Through the Festival Seni Bedog (Bedog Arts Festival), the public, artists, journalists, and other interested parties, are called to be wiser in managing water resources and the environment in general.

Yogyakarta. From the banks of Bedog River in Kradenan Village, Sleman, Yogyakarta, a message has been sent out as part of a campaign on protecting water resources. The message was in the form of an art festival where all activities aim to increase awareness on proper water and river management. It was also a topic so close with ESP daily activities, that the organization decided to fully support the Bedog Arts Festival.

The Bedog Arts Festival was the brainchild of Studio Banjarmili, owned by the dancer-choreographer Martinus Miroto, in cooperation with a number of other parties, including ESP, ArtsNetworkAsia, the Sleman Regency administration, and Gadjah Mada University. From August 8 through 12, 2008, a variety of events were held to remind the public of the importance of water to sustaining human life.

There were ketoprak performances, and traditional dances such as Jejer Banyuwangi, Topeng Bali, and Mbis from Papua, as well as the screening of the film ”Opera Jawa (Javanese Opera)”. A public discussion themed “Protecting Water Resources from the Point of View of Art and the Public” is also held featuring well-known speakers including Garin Nugroho, Bambang Sugiharto from Parahyangan University, M. Baiquni from Gadjah Mada University , Nindityo and Angger Jati Wijaya.

During the discussion, Garin set out his views on a multi-disciplinary approach to creating art, and how art can play a role as a medium to increase public awareness in natural conservation. According to Garin, efforts to protect and preserve water resources, in this case, the Bedog River in particular, by packaging the message in the arts, was an interesting step to take within the contexts of both art and environmental conservation.

“This will become a pillar for the protection of water resources like Bedog River, in particular, and for environmental protection in general,” said Garin.

In the meantime, Angger Jati Wijaya said that we have committed in a collective mistake in the treatment of rivers, one of our most important water resources. We have turned our rivers and canals into dangerous waste dumps.

“Our rivers, because of their integral relationship to the environment and life, are prime indicators of how our natural resources are being managed and treated,” Angger said.

Angger added that it is time to take action toward saving the environment by making everyone more aware of the fact that we have been threatening the environment through bad river management. We must learn to manage our waterways much more intelligently.

Yudi Wijanarko, Yogyakarta/Central Java ESP