In Manokwari, a traditional wooden instrument from Sulawesi Utara (North) Sulawesi is beginning to find a new audience thousands of kilometers from its cultural home. Kolintang music in Papua Barat (West Papua) is being introduced by the Kawanua community as part of a broader effort to preserve tradition while creating new possibilities for cultural tourism.
The initiative may seem modest at first. A newly established community group, a set of traditional instruments, several musicians learning to play them, and discussions with local government officials do not immediately suggest a major tourism strategy.
Yet the idea carries a wider meaning.
Papua Barat is one of the places in Indonesia where different cultural communities live alongside one another. The introduction of kolintang in Manokwari provides an example of how cultural traditions from different parts of the archipelago can coexist in Papua while retaining their distinctive identities.
The provincial government now sees an opportunity to take the initiative beyond the Kawanua community and incorporate kolintang performances into cultural and tourism events in Manokwari. According to the Papua Barat Culture and Tourism Office, collaboration with the Kawanua community could add another layer to the province’s already diverse cultural landscape.
For the people behind the initiative, the goal is not simply to put another musical performance on a tourism calendar. It is also about ensuring that younger generations remain connected to cultural traditions that originated elsewhere in Indonesia but are now part of their everyday lives in Papua Barat.
A Sulawesi Utara Tradition Finds a Home in Manokwari
Kolintang is a traditional musical instrument associated with Sulawesi Utara, particularly the Minahasa cultural tradition. It is made from wooden bars arranged according to pitch and played by striking them with small mallets.
The instrument can be performed individually or as part of an ensemble. Its sound has long been associated with cultural gatherings, ceremonies, and performances.
Its presence in Manokwari is relatively recent.
Deiby Debora Pangemanan, chair of the Kawanua community’s provincial organization in Papua Barat, told RRI that kolintang had only begun to be developed within the Kawanua community about a month before the August 22 report. The instruments were provided with support from the governor of Sulawesi Utara, while a trainer was brought in to help members learn and develop their musical skills.
That early stage is significant.
Rather than presenting kolintang as an established part of Papua Barat’s traditional culture, the community is building something new while maintaining a connection with its Sulawesi Utara roots.
Pangemanan has invited the Papua Barat Culture and Tourism Office to work with the Kawanua community. The hope is that kolintang can eventually be introduced to wider audiences through cultural events and government-supported tourism programs.
The proposal has received a positive response.
Jafar Wefete, head of the Papua Barat Culture and Tourism Office, said the provincial government was ready to work with the Kawanua community to develop performances that could strengthen tourism attractions, particularly in Manokwari.
Cultural Diversity as a Tourism Asset
For Manokwari, the proposal fits naturally into the city’s social character.
The city is home to people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. That diversity is reflected not only in people’s daily lives but also in the cultural activities they maintain.
Jafar described the arrival of kolintang as a positive development because it adds to the cultural richness of Manokwari and Papua Barat. He also pointed to the presence of other traditional arts practiced by communities living in the province, including Javanese gamelan.
This creates an intriguing model of cultural tourism.
Rather than relying exclusively on one cultural identity to attract visitors, a destination can present several traditions that coexist within the same community.
For international visitors, this can offer a more complete picture of Indonesia.
Indonesia is often described as an archipelago of thousands of islands and hundreds of ethnic communities. But cultural diversity becomes much more tangible when visitors can encounter different traditions within a single city.
In Manokwari, a visitor may encounter Papuan cultural expressions alongside musical and artistic traditions maintained by communities whose families originated elsewhere in Indonesia.
That diversity does not necessarily diminish local identity. Properly managed, it can broaden the cultural story of the destination.
Preserving Culture Without Freezing It in Time
There is also a generational question behind the kolintang initiative.
Jafar emphasized that young people from Kawanua families who were born and raised in Manokwari should continue to have opportunities to learn the traditional music of their parents and grandparents. Geographic distance from Sulawesi Utara, he argued, should not automatically result in cultural disconnection.
This is a familiar challenge for diaspora communities around the world.
Children may grow up speaking different languages, attending different schools and living in cities far from the places associated with their family’s origins. Traditional music can become one of the ways in which cultural memory is passed from one generation to another.
In this case, the instrument is not simply an object. Learning to play kolintang requires practice, interaction, and participation.
Young people must listen to the music, understand its rhythms, and learn how to perform together.
That process can turn cultural preservation into a living activity rather than something limited to museums or historical displays.
From Community Practice to Tourism Performance
The next challenge is transforming community enthusiasm into sustainable public programming.
The Papua Barat Culture and Tourism Office has indicated that the kolintang could be included in events and performances designed to strengthen the tourism appeal of Manokwari.
This could manifest in various ways.
Kolintang ensembles could perform during cultural festivals, tourism exhibitions, welcoming events, or community celebrations. They could also potentially collaborate with Papuan musicians and other cultural groups in joint performances.
Such collaborations could create something more intriguing than a simple presentation of one tradition.
Imagine a stage in Manokwari where traditional Papuan instruments and dances are performed alongside kolintang, gamelan, or other Indonesian musical traditions. Each retains its own character, while the performance as a whole tells a story about the people who live together in the province.
For tourism, that story can be valuable.
Visitors increasingly seek experiences that provide a sense of place. Food, music, festivals, handicrafts, and community encounters can complement natural attractions such as beaches, islands, forests, and mountains.
Papua Barat already has significant natural tourism potential. Pegunungan Arfak and Teluk Triton, for example, have been identified by the provincial government as priority tourism destinations.
Cultural performances can complement those destinations by giving visitors opportunities to understand the people and communities behind the landscape.
The Wider Economic Opportunity
Cultural collaboration also has an economic dimension.
A successful cultural event requires more than musicians. It can involve event organizers, sound technicians, transport providers, food vendors, accommodation businesses, handicraft producers, photographers, and local guides.
When cultural tourism grows responsibly, money can circulate through several parts of the local economy.
For Manokwari, the situation is particularly relevant as the province seeks to develop tourism without relying exclusively on large-scale infrastructure or external investment.
Community-based cultural activities can be relatively accessible for local groups. They can start small and grow according to demand.
Kolintang itself could potentially become part of a wider creative economy ecosystem. Performances may create opportunities for musicians, while cultural workshops could introduce visitors and students to the instrument.
The community could also explore educational performances that explain the history and construction of kolintang, although the current reports focus primarily on preservation and potential cultural and tourism collaboration rather than a finalized commercial program.
That distinction matters. The initiative is still developing.
UNESCO Recognition Adds International Context
The discussion about kolintang also takes place against an important international backdrop.
In December 2024, UNESCO recognized kolintang as an element of Indonesia’s intangible cultural heritage. Green Network Asia reported that the recognition placed all three traditions on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
The UNESCO recognition provides an additional layer of international visibility for kolintang.
However, recognition alone does not guarantee that a tradition will remain vibrant.
Cultural heritage survives when communities continue practicing it, teaching it and adapting it to contemporary life. That is why the development of kolintang in Manokwari is noteworthy.
The instrument is being introduced not simply as a heritage object but as a living form of music.
Its future will depend on whether young people remain interested, whether musicians have opportunities to perform, and whether community and government institutions can build sustainable programs around it.
Papua Barat as a Meeting Point of Cultures
The development of kolintang in Manokwari also illustrates a broader feature of Papua Barat’s social landscape.
Cultural identity in the province is not static. Communities interact, migrate, establish families, and create new forms of social life.
That reality can sometimes be overlooked when Papua is discussed only through the lens of geography, natural resources, or political and security issues.
Culture offers another perspective.
Music can show how communities build relationships in everyday life. A traditional instrument from Sulawesi Utara being taught in Manokwari is a small but visible example of that process.
The initiative also demonstrates that cultural preservation does not have to mean isolation.
A community can preserve its traditions while participating in the cultural life of a wider region.
For Kawanua families in Papua Barat, maintaining kolintang can therefore serve two purposes. It keeps a connection with Sulawesi Utara while contributing another cultural expression to Manokwari.
Collaboration Is the Key
The strongest message from the latest discussions is perhaps the importance of partnership.
Kawanua, Papua Barat, has asked the provincial government to become a partner in developing kolintang. The Culture and Tourism Office, in turn, has expressed its willingness to collaborate on events and performances.
This type of cooperation can make cultural preservation more sustainable.
Communities bring knowledge, enthusiasm, and cultural ownership. Government agencies can provide access to public events, coordination, promotion, and institutional support.
Neither side can easily achieve the broader objective alone.
For the community, government support can help create performance opportunities. For the government, community participation can provide authentic cultural content that reflects the people actually living in Papua Barat.
The relationship is therefore potentially mutually beneficial.
A New Chapter for Cultural Tourism
Papua Barat’s tourism story has often been associated with its extraordinary natural environment. Its forests, marine ecosystems, islands, and mountainous landscapes remain major attractions.
But tourism is also about human experience.
A visitor who sees a beautiful landscape may remember the view. A visitor who also hears music, meets local performers, and learns the story behind a cultural tradition may leave with a deeper understanding of the place.
Kolintang could become part of that experience.
The opportunity now is to develop performances that do not simply entertain visitors but explain the cultural context behind the music.
At the same time, collaboration with Papuan artists could create new performances that bring together different musical traditions without erasing their individual identities.
That would be a particularly fitting expression of Indonesia’s cultural diversity.
Conclusion
The emergence of Kolintang music in Papua Barat is still at an early stage, but its significance extends beyond a newly formed musical group in Manokwari.
It represents a community effort to preserve a Sulawesi Utara tradition while contributing to the cultural life of Papua Barat. It also offers the provincial government a new opportunity to connect cultural preservation with tourism development.
The initiative is especially relevant for younger generations. For Kawanua children born and raised in Manokwari, kolintang can provide a tangible link to their family’s cultural heritage. At the same time, opening the music to wider audiences allows other communities to encounter a tradition that has traveled far from its place of origin.
The next step will be turning that enthusiasm into sustained collaboration. Regular performances, cultural education, and carefully designed tourism events could provide kolintang a lasting place in Papua Barat’s cultural calendar.
There is also a broader lesson here.
Indonesia’s diversity is not only found across distant islands. It can also be seen within the same neighborhood, city, or province. In Manokwari, a Sulawesi Utara musical tradition is finding space alongside Papua’s own rich cultural expressions.
If developed thoughtfully, kolintang can become more than music on a stage. It can become a cultural bridge, a learning opportunity for younger generations, and an additional attraction for visitors discovering Papua Barat.
In the end, the strength of cultural diversity lies not merely in having many traditions but in creating room for those traditions to meet, remain alive, and be passed on.