‘Festival Tari’ to gather varsity students from all across Borneo
BINTULU: The seventh ‘ Festival Tari Borneo’ ( Borneo Dance Festival), set to run from Oct 30 to Nov 3 this year, will gather students from institutions of higher learning across the world’s third largest island.
Universiti Putra Malaysia ( UPM) Bintulu Campus will play host to the event, which is to be staged on its Dewan Sri Kenyalang.
The biennial festival showcases the cultural diversity of Borneo through live traditional dance performances.
Additionally, it also serves as a platform for the participants to collaborate and foster closer ties with one another.
According to coordinator for Festival Tari Borneo 2018 secretariat Fakhzan Buang, this edition will gather 13 troupes from universities across Borneo.
“This programme provides a platform for the exchange and sharing of ideas towards developing and preserving the performing arts for generations to come.
“It will also enhance the government’s efforts of better preserving and developing the nation’s artistic and cultural heritage,” he said, hoping that this festival would encourage better collaborations between local and international universities across Borneo.
“This festival also aims to promote Sarawak’s rich diversity and culture, to train participants into becoming role models for the younger generation, and to encourage a healthy lifestyle through active participation in cultural activities,” he said.
Fakhzan said for the long term, Festival Tari Borneo 2018 would aspire to strengthen academic and research collaborations between Bornean universities and find better ways to exchange expertise and services between these institutions.
He believed that this festival could provide national and international platforms for prospective conferences and workshops, and also enhance Borneo’s reputation as a top commercial eco- tourism destination by promoting Borneo cultural heritage on the international stage.
He added: “To ensure that the dance cultures (in Borneo) are not forgotten by the young people, the Institute of Higher Education in Borneo – which includes Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia – created Festival Tari Borneo, run every two years,” he said.
This year’s event is run in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports of Sarawak, Bintulu Resident’s Office and Sarawak Arts Council.
The participating groups are UPM Bintulu, Universiti Teknologi Mara ( UiTM) Kota Samarahan Campus, UiTM Kota Kinabalu Campus, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak ( Unimas), Universiti Malaysia Sabah ( Labuan International Campus), SIDMA College Sarawak, SIDMA College Sabah and University of Brunei Darussalam ( UBD).
The participating universities from Kalimantan, Indonesia include Tanjungpura University ( UNTAN), Lambung Mangkurat University, University of Palangkaraya, Mulawarman University and Borneo Tarakan University ( UBT).
Festival Tari Borneo was introduced in 2006 by UiTM Kota Samarahan, which hosted the first and second editions.
The subsequent hosts were UiTM Kota Kinabalu, UNTAN, again UiTM Kota Samarahan and Mulawarman University in Samarinda, East Kalimantan.
For inquiries, contact the event management line at 086-8555213, or follow @ ftb.upmkb on Instagram, or ‘upmkb’ on Facebook.