This week, my research switches from clothes to dance. I found an article on Jakarta Globe about the 5th Indonesia Performing Art Mart (IPAM). IPAM is an event that shows Indonesian traditional art performances to different country representatives. Those representatives act as the buyers. So, they can choose the art they want and bring it to their countries.

I think an event like IPAM is very promising for the promotion of Indonesian traditional art. I believe if they can do it from Indonesia then Indonesian  who live in the United States can do it too. ICC has performed in many events and most of the events are targeted for Americans. For example, they just performed in Washington, D.C. for Fiesta Asia.

I found out from the Web site of IPAM that there are many traditional art groups in Indonesia. Just like ICC, some of those groups have performed overseas.

From reading the article, I get a sense that non-Indonesians appreciate the traditional art better. One possible reason is probably because it is unique to them, while for Indonesians it is just another traditional art.

On the first thought, my second story will be about Indonesian Cultural Club. However, on a second thought I think I want to write the story based not only on ICC but also on some other Indonesian art groups in the United States. I don’t know if there’s enough time for me to find more information about other groups. But for just for preliminary research, I tried to use — thanks to Dr. Lieb —to find a blog on Indonesian dance and I found a concert review that relates to what I’m looking for. The group is located in New York City and I think the group is related to the consulate. So, I probably have a bigger chance to find interview subjects. If I can quickly find someone to be interviewed from Gamelan Dharma Swara, I will include this group to my second story.

However, I need some suggestions on what the focus of the story will be if I combine two groups. What would be the big topic of the second story? I know that it can’t focus on an organization anymore like the initial idea.

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