By: Jibril Abanag, Job Balanon, Nathan Palabrica, UP Integrated School Interns of the UP Diliman Information Office
In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the 1955 Bandung Conference, UP Diliman (UPD) held the hybrid international conference Sejiwa: The Spirit of Bandung @ 70 (Sejiwa) from Nov. 7 to 8 at the UP Asian Center (AC) Auditorium.
Organized by UPD, AC, UPD Center for International Studies, and De La Salle University (DLSU) Southeast Asia Research Center and Hub, Sejiwa, served as a research conference on the legacies of the landmark meeting of 29 countries in Asia and Africa.
According to the AC, Sejiwa aimed to spark discussion on how the Bandung Conference’s spirit continues to inform contemporary struggles today. The Sejiwa conference featured keynote lectures, panels, and roundtable discussions “devoted to the multi- and inter-disciplinary understanding of the legacies of Bandung.”
The event also celebrated the AC’s 70th year, the CIS’ 25th year, and the DLSU’s 50th year as a university.
Held in April 1955 in Bandung, Indonesia, the original Bandung Conference strengthened ties among the 29 participating countries from Asia and Africa in a world still grappling with the aftermath of the Second World War.
The Sejiwa conference was held for four days, from Nov. 5 to 8, with the first two held at the DLSU.
The third and final days of the event took place at the AC Auditorium, featuring keynote speeches from Wildan Sena Utama of the Universitas Gadjah Mada, Hilmar Farid, minister of education and culture of Indonesia, and Maxwell Ronald Lane of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies-Yusok Isak Institute. The last two days also included a campus tour and a cultural night for the participants.