BY NEVILLE TIMOTHY SANDERS
KUCHING: The Sarawak Gendang Festival which has enjoyed a successful run is a beacon for the development of arts and culture in the state.
“If we look from the aspect of Return of Investment (ROI) towards the community, the organisation of the festival since 2014 shows an increase in ROI up until 2019,” said caretaker Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri.
“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the festival could not be held in 2021, but it was brought back in earlier this year during the Malaysia Family Citrawarna 2022.
“It successfully generated as much as RM360,000 in ROI based on the craft sales and returns to the arts practitioners,” she said ahead of the launching of the 2022 Sarawak Gendang Festival here on yesterday (Nov 5).
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Her speech was delivered by her ministry’s secretary general Datuk Saraya Arbi.
Nancy hoped that such programmes would see further collaborations and involvement from every community in the state to empower the arts and culture in the state.
Earlier, Nancy alongside Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts of Sarawak, Datuk Seri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and other guests witnessed the gendang performance from a few bands from Sarawak and Brunei.
