Intercultural Music and Art Education: The Quest for Indigenous Art Education in Indonesia

Several music educators as well as the new generation of ethnomusicologists have argued how to modernize our traditional music to be implemented as music education sources in our schools. On the one side, they are those who want to keep traditional values as it is, on the other side who want to develop old tradition with current expression. This paper is not a comparative study of both sides but conversely, it is a search for a new philosophy of art education in our schools of all levels. This is a speculative study and as a speculative, it is speculating on the idea of national identity which is agreed to be based on the diversity of our cultures outstretched from Sabang to Merauke. A countless number of traditional music, many of it already disappeared, and many are still being practiced by our society can thus be a source of intercultural arts in our education. It is found that preserving traditional values and disseminating them to the younger generations, is the only source to maintain our national pride and identity. Furthermore, it is significant to transmit traditional values through formal education since by this way the process of keeping our nationalism can be expected effectively successful. Keywords: intercultural arts, traditional values, philosophy, education