Indonesia Council Digest - December 2024
Here at Indonesia Council, we’ve been having a bit of a think about our social media presence, not only in terms of where the Indonesianists are, but also which platforms we want to support. As such, we’ve made the decision to close our Twitter / X account, and have set up a LinkedIn page (huge thanks to our Digital Engagement Editor Billy for taking the lead with this). Please connect with us there! We’re still musing over whether to join Bluesky, but if you’re already there, or thinking about joining, you might want to take a look at this Indonesianist starter pack set up by Adrian Vickers, which will help you quickly connect with like-minded folks.
We will be taking a break with the newsletter over the new year, returning in February. If you’ve got exciting projects, publications, podcasts or more, please send us an email with the details so we can celebrate your success: iclistdata@gmail.com
A special thanks to those of you who have signed up as full members this year, we are really grateful for your support. The IC Exec team will be doing more work in 2025 to ensure that membership benefits are returned to you, with two postgraduate bursaries and a networking event on 8 July 2025 at the Indonesia Council Open Conference the first steps in this process.
All the best to you and your loved ones for a happy new year!
Natali and the team at IC
What’s happening
Australia-Indonesia Institute Grants
Grants open! The Australia-Indonesia Institute (AII) seeks to strengthen the Australia-Indonesia relationship in ways that enhance mutual understanding and people-to-people links. The AII is currently accepting applications for the 2024–25 Grant Round in these key priority areas:
Education, language and Indonesian studies
Arts and culture
Health and science
Digital innovation and technology
Economic and business engagement
Youth and sport
Media
Religion
Applications from A$10,000 to a maximum of A$50,000 will be considered. Co-contributions (in-kind and/or cash) from applicants and other parties are strongly encouraged. Applications close: 14 January 2025, 1:00pm (AEDT). Download the grant guidelines and apply here.
'Bali Nine' released
At the time of writing, the remaining members of the so-called ‘Bali Nine’ had just arrived back in Australia. Tim Lindsey from the University of Melbourne wrote this great piece for The Conversation about how their release from prison came about, what it says about Prabowo’s foreign policy ambitions, and what it all means for the Australia-Indonesia relationship. As he cautions, “From a bilateral relationship point of view, this is a signal for Australia that Prabowo is open for business. However, bets will be off if he does start moving against democracy. That would create profound problems for the bilateral relationship, and even deeper ones for Indonesia.”
Australian schools axe Bahasa Indonesia
Australian schools continue to axe Bahasa Indonesia from their curriculum, with Essington School in Darwin being the latest to do so nationally, wrote our Digital Engagement Editor Billy last week. Members from both Australian and Indonesian governments have lamented the decision, calling it a step backwards. Experts also warn the decision by schools and universities to drop Indonesian is leaving Australia ill-equipped to engage with South-East Asia's largest economy. The article is available in English and Bahasa Indonesia.
The long-term decline in the study of Bahasa Indonesia is evident at both a school and tertiary level. One of Victoria's most elite schools — Scotch College in Melbourne — axed the subject earlier this year.
Other cool stuff
Podcasts
Talking Indonesia has some great new podcasts available for your listening pleasure:
Did you know there are approximately 400,000 foreigners working in Indonesia? Wayne Palmer joins Lis Kramer to discuss whether the Indonesian Government’s concern for Indonesia citizens in foreign lands has translated to an awareness of the need to protect foreign workers in its own borders.
Meanwhile, Aristyo Darmawan speaks about the history, and the fallout, behind *that* cooperative statement between Indonesia and China in this podcast with Jacqui Baker on Prabowo, China and the Southeast Asia.
There is also a new podcast out for SSEAC Stories with Nichola Moore AO, who was appointed as Australia’s Special Envoy to Southeast Asia in November 2022 and who led the development of the Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Straegy to 2040.
I also enjoyed this conversation on The Art Show with artist Leyla Stevens on how a new generation of diasporic Australian artists is working with their cultural material. Layla uses her camera as a tool to engage with interconnected webs of song, performance, and environmental reverence. In her work, on show at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until 16 February, deeply beautiful sequences of Balinese jungles are punctuated with the sonic intensity of cicadas and visions of shadow puppetry.
Preserving cultural heritage
Meanwhile, the knowledge, skills, traditions and practices of kebaya have been listed inscribed by UNESCO as intangible heritage in a multinational nomination (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia Singapore and Thailand – can only imagine the discussion around listing by alphabetical order took up a lot of time!) that is a historic first.
Balinese women on their way to perform the Mepeed ceremony to celebrate the Kuningan. Photo by Andika Panendra. Used with a CC BY 4.0 license.
Still on heritage – and full disclosure, this is my project – I wanted to share the new SEA-Collections digital exhibition with you, which launched last week online and in-person.
The exhibition marks the culmination of a year-long project ‘Interpreting shared histories through Southeast Asian maritime collections’, funded by the Australia-ASEAN Council (now the ASEAN-Australia Centre), with additional support from UNESCO.
The co-curated digital exhibition showcases the diverse and interconnected maritime heritage of Southeast Asia and Australia. It features cultural objects from the Marine Heritage Gallery (Indonesia), National Maritime Museum (Thailand), Brunei Darussalam Maritime Museum, Ayala Museum (Philippines) and, in Australia, Chau Chak Wing Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Please take a look at the project website, which links through to the digital exhibition, here: seacollections.org.
Indonesia Council Open Conference
With the call for abstracts now closed, organisers have committed to notifying applicants of the status of their applications in January. Keep your eyes on your email! If you’re a postgraduate student member of IC and your abstract has been submitted, you’re probably also eligible for the IC postgraduate bursary provided you register for the conference by the due date. More information on our website.
Membership
All the cool folks are signing up to become members of Indonesia Council – and you can too!
Paid membership allows us to cover our modest operating costs (including maintaining our website) and to support keynote speakers at the biennial ASAA conferences.
It also allows us to support the next generation of Indonesia-focused scholars and build a nurturing and inclusive academic community.
Paid membership provides added benefits for you, including eligibility for:
Prizes and awards, including postgraduate bursaries
Dedicated member events and workshops
Special members-only newsletters
Other events, activities and subsidies as suggested by you