantren.

"Through the Santri Film Festival, the Ministry of Culture provides space for creative talents in the pesantren environment to raise stories, teachings, preaching, and pesantren life through the medium of film," he said.

Apart from films, the Ministry of Culture also opens opportunities for cooperation in the field of Islamic art, including kasidah.

MUI also offers a number of collaborations, such as the development of the Santri Film Festival, research on the history of Indonesian Islam, children's song creation competition, and the compilation of the History of the Indonesian Muslim People and the Encyclopedia of Islamic Cultural Arts of Indonesia which is planned to contain about 500 elements of Islamic culture from various regions.

Fadli menilai kerja sama pemerintah dan komunitas penting agar budaya Islam tidak hanya dilestarikan, tetapi juga dikembangkan melalui medium yang dekat dengan generasi baru.