Jakarta — Angga Prasetyawan, a master’s student in the Performing Arts and Visual Arts Studies Program (PSPSR), Graduate School, Universitas Gadjah Mada, participated as one of the presenters at “LISAN XIII: International Seminar and Festival of Nusantara Oral Traditions 2026“, held from August 5–8, 2026, at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM), Central Jakarta.
At the forum, Angga presented a paper entitled “Merawat Iman, Budaya, dan Kemanusiaan: Tradisi Lisan dan Praktik Performatif dalam Pahargyan Ekaristi Prosesi Agung 2026 di Gereja Katolik Hati Kudus Tuhan Yesus Ganjuran, Yogyakarta”. The paper examined how oral traditions and performative practices are manifested within a Catholic religious celebration that closely interacts with Javanese culture, particularly through the use of language, prayers and hymns, gamelan music, traditional attire, processions, gestures, and various other performative elements within the Eucharistic celebration.
The study demonstrates that oral traditions are not limited to customary practices conventionally categorized as traditions. Rather, they may continue to live, be actualized, and acquire new contexts within religious spaces. The Pahargyan Ekaristi Prosesi Agung at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Ganjuran provides an example of how tradition, spirituality, performing arts, and communal experience intersect within contemporary society.
Oral Tradition as a Bridge Between the Past, Present, and Future
LISAN XIII is an international forum organized by the Asosiasi Tradisi Lisan (ATL), or Oral Tradition Association, bringing together academics, researchers, cultural activists, artists, and practitioners of oral traditions from various regions and disciplinary backgrounds. Through seminars, discussions, performances, festivals, and other cultural activities, the forum provides a space for dialogue on the existence, safeguarding, development, and utilization of oral traditions amid social change.
In its 2026 edition, LISAN XIII adopted the theme “The Role of Oral Tradition as Intangible Cultural Heritage in Nurturing Humanity, Nature, and Life from the Past into the Future”. The theme reflects an awareness that technological advancement, globalization, and rapidly changing social conditions present both challenges and opportunities for the sustainability of oral traditions.
The forces of globalization and the rapid development of information technology have brought significant changes to attitudes, behavior, perspectives, communication patterns, and value systems within society. Such changes, often understood as part of cultural disruption, may pose a threat when traditions are perceived as no longer relevant to modern life. At the same time, however, technology and social transformation also create new possibilities for traditions to be documented, published, interpreted, and introduced to wider audiences
Within this context, safeguarding oral traditions is not merely concerned with preserving traditional forms exactly as they were inherited from the past. It also involves considering how traditions can adapt while continuing to serve meaningful functions for their supporting communities. Tradition may therefore be understood as something living and dynamic, continuously negotiated through social practices and changing historical circumstances.
One of the enduring concerns in oral tradition studies is the declining number of masters and practitioners who possess deep knowledge of particular cultural practices. This situation has made documentation, regeneration, revitalization, and intergenerational transmission of knowledge increasingly urgent. Researchers, cultural practitioners, communities, and cultural institutions face the challenge of ensuring that the knowledge held by cultural masters does not disappear with the passing of a generation.
These challenges become even more complex as societies confront natural disasters, conflicts, pandemics, the degradation of cultural ecosystems, climate change, and digital technological development. Such conditions can transform the living environments of communities while simultaneously affecting how traditions are practiced and transmitted.
For this reason, LISAN XIII places particular emphasis on oral tradition as cultural heritage capable of connecting experiences from the past with life in the present and the future. The forum also encourages innovative approaches to cultural heritage safeguarding so that traditions are not merely preserved as remnants of the past, but continue to function as living knowledge that remains meaningful and useful to the communities that sustain them.
Encouraging Regeneration and the Sustainability of Tradition
Through LISAN XIII, the Oral Tradition Association seeks to generate findings, ideas, and recommendations that can contribute to the development of traditional studies and cultural policy. Particular attention is also given to communities that have received limited recognition, communities in marginalized regions, women, and cultural masters as custodians and transmitters of traditional knowledge.
The forum also strengthens commitment to the regeneration, documentation, research, and publication of oral traditions. Regeneration is particularly important because the sustainability of a tradition depends heavily on the transmission of knowledge across generations and on a community’s ability to continually reinterpret its traditions according to contemporary needs.
In addition to academic discussions, LISAN XIII also serves as a platform for introducing traditional arts and cultural practices beyond their communities of origin. Encounters among tradition bearers, researchers, artists, and audiences create opportunities for intercultural dialogue while fostering greater appreciation for the diversity of Indonesia’s cultural heritage.
Through these activities, the richness of oral tradition is positioned not merely as an object of academic study, but also as a cultural force that contributes to social relationships, identity formation, collective memory, and respect for diversity.
Academic Experience and a Space for Knowledge Exchange
Participation in LISAN XIII provided Angga Prasetyawan with valuable academic experience, particularly in further developing his study of the relationships among performing arts, oral tradition, religion, and culture. Presenting his paper at an international forum also provided an opportunity to examine and refine his research ideas through discussions with academics, researchers, and practitioners representing diverse perspectives on oral tradition.
The forum also broadened the understanding that oral tradition encompasses a wide spectrum of cultural practices. Oral tradition does not merely concern folktales, myths, legends, or spoken narratives, but may also be manifested through bodily practices, rituals, music, songs, language, collective memory, ceremonies, and performative practices that remain alive within communities.
Through his study of the Pahargyan Ekaristi Prosesi Agung in Ganjuran, Angga sought to understand oral tradition as a dynamic process emerging from encounters between the Catholic faith and Javanese culture. Within this context, inculturation can be understood not simply as the incorporation of local cultural ornaments or symbols into religious rituals, but as a process of meaning-making involving language, the body, music, space, community participation, and shared experience.
Discussions with fellow participants at LISAN XIII also provided a space for reflection on the importance of community involvement in sustaining traditions. Cultural preservation is not merely an effort to store or document cultural forms; it also concerns the ways communities continue to practice, interpret, transmit, and negotiate traditions within everyday life.
The experience further enriched an interdisciplinary perspective on art and culture. Oral traditions may be examined through performance studies, anthropology, religious studies, history, aesthetics, cultural studies, and other approaches that offer a more comprehensive understanding of living cultural practices.
Participation in an international forum such as LISAN XIII also provided opportunities to develop academic and cultural networks with researchers, scholars, artists, communities, and tradition bearers from various regions. These encounters are expected to open further possibilities for knowledge exchange, collaborative research, and cultural initiatives in the future.
Angga Prasetyawan’s participation in LISAN XIII is aligned with the commitment of the Performing Arts and Visual Arts Studies Program at UGM to encourage students to actively participate in academic forums, develop interdisciplinary research, and establish academic networks at both national and international levels. The activity also contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly:
- SDG 4 (Quality Education): Student participation in international academic forums supports educational processes that extend beyond classroom learning. Presenting research, engaging in scholarly discussions, and exchanging knowledge with academics and practitioners from diverse backgrounds contribute to the improvement of higher education quality, research competencies, critical thinking, and academic communication skills.
- SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities): The studies and activities presented through LISAN XIII are closely related to efforts to safeguard intangible cultural heritage as an integral part of community identity and sustainability. Documentation, revitalization, regeneration, and the continued actualization of traditions are important measures to ensure that social transformation and development do not erase cultural memory and practices embedded within community life.
- SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals): LISAN XIII brings together universities, professional associations, researchers, cultural communities, artists, and tradition bearers within a shared space for the exchange of ideas. Such cross-institutional, interdisciplinary, and intercommunity encounters highlight the importance of collaboration in safeguarding and developing cultural heritage, as well as in building a sustainable ecosystem for cultural research. The participation of a PSPSR UGM student in LISAN XIII therefore represents not only an individual academic achievement, but also part of a broader effort to strengthen the contribution of higher education to research, cultural preservation, and dialogue between academia and society. Through forums such as LISAN XIII, oral tradition is reaffirmed not merely as a legacy of the past, but as living knowledge that continues to evolve with the times. Tradition becomes a space through which communities remember the past, understand the present, and formulate values to be passed on to future generations. (BBAP)
