A short history of Zapin - The word Zapin originated from Arabic word “Zafn” which means fast feet movements in harmony with the fast rhythm of the music. The word Zapin usually used in North Sumatera and Riau, meanwhile in different region it could mean a different word. Zapin dance is one of traditional Malay folk dance that still exists until now. According to history, Zapin is an entertainment dance for the royals in the palace brought from Hadramaut, Yaman by the Arabic merchants in the early 16th century.

As an entertainment offering dance, Zapin dance is divided into three parts: Part 1 is the beginning, part 2 is the core of the dance, and part 3 is the closing. Zapin dance posture has a distinct characteristics, the body have to move like running waves. Usually, Zapin dance have religious elements like words of advice and praises to religious greatness.

On 20-24 November 2017, CIOFF Indonesia was back in collaboration with Galeri Indonesia Kaya in their Creative Space Workshop, this time bringing Zapin Dance to the floor. The workshop was attended by up to 20 people combined from the two sessions, with the first session on 4:00 to 6:00 PM, and the second one was on 7:00 to 9:00 PM everyday. After 5 days of workshop session, the participants got the chance to perform on 25 November 2017 as the opening of one of Galeri Indonesia Kaya event.

Through time, the participants decreased up until 7 people to perform because, unfortunately some of the participants weren’t able to attend the performance day. But anyhow, they still managed to learn the dance during the workshop days.

During the workshop, the participants were first socialized with the history and background of the dance giving them an understanding regarding the dance. After that, the basic movements and body posture of the dance were introduced to give them the bigger picture on how they should do the dance. With the basics in mind, they proceed to learn the dance during the workshop.

Although the workshop seems to be short, the participants managed to memorize all the dance movements and all the details in just 5 days. With only 2 hours per day practices, they managed to do not only the dance but also the blocking configurations for the performance. The participants seemed very eager to learn and up for the challenge.

On the performance day, the participants came in the morning to do all the necessary preparations. They first do blockings on the stage, and then have one last rehearsal on the stage before doing their make-up and costume.

The performance started at 3:00 PM for the opening of one of Galeri Indonesia Kaya’s event. The performance went smoothly. The participants’ hard work were not in vain, they performed wonderfully and received great appreciation from the audience.

Polewali International Folk and Art Festival was back again for the second time, held on the 1st - 5th of August 2017 with participating CIOFF countries; Slovakia, Malaysia, Thailand, India and South Korea. The Opening Ceremony was held at H.S. Mengga Stadium Sport Center, audienced by West Sulawesi Governor, Ali Baal Masdar and Vice Regent of Polewali Mandar, Andi Ibrahim Masdar. All of the delegates did a parade around the stadium and had a short performance at a certain spot in front of the VIP tribune. One of Polewali Mandar’s tradition, Sayyang Pattu’du (Dancing Horse) was also performed by the host’s team.






The stages during Polewali International Folk and Art Festival were divided into several venues, which are Tinambung District, Bahari Beach, Wonomulyo, and the main stage at H.S. Mengga Stadium Sport Center. One of the highlights was the street performance at Tinambung District, which received great response from the locals as they started clapping and even singing to the performer’s music. Many of the locals were very interested to watch the performances, one source said that it was a very unique experience to be able to see various dances from various countries participating in the festival, and hopefully the festival would be back next year.



All of the delegates were also invited to mangrove tree-planting and releasing baby sea turtles to the sea, at Mampie Beach. The activity was hoped to raise awareness towards preserving the natural habitat of endangered animals, which in this case was sea turtles. The activity then continued with introduction to Polewali Mandar’s traditional game, Magasing. All of the delegates had fun trying to play as they managed to crack laughters between them. Besides all that, the delegates had their taste buds excited by the taste of Polewali Mandar traditional food. Among the served foods were steamed sweet potato, bau toppa peapi (cooked fish), jepa, sambusa, tumis lureh and penja, etc. Most of the delegates were loving the fish and meat dish because of the exotic cooking method.





Taken from radarsulbar.fajar.id, Indonesian Deputy of Tourism Marketing Development, Mrs. Esthy Reko Astuty, PIFAF would be added to National Tourism Calendar. Mrs. Ethy also shared her hopes for PIFAF to be able to level up their game in the future and arrange something unique to attract more tourists as she saw potential in Polewali Mandar. The Governor of West Sulawesi, Mr. Ali Baal Masdar also share his thoughts regarding PIFAF. “Tourism sector is one of the biggest foreign exchange contributor for Indonesia. Hopefully, PIFAF would open up ways to develop tourism industry through investations”, quoted from antaranews.com.



During the festival, the delegates had to do a workshop to share about their culture and tradition between the participating countries and the young generations of Polewali Mandar. The workshop took place at two public high schools, SMAN 3 Polewali Mandar and SMAN 1 Polewali Mandar. The workshops went very well, and was very interactive. The students were getting involved in learning traditional dances and musics of the participating countries. The workshop was hoped to broaden the perspective of the students and all of the participants, and also raised understanding of how diverse the existing traditions are.

On the last day, the festival committee arrange some interesting activities for the delegates before the closing ceremony, such as, releasing of baby sea turtles at Tanjung Buku beach, making traditional Cassava Chips, and also riding Bentor around Polewali Mandar. By the end of the day, the delegates performed their final performances at the main stage marking the closing of the festival.





The closing of Polewali Mandar International Folk and Art Festival 2017 marked the closing of CIOFF Indonesia’s folk festival season. The festival surely left positive impression towards all parties involved. With all the fun, knowledge, culture, and tradition shared, hopefully the delegates would come back to Polewali Mandar, and also that the festival would be back next year with more improvements.

 The winner of The Most Popular Festival in 2016, Erau International Folk and Art Festival was back for the 5th time this year. Held from 22nd - 30th of July, the festival consisted of lots of activities, traditional ceremonies, and performances. This year, eight countries took part in the festival, among them were from Chinese Taipei, Bulgaria, India, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, and Poland. And also lots of groups from Indonesia were taking parts, among them were from Gubang, North Sulawesi, Malang, Paguyuban Minang, Paguyuban Bali, Paguyuban South Sulawesi, and also around 93 groups from Kutai Kertanegara.

EIFAF 2017 started with Opening Parade started from Timbau Skatepark to Kedaton of Kutai Kertanegara and finished at Pancasila Monument, where every group had to do a short performance. That night, the Welcoming Dinner was held at Kutai Kertanegara Regent’s Office, welcomed by the Regent herself, Mrs. Rita Widyasari. The event was attended by a long-list of special guests, among them were, Special Envoy of Seychelles for ASEAN, Mr. Nico Barito, ASEAN Secretary-General, Mr. Lê Lương Minh, and 18 Ambassadors from United States of America, Turkey, Srilanka, Singapore, Serbia, Panama, Myanmar, Morocco, Libya, South Korea, Iraq, Egypt, Cuba, Chile, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, and Afghanistan.

There were many traditional ceremony done during EIFAF. Surely, for our foreign delegates, it was a very interesting experience for them to see. They also participate in some of the traditional ceremony, some of them were Bepelas and Beseprah Ceremony. Bepelas Ceremony, meant to worship the Sultan’s spirit and body from head to toe, so that the Sultan gain strength in performing duties and customs. The Bepelas Ceremony was done in the Kedaton of Kutai Kertanegara. Beseprah Ceremony, in Bahasa Kutai means eating together while sitting cross-legged on a mat, held at Timur Monument Street up until Mulawarman. All of the participants began the ceremony as breakfast, and the food was served on a very long mat to accommodate all of the participants and committees.

All the delegates participated in Green Tenggarong Ceremony, held at Kumala Island, where they planted trees as part of an effort to lower Indonesia’s gas emission. Other than that, the delegates were also introduced to Dayak’s traditional Games called Menyumpit and also Dagongan. Menyumpit has similar concept as darts but you have to blow the sumpit to reach the target instead of throwing it. Meanwhile, Dagongan is a game with a long bamboo tree as the instrument and played like tug of war but, instead of pulling, the players have to push to their opponents. The winners for the traditional games got prizes and both of the winning and losing sides had one thing in common which was shared fun and happiness.

The Closing Ceremony of the festival was filled with performances from the delegates. Then, the ceremony was topped off with Jepen dance flashmob performed by all of the delegates and all committees involved. It was such a wonderful evening, and a way to close the wonderful Erau International Folk and Art Festival 2017. Hope to be back again soon next year!