Proud, The Netherlands Recognizes Pencak Silat As An Intangible Cultural Heritage Of Indonesia

JAKARTA - Director of the Dutch Center for Intangible Cultural Heritage (Kenniscentrum Im Materieel Erefgoed Nederland/KIEN), Marco van Baalen, signed a certificate that inventoried Pencak Silat as intangible cultural heritage in the Netherlands.

The signing was carried out on the sidelines of the opening of a joint practice with the Dutch Pencak Silat Federation (Nederlandse Pencak Silat Federatie/NPSF) in Amersfoort, the Netherlands on Sunday (19/9). The NPSF joint exercise was attended by more than 200 fighters from 22 universities throughout the Netherlands, attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Netherlands Mayerfas.

According to the Director of KIEN, the proposal for Pencak Silat to be inventoried as a cultural heritage in the Netherlands was submitted directly by the NPSF.

"Based on the submission from the community (NPSF), we conducted research on Pencak Silat and obtained Pencak Silat as a shared intangible cultural heritage in the Netherlands related to Indonesia," explained Marco van Baalen, quoting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on September 20.

"Besides Pencak Silat, there are also 3 (three) other intangible cultural heritages, namely Javanese gamelan, Chinese-Indonesian restaurants and Rijstafel," continued Director Marco.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Mayerfas on the occasion expressed pride in seeing Pencak Silat, which is rich in Indonesian values, traditions, and culture, widely taught in the Netherlands.

"This is the first time I have seen a pencak silat practice that was attended by more than 200 people abroad. This number is only a small part of the total number of fighters in the Netherlands. We will continue to work to promote Pencak Silat and other Indonesian culture in the Netherlands," he said proudly.

KIEN is an institution tasked with taking an inventory of cultural heritage in the Netherlands in accordance with the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Meanwhile, NPSF President Olivier Blancquaert explained that his party applied for the registration of Pencak Silat as a cultural heritage considering that Pencak Silat is not only a sport but also an Indonesian cultural heritage that has always existed in the Netherlands.

"With this recognition, Pencak Silat can be promoted more widely in the Netherlands, with the hope that Pencak Silat can be proposed to be part of the curriculum at schools or universities in the Netherlands," said Olivier.

To note, NPSF is a Pencak Silat federation that oversees more than 50 martial arts colleges in the Netherlands with more than 500 fighters. The Indonesian Embassy (KBRI) in The Hague has collaborated with NPSF several times to promote Pencak Silat in the Netherlands, including by bringing trainers from Indonesia to train in the Netherlands.