The National Crafts Council branch of Papua Mountain Province is currently promoting the culture in their region. The promotion carried out was by holding an exhibition to coincide with National Children’s Day in 2024. The exhibition was carried out by inviting all people in the Papua Mountain Province to display their cultural products. Important guests were also invited to enliven the exhibition, such as the Acting Governor of the Papua Mountain Province and the First Lady of the Republic of Indonesia, the wife of President Joko Widodo, Mrs. Iriana. The presence of important figures who were invited as guests certainly made the exhibition even more lively. Moreover, there are awards offered to exhibitors as the best participants and the awards are given directly by the First Lady.
One of the cultural riches found in the Papua Mountain Province comes from the Jayawijaya area. This product is rattan woven which is made into various forms of objects that have uses. Aesthetic value also accompanies the product as well as utility value because the resulting product is commonly used in everyday life in society. Examples of rattan woven that are made into objects are plates, baskets and bowls that are used daily by people.
Rattan woven produced by the people of Jayawijaya involves the community in the process. Starting from choosing and looking for rattan which is done by the fathers and then the mothers have the task of weaving the rattan. Children are also involved in the process of making products made from rattan woven. In fact, the fathers, mothers and children in Jayawijaya weave rattan together so that there is a transformation of information that will make this culture more entrenched and remain sustainable in the future.
The culture in the Papua Mountain Province does offer aesthetic and useful values, but there are other values attached, namely philosophical values. The local language used in Jayawijaya explains that the woven rattan they produce is an embodiment of the philosophy of “Kenggi Apulok, Kambe Apulok”. The meaning of this philosophy is that when the hand moves, the mouth moves also. The meaning contained in the philosophy believed by the people is how when their hands move to produce something, they can fulfill their daily needs, especially to fill their mouths and stomachs or find food. So, it is hoped that rattan woven that is made into a product can become the main source of livelihood for the people in Jayawijaya.
The beauty of rattan woven produced by the Jayawijaya people attracted the attention and interest of visitors to the exhibition initiated by the Central Papua Province branch of the National Crafts Council. The First Lady of the Republic of Indonesia also gave awards directly to representatives from the Jayawijaya area as makers of these cultural products. The hope in the future is of course that the products made by the people of the Jayawijaya area can be in accordance with the philosophy they believe in, namely that they can become a source of income that can support them.