The Development of Regional Tradition, Arts and Culture toSupport National Culture

As far as the history of cultural development is concerned, around 1935 and 1936 an important event frequently referred to as the National Cultural Polemic took place. After that the existence of Indonesian culture has been a question. So far no cultural system has been used as a reference for controlling all aspects of life of the citizens. As a consequence, crisis which can lead to disintegration has easily taken place. Therefore, the challenge of the Indonesian culture is how to transform regional traditions, arts and cultures into a new identity referred to as the “national identity” as the national cultural manifestation which may be accepted by everybody with pleasant psychological implication. The analysis of various data sources related to the matters pertaining to the cultural polemic as an attempt to use the regional traditions to support the national culture, was done in three stages: data presentation, data reduction, and conclusion drawing. Keywords: Tradition, national culture, art and culture of the region