Four Southeast Asian Nations Jointly Nominate Zapin Dance for UNESCO
- 30 Sep 2026 12:14 WIB
- Voice of Indonesia
Poin Utama
- Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei will jointly nominate Zapin dance for UNESCO’s 2027 Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
- The nomination highlights Zapin’s shared Malay heritage while preserving distinct regional styles across the four countries.
RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam have agreed to jointly nominate the traditional Zapin dance as an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Humanity to UNESCO for 2027.
Indonesian Culture Minister Fadli Zon announced the multinational submission during a press conference in Jakarta on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, highlighting that the traditional Malay performing art represents a shared heritage across maritime Southeast Asia.
"We are proposing Zapin as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity for 2027. This is a culture that we share because historically, prior to modern borders, cultural exchange, migration, and acculturation naturally took place," he said in Jakarta on Tuesday, as quoted by Antara.
Minister Fadli noted that the joint nomination aims to elevate Zapin's global visibility while demonstrating how Southeast Asia's shared cultural roots foster regional unity, mutual respect, and cross-border collaboration.
As part of the submission process, Indonesia will engage local performing communities and cultural custodians to gather documentation and formal consent. While Zapin shares foundational movement structures across all four participating nations, each country retains unique regional stylistic variations and musical accompaniment.
The multinational proposal follows a similar collaborative approach undertaken in 2023, when Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and Thailand jointly submitted the kebaya traditional attire to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. ***
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