SIBU: Sarawak Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has given his assurance that the sape will always be promoted together with the other traditional musical instruments.
“The sape has always been prominently featured by our cultural troupes both locally and abroad.
“It has never been abandoned or not promoted.
"It is part of Sarawak’s ethnic culture heritage and will always be promoted together with the other traditional musical instruments,” he said when contacted by TheBorneoPost yesterday on his ministry’s efforts to promote Sape.
Meanwhile an inaugural Borneo Youth Sape Festival kicked off here on Saturday with the participation of 16 local and foreign Sape players.
The event – the first of its kind in the country – included a Sape workshop and demonstration as well as a ‘Battle of Sape’ competition.
An organising chairman Alexander Frederick Diglin said apart from promoting the traditional musical instrument, the event’s aim was to promote tourism in Sibu.
The event saw Frenchman Julien Cottet, who was one of the participants, demonstrating his skills on the traditional instrument which he learned from a Sape player in Sarawak about six years ago.
Currently based in Kuching, Cottet runs Sape classes and is also a maker of the instrument.
A professional Sape player Saufi Aiman Yahya of Kuching commented the Borneo Youth Sape Festival is a viable platform to promote Sape among the younger generation.
“This is a way to bring back our youths to their cultural roots. I am not talking about race but about the Sarawak identity.
“Sape belongs to the Orang Ulu community but is played by all races these days and is widely accepted as Sarawak’s ‘diamond’,” said Saufi Aiman, who bagged four gold medals and a silver medal in the recent 21st Annual World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA), in California, United States.
The festival, held at 1Malaysia Cultural Village here, saw Jeffery Bandang and Brandon Daby crowned champion in the Traditional Category and Contemporary Category respectively. -@ybkarimsays
“The sape has always been prominently featured by our cultural troupes both locally and abroad.
“It has never been abandoned or not promoted.
"It is part of Sarawak’s ethnic culture heritage and will always be promoted together with the other traditional musical instruments,” he said when contacted by TheBorneoPost yesterday on his ministry’s efforts to promote Sape.
 |
| Alexander (right) poses with the winners of the ‘Battle of Sape’ competition. |
The event – the first of its kind in the country – included a Sape workshop and demonstration as well as a ‘Battle of Sape’ competition.
An organising chairman Alexander Frederick Diglin said apart from promoting the traditional musical instrument, the event’s aim was to promote tourism in Sibu.
The event saw Frenchman Julien Cottet, who was one of the participants, demonstrating his skills on the traditional instrument which he learned from a Sape player in Sarawak about six years ago.
Currently based in Kuching, Cottet runs Sape classes and is also a maker of the instrument.
A professional Sape player Saufi Aiman Yahya of Kuching commented the Borneo Youth Sape Festival is a viable platform to promote Sape among the younger generation.
“This is a way to bring back our youths to their cultural roots. I am not talking about race but about the Sarawak identity.
“Sape belongs to the Orang Ulu community but is played by all races these days and is widely accepted as Sarawak’s ‘diamond’,” said Saufi Aiman, who bagged four gold medals and a silver medal in the recent 21st Annual World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA), in California, United States.
The festival, held at 1Malaysia Cultural Village here, saw Jeffery Bandang and Brandon Daby crowned champion in the Traditional Category and Contemporary Category respectively. -@ybkarimsays
No comments:
Post a Comment