Edi_Sedyawati
Edi Sedyawati
Indonesian archeologist and historian
Edi Sedyawati binti Iman Sudjahri (born 28 October 1938 in Malang; died 12 November 2022 in Jakarta)[1] was an Indonesian archeologist and historian.[2][3][4] She was a professor of archeology at the University of Indonesia,[5][6] Chairperson of the university's Department of Javanese Letters and Center for Humanities and Social Sciences and also Chair of the Department of Dance at the Jakarta Institute for Arts.[7] She also served as Indonesia's Director General of Culture in the Ministry of Education and Culture from 1993 to 1999.[8][9]
Sedyawati studied various forms of Indonesian dance in Ikatan Seni Tari Indonesia,[10] and in 1961 she performed in the Indonesian culture mission to China, North Korea, North Vietnam, and the USSR.[8] Although the primary purpose of the culture mission was soft diplomacy to Indonesia's allies, in 2006 Sedyawati wrote in a reflection that the performers primarily benefitted by networking with Indonesians from diverse cultural backgrounds and learning about the various styles of dance and performance art in the archipelago.[11]
In 1960, Sedyawati's work on dating carved statues near Karawang contributed toward proving that the ancient Tarumanagara kingdom embraced Hinduism.[12]