At least 130 local and foreign artists take part in Jogja International Street Performance 2011 activity which took place from September 26 to 28. It started with a street carnival in Jalan Persatuan, Bulaksumur, on the area of Universitas Gadjah Mada on Monday (26/9) afternoon. All participants marched on the road to exhibit their arts performances and attraction to the community.
Several artists from Indonesia in the event include Memet Chairul Slamet & Gangsadewa, Agung Gunawan, Nadidada, Surya Kencana, Pragina Gong-from Yogyakarta, Hanny Herlina from Jakarta, Ismanto & Gadung Mlathi from Magelang, Sura Dance from Bali, Saksak from Lombok and a number of arts groups from Yogyakarta.
The group of artists from foreign countries include South Korea’s Kim Daegun, Ronnarong Khampha from Thailand, Angela Lopez Lara from Spain, Tony Yap Company and Ida Lawrence from Australia, Kuam Nam and Nyoba Kan from Malaysia Preethi Atreya Dance from India and Alejandro Pino Esteban and El Pilo Luis Pinaglia from Chile.
UGM’s Head of Public Relations and Protocol, Drs. Suryo Baskoro, MS, states that UGM fully supports the Jogja International Street Performance activities initiated by the Yogyakarta Provincial Tourism Office. Moreover, these activities are conducted on the campus of UGM. "The impacts of activities are expected to serve as a means of tourism promotion for the Yogyakarta Special Region," he said.
According to Suryo, UGM supports the activities by closing Jalan Persatuan. Nevertheless, according to Suryo, the closures of the road forced vehicles coming from the Kaliurang Street to divert to Jalan Kesehatan. The result is traffic jam at rush hours. "Today especially at 07:00 to 9:00 a.m. and at other rush-hours, traffic jam happens on the segment of Jl. Kesehatan (in front of Sardjito Hospital)," said Suryo.
In anticipation of similar events in the future, Suryo expects the committee to communicate the activities from the beginning to UGM, so UGM can better manage vehicle traffic on campus. "In the future, such good activities held on the roads of UGM campus should better be informed early. Thus, the public, especially UGM academicians, can anticipate it better," he concluded.