Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) tied a partnership with Universitas Harapan Bangsa (UHB) in implementing the 2023 Social Collaboration of Public Development or ‘Kolaborasi Sosial Membangun Masyarakat (Kosabangsa). In implementing this program, Udinus will serve as the companion of the executing team from Universitas Harapan Bangsa in strengthening local cultural heritage.

Kosabangsa is a funding program initiated by the Directorate of General of Higher Education, Research, and Technology of the Ministry of Education. The program will develop the arts of ‘Lengger’ and ‘Wayang Kulit Gagrag Banyumasan’ as the output. Specifically, the program will be conducted in Sudagaran Village as the village has the potential to conserve the local cultures of Banyumas. Thus, it needs to be developed even further.

The Head Companion and the Dean of the Humanities Faculty, Dr. Raden Arief Nugroho, S.S., M.Hum., mentioned that there were many preparations they had to do, including conducting a Forum Group Discussion about the preparation for initiating a tourism village using culture as the basis.

“Additionally, to ensure the sustainability of our program, we tie a partnership bond with several parties involved, including the Sudagaran Village Authorities, the Banyumasan Alengger House Foundation, the Indonesian Puppeteers Association in Banyumas, and a Wayang Kulit Fan Club known as Gagtag Banyumasan BIMA Maneges,” the dean explained.

On the same occasion, Tin Utami, SST., S.Kep., Ners., M.Kes., a representative from UHB, explained that the program held the mission to conduct an ‘educonservation’ program of local cultures with the help of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Moreover, there are two kinds of companying processes, encompassing education and conservation.

The Folktale Text Transformation mode will be implemented in the education process functioning to adapt the local folklore in Banyumas into other kinds of media. A prime example of this would be cartoons or characters.

“As for the conservation process, we would like to apply the Folkloristic model. With this model, we will do our best in conserving the storyline in Wayang Puppet Show by adding a bit of visual-dramatic elements in it,” she explained.

As the companion, Udinus will later conduct an evaluation and monitor the program. (Humas Udinus/Alex. Foto: Humas Udinus)