Opening Ceremony from Day 1 of Congresss. Friday, July 19…
Daphne Alexopolou has posted photographs from the World Congress Opening Ceremony on SUBUD AROUND THE WORLS She writes…I always cry when the countries are presented at WC. Some of our brothers and sisters couldn’t make it because of visa restrictions and regulations.
In a comment on her post Benedict Herman writes…It is a sight to see 1100 people from different cultures, religions and languages together like we are without strife.
Thank you so much to whoever was responsible for getting this video to us. It really helped me connect to Congress. There was a great feeling in the room right from the beginning and the whole event was very smoothly run, with accomplished compering from a Western man and an Indonesian woman. Sorry, I don’t have any names.
The formal speeches were very good, then that joyous moment when all the countries introduce themselves, and then me official moment of opening by the vice governor of central Kalimantan with the striking of a gong and cutting of a rice mountain.
There were three very interesting performances.
First of all, a masked dance drama by a woman, then an incredibly dramatic dance performance by a dance troupe from Kalimantan. That Kalimantan music and dance is so wild and energetic. It really captures the spirit of Kalimantan.
I don’t know what was the story they were enacting but it was incredibly powerful, maybe it was a creation myth or something like that. Apparently the performance was specifically created for the opening ceremony.
And finally, the children of BCU School sang a hymn and then they were accompanied by a very good singer, I think her name was Kellie Valerie from LA (it sounded like that), anyway it was a great, joyous, celebratory note on which to end.
Augurs well for a happy, energetic and well organised congress.
The official opening ceremony began at 4 o’clock with the presence of the Deputy Governor of Kalimantan Tengah (Central Kalimantan), and the Minister of Culture, as well as Bapak’s daughter Ibu Yati, his daughter-in-law Ibu Ismana Haryono and other members of his extended family. The Masters of Ceremony were Luluk – a member from Jakarta who is a well-known TV presenter – and Guillaume Sanchez (right). They kept the event flowing with humour and charm, presenting cultural performances interspersed with official speeches. One moving moment was when the delegations and members from 43 countries were introduced one after the other, while photos and live streams were happening on the three screens. The event was streamed live and is now available on youtube. Unfortunately, the sound for the first 33 minutes (of over 2 hours) was faulty, but you can watch as of that point here
