One of the arts owned by Indonesia, namely wayang, should continue to be preserved as one of the nation’s cultural heritages. This was also the intention of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), who on its 2022 Ta’aruf Period (MATAF) held a puppet show and managed to break the world record as a puppet show with the most puppets and puppeteers. This record will be recorded by one of the world record-setting institutions, namely Record Holders Republic.
The event which took place on Sunday (4/9) was part of a series of MATAF events and took place at the UMY Sportorium. The wayang performance included main puppeteers and assistant puppeteers consisting of approximately 5700 new students in 2022 and involved a dialogue between the main puppeteers and all the assistant puppeteers. Also attending this event were Asia President of Record Holders Republic, Lia Mas Mutia Sari, who in her speech said that this event can be an inspiration and motivation for all students so that they can make achievements in world records.
The Vice Rector for Academic Affairs of UMY, Prof. Dr. Ir. Sukamta, ST, MT, IPM stated that this achievement can also be an inspiration for new students. “We want to inspire you, life begins with kindness and the courage to create achievements. And today you are invited to create UMY’s first achievement at the world level,” he said.
As part of the opening of the puppet show, there was a symbolic handover of the puppets to six new student representatives in 2022 from six regions, namely Sumatra, Java, Bali, Kalimantan, Papua and Sulawesi. The handover was carried out by representatives from the leadership of UMY, the Record Holders Republic, the Cultural Service of the Province of DI Yogyakarta and Bantul Regency and the Association of Indonesian Puppeters of the DI Yogyakarta Province. The process of playing the puppets was carried out for one hour and told about the destruction of civilization that was getting out of control, where new UMY students came to make changes for the country.
The wayang performance ended with the signing of the minutes by witnesses from the 2022 MATAF committee and the submission of a world record-breaking certificate from the Record Holders Republic which was received directly by the Vice Rector for Student, Alumni and Al-Islam Kemuhammadiyahan Affairs Faris Al-Fadhat, S.IP., MA, Ph.D.
Representing the Rector of UMY, he said that UMY was very grateful and proud of the new students for starting their activities at UMY with these two good deeds. “The first was to introduce culture through the world record with the most puppets and puppeteers, and the second was conveying a message to new students to excel from day one,” concluded Faris.