Tapis and Songket at Indonesian Diplomatic Reception



The harmonious melody from kolintang, one of Indonesian tradisional musical instruments, filled the UN Delegates Dining Room on the 4th floor of the UN Headquarters in New York. 

Angin Mamiri, one of the traditional songs from Sulawesi, welcomed and serenaded the guests that night.

One by one, Prime Ministers, Foreign Ministers, Ambassadors, and other distinguished guests joined us that night for our national day reception.

Yup, we had our annual reception for the 71st anniversary of the Indonesia's independence on the third week of September. 

Hosted by H.E. Retno L.P. Marsudi, our Minister for Foreign Affairs, this annual event was convened on the margins of the High Level Week of   UN General Assembly 71st Session. Although the independence day was celebrated on August 17, but here in New York City we held the reception during the September session on the UN GA in order to welcome more dignitaries and VVIPs.

But this year is super special indeed.

Why?








Because we have H.E. Jusuf Kalla, the Vice President of Indonesia and Madame Mufidah Kalla, his spouse, as our guests of honor.

Moreover, we also have the official launch of the campaign for Indonesia's candidature for the Non-Permanent Member of the UN Security Council for 2019-2020.

We also held the reception on the 4th floor of the UN Headquarters, slightly different from the usual venue of the meeting hall at our Permanent Mission.










Hours before the reception, my colleagues and I were rushingly preparing the UN Delegates Dining Room.
As always, we bring the taste of Indonesia to the UN
Tapis and songket were chosen as the main traditional fabrics we used for decoration that night. We mixed it with tenun Troso and loro blonyo, the famous Javanese couple in wooden form.


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We adorned the room with more songket, tapis and tenun all over the place.
We were surely having fun decorating the room with Tapis and Songket at Indonesian Diplomatic Reception.
Welcoming board, bar table, guest book corner, columns, souvenir bags corner.
Simply everywhere :).
Colorful Sundanese paper umbrella also brighten up the room.



We used many gawangan, the tradional wooden fabric holder, to showcase those variety of songket, tapis and tenun being displayed.

Tapis from Lampung, adorning one of the corners of the room

As for me, I was proudly wearing my Tapis Lampung in gold and black, coupled with france lace kebaya in turquoise and gold. 




Then around 6.30, guests were arriving.
Minister Retno, adorned in black kebaya top and black-and-white batik skirt, welcomed our guests, while being accompanied by H.E. Dian Triansyah Djani, our Ambassador/Permanent Representative.

Minister Retno and Ambassador Djani welcoming guests

At 7.15, after the arrival of our Guests of Honor, H,E, Mr, Jusuf Kalla and his spouse, Minister Retno opened the reception with short remarks. She officially launched the campaign for Indonesia's candidature for the UN Security Council Non-Permanent Member year 2019-2020 as well. Our Vice President stroke the gong  as the symbol of that official launch. We sincerely hope we have all the supports from our fellow friends and states.



And the night continued with happy chats and friendly gathering amidst 
good food and some traditional performances. Various choices of hot and cold hors d'oeuvre as well as Asian corner with sate, Mongolian beef and dumplings were served.  

The food for that night..Various hors d'ouvre for our guests





For sure, we have some Indonesian traditional performances for our distinguished guests, gracefully performed by Saung Budaya, a special group preserving Indonesian traditional dances and cultural performances based in New York City. Tari Piring from West Sumatera and Tari Bajidor Kahot from West Java got a great applause from our guests that night. 

Tari Piring, Bajidor kahot and Kolintang from Indonesia


Then Pingkan Indonesia, a kolintang group from New Jersey, also performed some numbers of Indonesian songs and cotton field.

I helped presenting those dances and kolintang performance as the MC that night :).
Something that I haven't been doing for quite some times but always happy to do so.




We surely were blessed with the presence of many friends and distinguished guests that night. It was packed and looked like everyone had a great time. Many of the guests asked about the performances as well as Tapis and songket being displayed that night

some of the guests


We closed the night with some photo sessions and wefie.
It was a great night indeed.








Have you been to a diplomatic reception before?



35 comments:

  1. Mba, tapis lampunga baguuuss. Btw, ada Nara diplomat muda yg lg hit itu ga, mba? Hihihihi....

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  2. you looked lovely in that national costume! One of the politicians from my country is currently second in the race for the new general secretary of UN

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  3. It looks like quite an affair and I am sure that everybody enjoyed it. Congratulations on 71 years of independence, that is awesome.

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  4. aduh songket kiat punya itu ternyata bagus ya. kadang kita mengagumi saat berada di luar ya, karena kalau di dalam negeri sepertinya terlalu biasa dilihat. Aku ngumpulin kain songket setipa traveling ke daerah

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    Replies
    1. bangeeet mba..aku selalu bangga pakainya. Cantik soalnyaa

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  5. Aku blom pernah menghadiri resepsi diplomatik mbak.
    Btw you look so good in songket.
    Btw jg aku udah lama ga denger suara kolintang

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    1. hehehe..kalau di tanah air memang jarang ya..kalau di luar ini asyik bangeet

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  6. Ikut bangga mbak baca ini :) ternyata di Luar Negeri banyak grup-grup kesenian Indonesia ya :) salam sukses dari Indonesia

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  7. Kain2 Indonesia itu beragam banget ya Mbak. Cantik2 semua.

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    Replies
    1. betul teeeeh...makanya aku cinta bangeeet wastra nusantara :)

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  8. I had attended a diplomatic reception several times when I was in Antananarivo.Always enthusiastic with all the preparations to decorate the room with traditional style décor... :D

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    1. Indeed mba Haya..it's so exciting knowing that we will bring the taste of Indonesia to the world :)

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  9. The reception looks really amazing! The decorations and food so beautiful and yummy! And, I do love your attire :)

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  10. Songket jadi cara untuk memperkenalkan budaya bangsa Indonesia ya mba. Keren euy :)

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  11. Mbaaaak,
    Dirimu terlihat memukau mengenakan tapis lampung itu mbaaak :)

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  12. What an honor to be there. I bet it was a wonderful time. I love all the dress clothes. They are so pretty! Such cool patterns.

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    1. It was a great night, indeed. I always enjoy my time at the reception :)

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  13. Waw keren keren ya mbak andai saja ada ditempat saya insaallah saya akan mencobanya, gkgkgk.

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  14. Wah, motif kainnya cantik-cantik ^^

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  15. Kain songket itu manis kalo menurut saya, bikin yang make makin cantik.

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  16. Waaah itu yang tapis dari Lampung cantik banget Mama Bo. Suka!

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  17. I'm impressed! Thanks for sharing a glimpse into the culture and such a festive, diplomatic evening--very nice, indah. #OMHGWW

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  18. Indonesia has lots to show to the world, the delicacies, cultures, and all things are so beautiful. Proud to be Indonesian :D

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  19. Keren, mba. Lestarikan budaya Indonesia melalui website. Sesekali mungkin uga bisa sharing tempat wisata di Indonesia

    ReplyDelete

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