Mayors arrive for heritage cities forum

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Surakarta 

At least 156 mayors from 32 cities in Asia and Europe and others from across the country are expected to attend the 2008 World Heritage Cities Conference and Expo (WHCCE) in Surakarta, Central Java, running from Oct. 26 to 28. 

"Some of the delegations have already arrived in Surakarta," the event's promotion manager Irfan Sutikno told The Jakarta Post on Friday. 

At least 450 members in all have confirmed their participation. Mayors and regents from across the country have also registered as participants. An estimated 2,000 people will flock to Surakarta to attend the conference. 

Russia is the country with the highest number of participants (67), followed by Thailand (26), China (14), and Ukraine (9). Other countries participating in the event include Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Spain. 

At least 93 mayors from Indonesia will also participate, in addition to those representing heritage cities. 

One heritage city, Kutai in East Kalimantan, will send a 150-member arts troupe to the event, to be opened by Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik. 

Kutai will present a Hudoq performance from the Bahau Dayak tribe. The city of Kazan in the Russian Federation will also send a cultural group to perform at the Pura Mangkunegaran, the palace in Surakarta. 

Head of Sustainable Tourism at the World Tourism Organization and secretary-general of the Organization of World Heritage Cities, Eugenio Yunis, and Indonesian ambassador to Russia Hamid Awaluddin are also slated to attend the event. 

"Besides boosting networking, the conference will also be beneficial to share experiences among participants, especially in managing cultural assets as tourism potential," Surakarta Mayor Joko Widodo said recently. 

Joko said preparations for the event were almost completed both at the main site, the Sunan Hotel, and at the Pura Mangkunegaran where various art performances would be held and historical artifacts exhibited. 

Joko said the country's cultural riches have not been well promoted, so the heritage of many regions and cities were unfamiliar both to the Indonesian public and the outside world. 

He urged cities in Indonesia to present their respective local cultural products during the event, including cuisine, arts and handicrafts, music and dramatic performances. 

Joko has also requested the entire membership of the Organization of World Heritage Cities fully support this year's event in Surakarta. 

The event will commence on the afternoon of Oct. 26 with a parade involving the entire delegation and host committee. At least seven horse-drawn carriages and dozens of buggies have been prepared to carry the mayors who will don traditional attire. It will then be followed by various attractions, such as dances and music from cities across the country. 

A welcome dinner will be held the first night at Taman Balekambang, a new park in the city which rejuvenated a once-squalid area. 

The WHCCE conference will also organize various art performances and exhibit historical artifacts, such as masks, kris, leather shadow puppets and gamelan. Participants will also be invited to visit Kampung Laweyan and Kauman, two batik centers in Surakarta. 

The Pura Mangkunegaran will also organize workshops on gamelan playing and kris making.