BY RINITIMUR ON
The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) will hold a Papua Street Carnival event around the Governor of Papua’s office in early July 2023. This event is in collaboration with the Papua Youth Creative Hub (PYCH) which is under the auspices of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN). The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is also working with the Provincial Government of Papua to ensure the success of the Papua Street Carnival.
A series of pre-event Papua Street Carnival have been carried out, one of which was a singing audition which was attended by dozens of talented singers from Papua. After a rigorous audition process, seven participants were selected who made it to the next stage. These participants will receive guidance and training to prepare for their appearance at the peak of the Papua Street Carnival.
One of the participants who passed, Marshanda Imbiri (21) expressed his happiness and pride for his success in this event. For him, taking part in the Papua Street Carnival is an extraordinary honor.
“I feel happy, nervous, don’t think I can take part in an audition of this magnitude. I am happy, proud and grateful,” said Marshanda in a written statement, Monday (3/7/2023).
He admitted that he was excited to give the best performance to the audience who attended.
“My hope is that in the future I can move on to make Papua proud. (I) really want to (become a singer),” he said.
Apart from Marshanda, another participant namely Ino Kyeukyeu (25) also expressed his pride at having passed this big event.
“It is very extraordinary that auditions are held within the framework of the Papua Street Carnival. This is an event that will show the talents of Papuan children,” he said.
He admitted that the competition in the auditions was very tight because many Papuan children have extraordinary talent.
“My hope is that this event will continue to exist and there will be more big events that show the original talents of Papuan children,” said Ino.
The presence of many talented participants made the Papua Street Carnival even more lively and stunning. It is hoped that this event will become a stage for Papuan youth to shine and contribute to introducing Papua’s culture and tourism potential to the world.
Papua Street Carnival involves thousands of creative economy actors, thousands of performers, hundreds of fashion parades, hundreds of creative MSME exhibitions, hundreds of decorative boats to a carnival. They will present a variety of Papuan works and cultural heritage which are rich, beautiful and unique.
With the active participation of young Papuans, designers, artists and other creative economy actors, this event has the potential to become an icon of Papuan tourism. The hope is that the performance will open up investment opportunities in the creative economy sector, have a positive impact on the local economy, increase people’s income, and become an effective promotional event for the Papuan tourism sector to the world. All elements of the event are designed to reflect the richness of Papuan culture so that participants and spectators can feel the beauty of this traditional heritage.
President Jokowi and Menparekraf Sandiaga Salahudin Uno are planned to attend the Papua Street Carnival. It is known that President Jokowi has shown great concern for the people of Papua by taking various steps to increase development and prosperity in the Papua region.