Southeast Asian e-magazine Khabar Southeast Asia reports about an interesting initiative in Jakarta where a mosque becomes the centre of a jazz festival during Ramadan.
JAKARTA- Islam in Indonesia is a very soft form of religion, where local traditions and even elements from other religions are blending together, giving to the faith a very distinctive and relaxed character. Except for a few fanatics, Indonesian Muslims are rather open-minded people.
A good testimony of Indonesian approach to religion is reported by the e-magazine Khabar Southeast Asia which highlighted the recent hosting of a Jazz festival in late July within the compound of the Cut Meutia Mosque in Jakarta. This was the second edition of the annual Ramadan Jazz Festival where musicians and groups from all across the archipelago came to entertain thousands of viewers.
“We want to send a message to Muslim youth that the mosque is actually a cool place for Muslim youth to hang out,” said Agus Setiawan to Khabar reporter. He works with Jakarta-based jazz promoters Warta Jazz, which produced the festival together with the Cut Meutia Mosque Islamic Youth Association (RICMA). “The mosque is actually not only a worship place. It is also a place to socialise,” Agus added.
“Jazz is very popular among young Muslims in Jakarta. We use jazz music as a medium to preach and approach young people, so there would be more Indonesian youth coming to the mosque more often,” he added.
This year’s festival featured 16 prominent Indonesian jazz musicians. They included Dwiki Dharmawan, Idang Rasjidi, Payung Teduh, Tompi, Endah N. Rhesa, Ari Pramudito, Barry Likumahuwa and also Jilly Likumahuwa. Coming from different backgrounds, they brought diversity and high-calibre talent to an event where the emphasis was on religious as well as musical harmony.
“Through the Ramadan Jazz Festival, we want to share the spirit of togetherness without being concerned about our differences,” said Agus, the Warta Jazz representative. “We want to show that Islam is a tolerant religion. For example, we not only invited Muslim jazz musicians, but also Christian jazz musicians such as Barry Likumahuwa and also Jilly Likumahuwa,” he explained.
The message has been well received: the first edition in 2011 drew some f 2,500 young audience members from the greater Jakarta area. This year, attendance at the July 27th-28th event was almost doubled at over 4,000. The event is on the way to become part of the cultural landscape of Jakarta and it could become also an interesting place to visit for distinctive foreign travellers’ group. Who said that Islam and jazz could not go along together?
(Source: Khabar Southeast Asia)
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
