THE first national-level Chinese New Year celebration is expected to deepen cultural understanding and promote creative cooperation between Indonesia and China, Creative Economy Deputy Minister Irene Umar has said.
“I feel that a deep understanding of cultures at the national level will promote diplomatic exchanges between the two nations,” Irene said in an interview on Friday.
She noted that as bilateral exchanges expand across business, academia and communities, a deeper understanding will be achieved.
According to the Creative Economy Ministry, the inaugural national Chinese New Year Festival will be held from Feb 17 to March 3 at Lapangan Banteng in Jakarta.
The celebration will feature lantern festivals, culinary and creative market festivals, an open museum showcasing Chinese cultural acculturation, the Nusantara Chinese New Year Parade, and other inclusive public events.
Irene, who also serves as chairperson of the National Chinese New Year Organising Committee, said the celebration takes on added meaning as it coincides with the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
For Irene, who is of Chinese descent, elevation of the celebration to the national level carries special significance.
“This is something very special and close to my heart,” she said. “This is an opportunity to showcase to everyone that, hey, let’s get together with love.”
Beyond its cultural significance, Irene said the festival provides concrete support for Indonesia’s creative economy by offering platforms for local entrepreneurs and creators.
One of the key programmes is a large-scale bazaar scheduled from Feb 22 to March 1, featuring more than 200 local brands, including food and beverage businesses as well as non-food and beverage brands.
“The purpose is for all Indonesians, of all walks of life, to gather because food combines and blends people,” she said.
Irene also highlighted how the celebration encourages cultural innovation and helps make traditional culture relevant to younger generations.
Meanwhile, horse imagery has begun to appear widely across streets, galleries and public spaces in Vietnam, reflecting the festive atmosphere surrounding the arrival of the Year of the Horse in the traditional lunar zodiac.
In Vietnamese culture, the Lunar New Year marks the most important holiday of the year, when families reunite, homes are decorated, and symbolic animals associated with the zodiac year are displayed to convey wishes for luck, vitality and harmony in the year ahead.
French tourist Louise Oiseau and her friends found themselves unexpectedly immersed in a series of horse-themed art exhibitions in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi, discovering that the image of the horse here carries meanings strikingly different from those in her home culture.
“In France, horses are associated with sports, art, the military, as well as transport and liberty,” Louise said, adding that the horses she encountered in Vietnam appeared stronger and more powerful, while those in her country tend to feel gentler. — Xinhua
