A total of 15 Hasanuddin University (Unhas) students on the Generasi Mahasiswa Ilmiah (Gemah) team of the Faculty of Marine Science and Fisheries (FIKP), under the Holistic Village Development and Empowerment Program (PHP2D), held the Bira Cultural Festival while also commemorating National Batik Day 2021 in Bira Village, Bonto Bahari District, Bulukumba Regency, on Saturday (2 October).
Themed “Expressing Bira’s Cultural Works, Elevating Appreciation,” the event featured several cultural performances, including Toraja dances, the Four Ethnic Groups dance, the Mappadendang dance, the Tope Le’leng dance, a choir, musicalized poetry, live music and a cultural exhibition, presented by Bira’s school students and young people.
The cultural festival was also attended by the Bira village head, the chair of the Bira Village Family Welfare Empowerment (PKK) group, Bira residents and the general public. In welcoming remarks, Bira village head Murlawa, SE, thanked the Unhas students for their participation in preserving Bira culture through the cultural festival they presented. Murlawa hoped this community service activity would be a first step and become an ongoing activity.
“The people of Bira Village are very grateful to the Unhas PHP2D team for taking the time to carry out community service in this village. We also hope activities like this can be carried out on an ongoing basis by empowering Bira’s weaver groups and youth organization (karang taruna),” said Murlawa.
On the same occasion, student team leader Muhammad Faizal expressed thanks for the warm welcome extended to the team through to the end of the event. Faizal hoped the community service the team had carried out would benefit the people of Bira, especially Bira’s weaving artisans. Faizal added that the main focus of holding the cultural festival was to improve the quality of Bira weaving.
The students who took part in the activity, with supervising lecturer Dr. Nursinah Amir S.Pi, MP., were:
1. Muhammad Faizal (Marine Science, 2017)
2. Amran (Fisheries Resource Utilization, 2018)
3. Musdalifa (Marine Science, 2019)
4. Muh Fajrul (Economics, 2017)
5. Muh Arwinsyah (Agribusiness, 2017)
6. Ardiansyah (Economics, 2019)
7. Takbir Mulawansyah (Animal Science, 2020)
8. Abd Gafur (Accounting, 2018)
9. Afni Afifa (Agricultural Engineering, 2018)
10. Siti Aisyah (Statistics, 2018)
11. Mustabsirah (Environmental Engineering, 2019)
12. Nurul Halizah Firdauziah (Biology, 2018)
13. Munawwara Ildana (Animal Science, 2018)
14. Juwita Septiana Aprisal (Law, 2018)
15. Sri Ulfa (Management, 2019)
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Editor: Ishaq Rahman, AMIPR
This article is an English translation of the original Indonesian report.