Indonesia Council Digest - August 2023
I’m writing this on 17 August, so allow me to belatedly wish you all a happy Tujuhbelasan, Indonesian Independence Day. This cute Google Doodle ‘represents the Indonesian community coming together to play traditional Independence day games, remembering the importance of collaboration.’ I hope you got some games in, and some collaboration in too. Dirgahayu Republik Indonesia!
See you next month, for ICOC!
Natali
What's happening...
Happening imminently in Jakarta! The International Forum on Spice Routes (IFSR) is an annual event that brings together academics, practitioners, and other stakeholders to discuss and advocate the topic of spice routes in contemporary society. The 2023 IFSR will be held in Jakarta, Indonesia from September 20-23, 2023, in collaboration with the Research Centre for Society and Culture, BRIN. The IFSR 2023 will feature a variety of speakers, panels, and workshops on themes including:
Natural Diversity and Commodities of the Spice Routes
Creativity in Human Adaptation and the Concept of Aesthetics through Material and Non-Material Culture
Cultural Heritage Management and the Geopolitics of Heritage
Maritime Communities
Global Encounters and Cultural Exchange
The IFSR is open to all interested participants, and is being offered in hybrid (onsite and online zoom) format. Register here.
Meanwhile in Bali, the inaugural International Kawi Culture Festival will be held at Udayana University, Denpasar, from 24–27 August 2023. This unique event will bring together leading scholars of classical Indonesian culture, both established and emerging. To register to participate online, contact jarrah.sastrawan@efeo.net. In the meantime, you can listen to a great interview on Radio Republik Indonesia with some of the organisers here.
In Sydney, Indonesian-Australian artist Jumaadi will premiere a new shadow play, ‘The sea is still a mystery,’ at the Museum of Contemporary Art on Friday 25 August. In this live performance, Jumaadi combines the Indonesian art of wayang puppet theatre with Javanese folklore and a music composition by co-director Michael Toisuta. Tickets are free but bookings are required.
Also in Sydney is this panel discussion on the current campaign to prevent dust diseases, asbestos and silicosis, Thursday 24 August from 6pm, at which unionists and activists will speak about the campaign to get asbestos banned in Indonesia. The event will include an update on the political situation Indonesia, a short film screening on the work of Local Initiative for OSH Network Indonesia, and a fundraiser.
Finally, a reminder about the 40th Indonesia Update coming up next month in Canberra, on the theme of ‘Governing urban Indonesia’. Indonesia is now a majority urban country. This brings typical challenges like managing traffic, as well as unique issues such as kampung clearances. The 40th Indonesia Update conference will examine why some cities are pioneering service delivery and amenities, while others remain mired in corruption, their streets filled with potholes. Convened by Prof. Edward Aspinall and Dr Amalinda Savirani, the conference will be held at the ANU campus in Canberra and online, 15-16 September 2023.
Other cool stuff
Documentary Rasa dan Asa, filmed by a group of Indonesian domestic workers living in Malaysia at the height of the pandemic, will screen in Canberra on Wednesday 30 August at 4pm courtesy the ANU Malaysia Institute. The screening will be followed by an online discussion with the directors. More details here.
We’re excited to see that powerful new Indonesian film Autobiography will be screened by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (University of Sydney) on Tuesday 26 September from 5.30pm. For more information about this free screening and to register, click here.
New Australian crime miniseries Deadloch has been winning lots of fans and has absolutely nothing to do with Indonesia – EXCEPT for a fantastic few moments early in the final episode, where local cop Sven Alderman is tasked with tracking down someone who has allegedly absconded to Ubud. Sven rolls out some pretty passable Indonesian that had me asking all sorts of questions… like where did Sven learn Indonesian? Do they teach Indonesian at the local schools in (fictional) Deadloch? And why can’t all Aussies speak enough Indonesian to track down a killer??
Indonesia Council Open Conference
ICOC is NEXT MONTH! If you want to attend the conference, sign up to the postgraduate workshop, join the food and cultural tour, change your presentation plans or anything else – you need to do so before 31 August! It’s a massive program and this deadline can’t be extended, so be sure to make any changes you need to by 31 August. This will ensure we can get the final program out in the first week of September. Questions? Check out the conference webpage or email the organisers on icoc2023.conference@sydney.edu.au.
Publications
Indonesia’s new Criminal Code: indigenising and democratising Indonesian criminal law?
In late 2022, Indonesia’s national parliament enacted a new Criminal Code, which replaced a 1918 Code introduced during Dutch colonial rule. Some provisions have been relatively well received by reformists. But many other provisions have been widely and strongly criticised. While the Code claims to democratise, decolonise and consolidate Indonesian criminal law, this new article in Griffith Law Review by Professor Simon Butt demonstrates that it has achieved the opposite. It undermines democracy by seriously hampering free speech, including legitimate criticism of government officeholders and institutions. It reinstates offences imposed during the Dutch colonial era that were used against Indonesian nationalists pushing for independence, including Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno. And, far from bringing together Indonesia’s disparate regulatory sources of criminal law, the Code adds another layer of law to existing sui generis criminal statutes, which largely remain in effect. Worse, the new Code imposes conservative religious-based values allowing the state to interfere in citizens’ private sexual lives. The Code also appears to encourage subnational lawmakers to give effect to localised customary norms of criminal law, which might reflect even more conservative values and result in the prohibition of various expressions of sexuality, including homosexuality.
‘Tayub Dance at Tambakromo Gunung Kidul Regency: An Ethnochoreological Perspective’
From the Journal of the SEAMEO Regional Centre for Archaeology and Fine Arts comes this new article by Pramutomo Mas and Sriyadi about tayub, an old dance form in the Javanese cultural tradition that is associated with agrarian culture and village purification rituals. This article examines the performance of tayub during the COVID pandemic, and the impact of government regulations regarding the use of masks and keeping a safe distance.
Call for papers
The Indonesia Forum (IF) will hold the 42nd Indonesia Postgraduate & Early Career Researcher symposium from 22-23 November 2023 in hybrid (online and in-person at the University of Melbourne). Organisers welcome papers that speak to the conference theme, ‘Reformasi 25 years on: Opportunities and challenges for Indonesian society?’ Abstracts are due by 4 September 2023.
Note that the University of Melbourne’s Faculty of Arts will fund two travel bursaries (paid flight, accommodation and meals) for Indonesia based Postgraduate/Early Career Researcher from Social Sciences and Humanities at affiliate universities (University of Indonesia or Universitas Gadjah Mada). More detail online.
Jobs!
ANU’s College of Asia & the Pacific is recruiting not one but two Lecturers in its Indonesian language and studies program. It is a veritable hiring SPREE! Applications close 2 October 2023.