Indonesian Culture

Located off the coast of mainland Southeast Asia, Indonesia is one of many Asian countries in the world. The beautiful country of Indonesia exhibits a rich diversity of cultural products and practices. Offering fun festivals, delicious food, amazing clothes, and so much more.

In Indonesia, verbal art is abundant. These pieces of verbal art like the didong poetry of Aceh or the tekena’ epic tales of the Kenyah of Kalimantan are presented through oral-traditional performance. Another verbal art is Contemporary Indonesian literature which began in the early 1930s with the founding of the journal Poedjangga Baroe ("The New Writer").

Theater and dance are a big part of Indonesia's rich culture. Many of Indonesia’s oldest theater forms can be linked directly to local literary traditions, both oral and written. Plays such as puppet theater are examples of theater. Wayang golek is an example of puppet theater that tells muslim stories called menaks. Wayang golek is extremely popular as 80% of Indonesia’s population are Muslims. Dance can sometimes be incorporated in theatrical traditions, these dances are typically called dance-dramas. Wayang wong and wayang topen (masked theater) of Java and Bali are the most widely known dance-dramas. The tales of the witch Calonarang are told by wayang wong and wayang topen.

Music is another big part of Indonesia’s culture. Many Indonesian songs use the instruments gamelan, gongs, metallophones, xylophones, and drums. Many musical traditions of Indonesia include instrumental and vocal elements from international sources.

Visual arts is another diverse part of Indonesia’s culture. Predominately made up of encompassing sculpture, carving, painting, textile design, etc. Carving and painting are the most well known traditions of visual arts in Indonesia.