USU PR—The Directorate of Student Achievements and Alumni Relations (Ditmawalumni) of Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) has reopened the Student Art Week (Peksima) for the year 2024. Peksima is being prepared for the Regional Art Week, which will proceed to the National level in September. The event was held at the T. Amin FIB Multipurpose Building and continued at the Gelanggang Mahasiswa on Wednesday (May 15).

Peksima is held every two years, and this year, the total number of participants has increased to around 130. Several faculties have sent their delegations to compete in various categories. The participants who pass the selection process will represent their respective provinces on the national stage at Universitas Negeri Jakarta (UNJ).

Rahma Yurliani, S.Psi., M.Psi., the Secretary of the Directorate of Student Achievements and Alumni Relations (Ditmawalumni), stated that this event aims to enhance students' creativity in the field of arts and achieve better results compared to previous years.

"The hope is to increase the number of achievements compared to previous years. From the previous year's five achievements, we hope to have more this time," she said.

She also added that the selected students will receive guidance and preparation for the next stages, which include the regional and national levels.

"We will provide accompanying lecturers to train their skills before they compete at the national level," she added.

Furthermore, Prof. Drs. Mauly Purba, M.A., Ph.D., the Vice Dean I of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB), mentioned that based on the previous year's achievements in the Comic Strip and Vocal Group categories, they hope to excel in other categories this year.

"We hope that with the strong support from the university and the enthusiastic participation of the students, we can serve them and achieve even more accomplishments," he said.

Lastly, this year's Peksima consists of 14 competition categories, including Dangdut Singing, Classical Singing, Keroncong, Pop, and Vocal Group, Poetry Reading, Monologue, Short Story Writing, Playwriting, Poetry Writing, Social Campaign Media Design, Painting, Comic Strip, and Photography. The judging panel consists of academics from universities and professional judges.

Author: bambang riyanto - staf humas

Interviewee: Rahma Yurliani, S.Psi., M.Psi. - Director of the Directorate of Student Achievements and Alumni Relations (Ditmawalumni)

Photographer: Amri Simatupang - Staf Humas