Malanginspirasi.com – Universitas Negeri Malang (UM) and the Malay Heritage Foundation (MHF) of Singapore have officially launched a collaborative program entitled “Art Residency Tari Topeng” (Mask Dance Art Residency). The program commenced on Monday, June 16, 2025, at the Museology Laboratory of the Department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences, Universitas Negeri Malang. This residency marks the inaugural partnership between MHF and UM.
The opening ceremony featured a presentation by UM historian Ismail Lutfi, who shared insights into the Malang Mask Dance with the participants.
Rilla Melati Bahri, General Manager of the Malay Heritage Foundation, expressed her enthusiasm for this pioneering program.
“This is the first program, a pilot project. I hope it can be sustained for at least two years. After that, perhaps it will be replaced with other art forms such as gamelan or angklung,” she told reporters at the Faculty of Social Sciences, UM.
However, for this first time, we chose the mask dance because it is very appealing to me. It has elements of drama, storytelling, theatrical visuals, and it is a complete package. So, if young people are brought from Singapore, this is a very attractive art form,” she added.
Rilla further explained that the collaboration originated from discussions with Indah Wahyu Puji Utami, Head of the Department of History at UM, who was a fellow student in Singapore.
“Initially, it was just a casual conversation, but it became a reality after Mrs. Indah brought some colleagues to Singapore, to the Malay Heritage Foundation,” she continued.
Her hope is that the program will not only be performative but also incorporate an educational component and have continuity, rather than being a one-time project.
The selection of the Mask Dance as the residency’s focus was deliberate.
“The Mask Dance is an icon of Malang City’s heritage. It is native to Malang and is perhaps almost extinct because many of its practitioners are old or have even passed away without passing on their knowledge,” she said.
The Art Residency Tari Topeng program will span a full month, concluding in mid-July 2025.
Rilla emphasized the importance of this duration to allow participants to gain a deeper understanding of the dance’s context and connections through visits to historical sites such as temples.
“I requested that it be held for one month because I think it would be a waste if we were only here for a week or two,” she asserted.
Notably, the program is not exclusively for the Malay community.
“As is perhaps generally known, the Malay community in Singapore is small in number. So, this program is not specifically only for Singaporean Malays, but non-Malays can also participate,” said Rilla.
The residency program includes four participants, comprising three professional dancers and one student. As an outcome of the program, the participants are scheduled to perform on July 11, 2025, at Universitas Negeri Malang, and subsequently in Singapore in 2026.
“The performance will be held at the closing of this residency, in conjunction with the closing ceremony of the summer course on oral history in the outdoor learning space on July 11, 2025,” explained Indah Wahyu Puji Utami.
Over the coming month, the participants will engage in various activities.
“In the first week, they will learn about the history and cultural context. After that, tomorrow and the day after, they will go to Candi Jago, the Panji Museum, and they also want to go to Candi Penataran. Then, on Saturday, we will go to the Mask Workshop, but they will practice more on campus, in the art and design studio in C9,” Indah elaborated.
Indah, representing UM, also expressed her hope that collaborations of this kind will continue to flourish.
“The hope is that this can continue, not only this but perhaps others as well. Maybe later experts from the Malay Heritage Foundation will come here or we will go there for master classes,” she concluded.
