International Conference on Papuan Cultural Diversity

in the Mosaic of Indonesian Cultures

Organised by the Provincial Government of Papua in collaboration with

the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism,

UNDP Indonesia and UNESCO Office, Jakarta

Jayapura, Indonesia, 8 – 11 November 2010

 Draft Adopted Recommendations

Introduction

The International Conference on Papuan Cultural Diversity in the Mosaic of Indonesian Cultures was held in Jayapura, Indonesia from 8 – 11 November 2010 including a one-day excursion. The conference was organized by the Provincial Government of Papua in collaboration with the Republic of Indonesia’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the UNDP Indonesia and the UNESCO Office in Jakarta. The participants were from the provincial government, the central government, UN agencies, academic institutions, community groups, the private sector, NGOs, the local media and various national and international institutions from Australia, Fiji, Germany, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.

The Conference aims to formulate recommendations for action by the Provincial Government of Papua for the preservation, conservation and promotion of the rich Papuan cultural heritage, including tangible and intangible cultural properties, knowledge of orang asli Papua, local values and cultural expressions. The effective preservation and promotion of Papuan cultural diversity are fundamental actions not only for economic growth but also for intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual development for Papua Province.

 The participants of the International Conference:

1.      Commend the efforts made by the Provincial Government of Papua, with a full support of the Central Government of Indonesia (the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and related ministries), to gather participants from a variety of fields to discuss the challenges, issues, and future actions for the safeguarding of cultural diversity in Papua.

2.      Encourage the Provincial Government of Papua to facilitate and promote the organization of Papuan cultural events and festivals as a regular and on-going part of its programs.

3.      Recognise the importance of involving local communities in any conservation and tourism-related activities in Papua in order to raise public awareness and to enhance employment in Papua.

4.      Encourage the Government of Indonesia to continue its inter-sectoral coordination and information sharing at regency, provincial, and national levels of administration, to ensure the implementation of prioritized programmes by the relevant Indonesian authorities for the preservation and management of cultural diversity.

5.      Also encourage the Provincial Government of Papua to formulate and share to the stakeholders plans, strategies and goals for the identification, documentation, research, conservation, active use and development of the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Papua Province, with the objective of empowering local communities and supporting sustainable development.

6.      Emphasize the importance of strengthening the function and capacity of local communities, in particular youth and women, and cultural and educational institutions in their endeavours to identify, preserve, promote and manage the rich cultural diversity in Papua, including in the arts, music, ethnographic knowledge, languages and other cultural properties.

7.      Note that the role of women is crucial in transmitting culture. It should be recommended to the Provincial Government of Papua that the rights and roles of women in communities be supported at all levels.

8.      Propose that the Provincial Government of Papua promote the integration of Papuan arts and heritage studies into school curricula to raise awareness of the province’s rich historical and cultural knowledge.

9.      Also propose that the preservation of Papua’s cultural heritage be ensured by elaboration of the local regulatory framework.

10. Recommend that the Provincial Government of Papua allocate substantial funds from the government budget to safeguard the cultural heritage of Papua.

11. Request that the UN agencies, NGOs, academic institutes and the private sector use their technical expertise to support the effective conservation, management, and promotion of Papua’s cultural heritage.

12. Also request the Provincial Government of Papua to establish an inter-sectoral task force team for the facilitation of networking, exchange of experience, optimization of resources and the implementation of the recommendations.

Session 1: Papuan Cultural Diversity in its Melanesian Cultural Context: Intangible Cultural Heritage – Living Cultures, Social Practices, Rituals, Languages and Performing Arts

The participants of the International Conference:

1.      Note the strategic initiative of the Provincial Government of Papua in establishing the Papua Knowledge Centre in Kotaraja which has a critical role to play in the documentation of Papua’s cultural and linguistic heritage and in the provision of advice to the Provincial Government in the formulation of cultural heritage policies and planning.

2.      Commend the efforts made by the Centre for Endangered Languages Documentation (CELD) Papua at the State University of Papua in preserving and documenting languages in the Papuan provinces and encourage the CELD to continue its efforts with full involvement of Papuan communities, national and international universities, language centres and the government.

3.      Strongly support the initiative of the Provincial Government of Papua to establish the Papua Research Institute (Lembaga Riset Papua) in Jayapura, as stipulated in the Governor’s Decree number 111 Year 2008 and encourage the government to facilitate cooperation between the Papua Research Institute and the Papua Knowledge Centre as well as with the research centres at Papua’s universities.

4.      Encourage the churches in Papua to continue to develop the use of local and/or mother languages in their services, sermons and liturgy in order to support the preservation and development of these languages.

5.      Encourage the media in Papua, including local television, radio, and newspapers, to use Papuan languages and dialects in their reporting and information programs. 

6.      Recommend that the Provincial Government of Papua, in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, establish education programmes, school curricula and capacity building to promote mother tongue education and “inter-generational language transmission”[1].

Session 2: Learning the Best Practices of Neighbouring Countries for the Protection of Cultural Diversity

1.      Suggest that the Provincial Government of Papua study the experiences and lessons learnt from our neighbouring provinces and countries to develop its cultural policies and strategies and to share the information with other provinces in Indonesia and neighbouring countries.

2.      Encourage the Provincial Government of Papua, with the participation of the local communities, to use appropriate digital technology in the documentation of intangible cultural heritage, and to cooperate with Papuan digital archives to ensure the long-term preservation and access to this heritage.

Session 3: Papuan Cultural Diversity: Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Papua – Opportunities and Challenges

The participants of the International Conference:

1.      Suggest that the Provincial Government of Papua to promote the inventory of intangible cultural heritage based on the Presidential Decree No. 78 Year 2007 on the Adoption of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

2.      Note that the Yosim Pancar dance (a common dance in Papua) has already been studied and documented and encourage the Provincial Government of Papua to continue to study other Papuan dances for their preservation.

3.      Encourage the Provincial Government of Papua to suggest the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to nominate the ‘Noken’ (a traditional multi-function bag which is found in almost all ethnic groups in Papua) and Yosim Pancar dance (a common dance in Papua) for the inscription on the ‘UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanities”.

4.      Recommend that the Provincial Government of Papua utilize the ‘Practical Handbook for Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indonesia’ [2] as a guide and framework to facilitate the participation of communities, particularly communities of orang asli Papua, in the preservation of their intangible cultural heritage.

Session 4: Tangible Cultural Heritage in Papua: Preservation and Promotion of the Cultural Heritage of Papua

The participants of the International Conference:

1.      Note that the support from the Provincial Government of Papua is essential in the preservation of the traditional tangible cultural heritage in Papua, so as to avoid the disappearance of such Papuan cultural property.

2.      Note the important role of museums in Papua for recognition of Papuan identity and encourage the provincial and regency governments of Papua to give a higher priority to the improvement of museums and to fully support the role of museums for cultural heritage education among the general public.

3.      Acknowledge the efforts of the Papuan Archaeological Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in conducting mapping of archaeological objects and artefacts in Papua, and encourage the office to continue the site investigations in close cooperation with researchers and academic institutions.

4.      Suggest that the Provincial Government of Papua support artists, in particular youth and women, to perform traditional and contemporary arts to promote cultural diversity in Papua.

5.      Also suggest that the Provincial Government of Papua preserve the valuable rock art, such as in Kaimana and Berau, through the support of integrated scientific research and education of local communities to encourage them to safeguard their cultural heritage.

6.      Further suggest that the Provincial Government of Papua make its efforts to repatriate Papuan cultural artefacts which were dispersed to other countries and to ensure the protection of these repatriated cultural artefacts.

7.        Recommend that the Government of Indonesia re-evaluate the existing law for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights to ensure the coverage of native crafts based production.

Session 5: The Role of the Values of orang asli Papua and Local Knowledge in Sustainable Development

The participants of the International Conference:

1.      Acknowledge that the values of orang asli Papua and their local wisdom should be respected and utilized for local community empowerment and sustainable development of Papua.

2.      Also acknowledge the efforts of international and national researchers in researching and documenting the values of orang asli Papua and their local knowledge. Researchers should be encouraged to share the result of their studies with the relevant stakeholders to promote preservation and revitalization.

3.      Suggest that the Provincial Government of Papua socialize and promote the knowledge of orang asli Papua, their cultural values and local wisdom through formal and non formal education.

4.      Acknowledge the importance of Papuan culture in preserving Papuan forest and bio-diversity which contributes significantly in mitigating climate change, and encourage the Provincial and Regency Governments of Papua to continue their support of these local cultural practices and traditions.

Session 6: Economic Sustainability through Community Empowerment, Enhancement of Tourism and the Cultural Industry in Papua

1.      Encourage the Provincial Government of Papua to adopt a strategic approach towards the promotion of culture based industry for income generation in the communities of orang asli Papua.

2.      Recognize the efforts made by the Provincial Government of Papua to enhance the peaceful and safe condition of Papua in order to attract tourism and investment and encourage the continued coordination among the Central, Provincial and Regency Governments to further these ends.

3.      Encourage the Provincial Government of Papua to prioritize capacity building, not only in terms of enterpreneurship, especially market development, but also in terms of product development, innovation, technology and sustainable use of resources.

4.      Encourage the Provincial Government of Papua to support the extension and implementation of intellectual property, including the recognition of collective copyrights and geographical indication.

5.      Suggest the Provincial and Regency Governments of Papua to conduct mapping of the potential tourism destinations as the basis for tourism strategy development.

6.     Also suggest the Provincial Government of Papua to undertake all necessary efforts to facilitate the Papuan (orang asli) producers to obtain fair prices for their products.