Indonesia Council Digest - May 2024
I always feel like there isn’t enough content for the newsletter, but then it comes time to sit down and write it and I am proven pleasantly wrong – this month it’s all about podcasts, workshops and musical performances. Please keep sending through your articles, cfp and other scholarly (and related) titbits – we are keen to keep showcasing the quality and diversity of scholarship on Indonesia in Australia, and to do what we can to promote awareness, share knowledge and support collaborative relationships. Keeping on top of all the activities, outputs and collaborations can be difficult though, so we rely on you to send through new content every month. Big thanks to those of you who are in regular contact, it is appreciated.
Something I did want to flag is that we will be holding the Indonesia Council Inc. Annual General Meeting at the Asian Studies Association of Australia conference in Perth, 1-4 July 2024. The AGM itself is scheduled on 17:30, Tuesday 2 July, and will follow on from our keynote address by Dr Aditia Gunawan (who has been busy getting the manuscripts of Imam Bonjol listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Regional Register!). We will send a formal notice about the AGM in a separate mailout, but please pop it in your diaries—especially if you’re one of our newly paid-up members, as this is your chance to nominate for and vote on Executive positions, and to have your say more generally. If the tech gods are working in our favour, the AGM will be hybrid so you can participate even if you’re not in Perth. We hope to see many of you there, whether online or in person!
Please reach out at any time: iclistdata@gmail.com
Best, Natali
Aditia representing Indonesia at a recent UNESCO meeting in Mongolia.
What’s happening
Interested in volcanoes? What about the relationship between volcanoes and sustainable Geotourism? If so, you might be interested in the GEOFEST 2024 Sydney workshop, which is being co-hosted by the University of Sydney from 18 to 20 July 2024. It includes a workshop (focusing on volcanic Geotourism, with speakers from both Indonesia and Australia); field trips to the Blue Mountains, the Ku-ring-gai GeoRegion (who knew!), and to South Coast volcanics at Kiama; and an optional wildlife tourism session. The organisers are hoping that this event will attract a good number of participants, especially students, with an interest in Indonesia. Early bird tickets are now open, until 17 June – find out more and register on their website, and please share with your networks!
Save the date: 41st Indonesia Update, Canberra, 13-14 September 2024
How far has Jokowi truly transformed Indonesia? This year’s Indonesia Update will examine the mark that Jokowi has left on the country's economy, welfare, politics, security, environment, and international relations. Registrations open in June!
Other cool stuff
Applications for the 9th annual Australia Indonesia short film festival (ReelOzIndo) are now open. This year’s competition theme is diversity / keberagaman, and applications close 2 August 2024. There are great prizes to be won, and special categories for younger filmmakers (ages 13-18). More info on their website.
Friends in Melbourne are invited to a presentation and performance at the University of Melbourne’s Parkville campus by Presiden Tidore, a.k.a Bams Conoras (a hip-hop artist from Tidore Island in North Maluku, Indonesia) on Friday 24 May from 14:00-17:00. He will describe his cultural practice, music, cloth weaving and engage in intercultural and interfaith dialogue. A musical performance supported by Yarra Irama will follow as part of the Indonesia Forum Halal Bihalal Eid-Al-Fitr social gathering. Registration essential.
Also in Melbourne, an end of semester gamelan concert on Monday 3 June from 18:30-20.30 at the Melba Hall in Parkville. The event will feature University of Melbourne gamelan students, Melbourne Community Gamelan (Solo, Central Javanese), Putra Panji Asmara (Cirebon, West/coastal Javanese) gamelan with topeng (masked) dancers. No entry fee but registration is essential.
Call for papers
Send us your cfp!
Publications
Many colleagues are sure to be interested in this new report, Exploring the intersection between disability and trafficking in person, which includes Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. In Indonesia, the research was led by Cucu Saidah, who interviewed victim-survivors of trafficking with disabilities, police, judges, social workers, shelter staff, and anti-trafficking taskforce officials. The report sheds light on an issue that isn’t yet well-understood. People with disabilities are widely recognised as a group at risk of trafficking, but we know very little about the specific vulnerabilities they face, what types of trafficking they experience, and how well existing counter-trafficking efforts and recovery services are meeting their needs.
Elisabeth Jackson, one of the scholars involved in this important project, has also published a short piece in The Interpreter: Invisible victims: How counter-trafficking efforts leave people with disability behind | Lowy Institute
Together with Australian and Indonesian colleagues, I published an article in The Conversation about Indonesian shipwrecks and orphaned cargoes. You can read an English version here, an Indonesian version here, or listen to the connection between shipwrecks and the 2020 Cipta Kerja Law here!
Podcast update
If you’re not already listening to the Talking Indonesia podcast, you are missing out. They are a consistent source of excellent interviews and discussions on a whole range of interesting topics related to Indonesia. They’ve been good enough to send through this sample of their recent interviews, and we encourage you to add this podcast to your regular listening!
Kretek capitalism - Dr Marina Welker
Elisabeth Kramer, 12 May 2024
What kinds of labour - paid, under-paid and unpaid - keep the the kretek industry fabulously profitable in Indonesia? In this episode of Talking Indonesia Elisabeth Kramer chats with Dr Marina Welker about her new book and deep dive on how multinational tobacco corporations impact the lives of ordinary Indonesians.
Marriage migration and intercultural families - Emeritus Professor Kathryn Robinson
Tito Ambyo, 26 April 2024
Asian women who are developing relationships with men from Western countries, like Australia, be it through snail mails, online sites or other means, often have to face the stereotype of the ‘subservient woman’. In her new book, anthropologist Emeritus Professor Kathryn Robinson looks at intercultural marriages between Asian women and Australian men.
Food Security - Associate Professor Jamie Davidson
Jemma Purdey, 8 April 2024
In 2023 an EL Niño weather pattern across Indonesia made it the hottest year on record, leading to drought conditions and impacting rice production, with delayed harvests and low yields. Since late last year rice prices have continued to climb. In this episode of Talking Indonesia Jemma Purdey chats with Associate Professor Jamie Davidson, leader of the Cluster ‘Food Politics and Society' at the National University of Singapore, about the current state of food production and food security in Indonesia.
Jural traditions and minority rights – Dr Al Khanif
Lis Kramer, 28 March 2024
How do religious minorities fare under the constitution and blasphemy laws in Indonesia? In this podcast, Elisabeth Kramer talks to Dr Al Khanif about the state of religious rights and freedom of expression, and how jural traditions, the interpretations of laws based on historical and social norms, have made it even more difficult to assert these rights.
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 and to support keynote speakers at the biennial ASAA conferences. It also provides added benefits for you, including eligibility for:
Biennial Indonesia Council Early Career Book Prize
Dedicated postgraduate events and workshops
Special members-only newsletters
Other events, activities and subsidies as suggested by you