Seeing Fadli Zon's Travel As A Cultural And Art Activist

Fadli Zon's activities in the fields of culture and art (Photo: Doc. Special)

YOGYAKARTA Fadli Zon is the Minister of Culture in the Red and White Cabinet led by President Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. This article will discuss Fadli Zon's journey as a activist in culture and art.

Quoted from Antara, during the moment of handing over ministerial positions at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) Building, Jakarta in October 2024, Fadli had been interested in culture for a long time, even before entering politics.

I may be known as a politician, but actually my background has a culture. I'm actually a cultural person who enters politics, not a political person who enters culture. So, I have more passions in culture than politics," said Fadli Zon.

Fadli Zon's journey as a cultural and artistic activist began when he entered the Russian Literature Department of the Faculty of Letters, University of Indonesia (now FIB UI). His love for art and culture is also channeled through books, music, and films.

During his college days, Fadli was active in various organizations, both inside and outside campus. In addition, he is also active in arts and cultural activities by joining the UI Literature Theater.

Among activists, Fadli is known as a person who often leads demonstrations. Despite being active in Monday organizations and activities, Fadli did not abandon his academic achievements. He was once an outstanding student (Mawapres) I at the University of Indonesia and national level Mawapres III.

Not stopping at undergraduate level, Fadli then continued his postgraduate education at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and completed the program in 2002. He then continued his doctoral studies in the UI FIB History Department and earned a doctorate in 2016.

In 2013, Fadli founded the Fadli Zon Creative House (RKFZ) in Cimanggis, Depok City, West Java. RKFZ once achieved a MURI Record in 2023 with the housing category which has the most Nusantara cultural collections.

This award is not the first time for Fadli Zon's creative house. In 2011, RKFZ also won MURI's record for three categories, namely the largest Keris collection, the most old newspaper collections, and the most black disks, according to Antara.

In the creative house, there are also various collections of stamps, puppets, comics, cassettes, guitars from famous musicians Zaenal Arifin, Rhoma Irama, Dara Puspita to pottery from the Musi River from the 800/900s.

Not only that, Fadli Zon's creative house also has a personal library with various collections, namely around 125 books, consisting of 50 thousand silat stories and comics, and 75 books with other genres.

In the field of culture, Fadli is known to have led a banking organization, namely the Indonesian National Secretariat (SNKI).

According to Fadli, Keris is a form of cultural expression that may be a mixture of various kinds of art.

For additional information, the red and white cabinet led by Prabowo-Gibran has 17 priority programs contained in Asta Cita, one of which is the preservation of cultural arts, improvement of the creative economy, and improvement of sports achievements.

Previously, efforts to advance culture were under the responsibility of the Directorate General of Culture, Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemendikbudristek). However, now, after the establishment of the Ministry of Culture, it is hoped that the cultural promotion agenda can be prioritized and in line with the policy direction of the Prabowo-Gibran government.

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