Ruang Masyarakat Ketemu (Rumaket) 2026 officially opened at Taman Pintar Yogyakarta on Sunday, October 4, 2026. Now in its sixth year, this cultural event carries the theme Hageganti, encouraging people to experience and appreciate intangible cultural heritage through forms and ways of presentation that are more in tune with the times. This year, Rumaket places a special focus on making traditional culture more accessible and engaging for younger generations.
The opening featured Wayang Playground: Menyusun Puzzle Menuju Alengka, a collaborative performance in which children took on the roles of puppeteers and performers. The show demonstrated a creative approach to introducing wayang, or traditional Indonesian shadow puppetry, to children and teenagers. Head of the Yogyakarta City Culture Office Yetti Martanti said Rumaket provides an important space for strengthening the transmission of intangible cultural heritage while keeping it relevant to today’s society. She highlighted the involvement of children as an example of how traditional culture can be presented in a way that young audiences can understand and enjoy.
Yogyakarta Deputy Mayor Wawan Harmawan also welcomed the creative approach. He said transforming the way wayang is presented could encourage younger people to develop an interest in the traditional art form, while supporting Yogyakarta’s identity as a cultural city. One of the young performers, 14-year-old Simon Abimanyu, has been learning to perform wayang since he was three. A student at Stella Duce 2 Junior High School in Yogyakarta, Simon considers wayang unique because it allows young people to express themselves while also discovering the values contained within its stories.
Simon has also taken his passion for wayang beyond the stage by introducing it to his school friends. He created an interactive learning game using Canva, featuring the Dewa Ruci story and incorporating quizzes to test users’ understanding. Although only a small number of his peers are deeply involved in wayang, Simon believes that more young people can become interested if the art is introduced through media and approaches that are familiar to them. His efforts reflect the broader spirit of Rumaket: preserving tradition does not necessarily mean presenting it in an old-fashioned way.
Rumaket 2026 runs from October 4–10 at Taman Pintar Yogyakarta, featuring exhibitions, performances, talks, workshops, culinary activities, and various educational and participatory programs. The program includes Rumaket Bercerita: Srikandi Hari Ini, an exhibition on the transformation of Yogyakarta wayang, the launch of Panggung Publik: Wayang, Simbol, dan Budaya Urban, and introductions to traditional games such as tublak-tublak suweng, inklek, and lepetan. Visitors can also enjoy traditional foods such as kicak, legomoro, and kipo, along with live cooking sessions. More than simply an annual cultural event, Rumaket 2026 hopes to encourage people—especially younger generations—to discover, appreciate, and feel a stronger sense of ownership of Yogyakarta’s rich cultural heritage.
