Indonesia Council Digest - September 2023
It’s finally here, folks: ICOC 2023, co-hosted by University of Sydney and Western Sydney University. The program is out, the plenary speakers are prepped, and we are waiting to welcome you to Sydney! With just days before the conference starts, there is little left to do but wait for everything to get underway. First up, the postgraduate workshop and food and cultural tour on Monday, followed by two packed days of sessions (89!), roundtables, book launches (9!) and even a free screening of Autobiography. Check out the massive program here and if you're the social media kind, please tag the conference in your posts: #ICOC2023 and @IndoCouncil (Find us on Facebook and Twitter).
Please accept my apologies then for what follows: we are on the lookout for the next host of ICOC. You heard me – it is time to start thinking about ICOC 2025! In recent years the conference has been hosted by University of Queensland (2021), Australian National University (2019), Flinders (2017) and Deakin (2015), so if your Uni is not on that list (and even if it is!!) please consider putting your hand up to host the next one. Send me an email to express your enthusiastic interest 😊 iclistdata@gmail.com
Sampai jumpa, Natali
What's happening...
Nicholas Moore’s recent report ('Invested: Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2024’) on Australia and Southeast Asia was released this month, pointing business in the right direction – i.e. toward Southeast Asia. It noted that Australia needs to lift investment in Southeast Asia literacy at all levels and recommends that National Cabinet consider developing a whole-of-nation plan to strengthen Southeast Asia literacy in Australian business, government, the education and training system, and the community. At the same time, and as outlined in this piece for the Australian Financial Review by foreign affairs analyst James Curran, the Moore Report is also part of a seemingly endless and sadly episodic cycle of Australian rediscovery of Asia.
Esteemed colleagues Liam Prince and Ele Williams spoke at the International Education Association of Australia Learning Abroad Forum about the ACICIS alumni tracer survey/context of global alumni survey. Watch the video here. It is so interesting to see where the classes of 1995, 2000 and 2005 have ended up, and how influential the ACICIS experience was for them (and the communities they spent time with).
There is a new podcast out with ICOC co-convenor Zulfan Tadjoeddin, on inequality as a leading cross-cutting development issue in Indonesia. Listen in here!
News is still coming in about the fire at the National Museum in Jakarta, with 6 out of 21 rooms in Building A affected but, fortunately, no casualties. Authorities have released a statement in which they made a point of noting that none of the objects recently repatriated from the Netherlands have been affected. Sadly it’s not the first time one of Indonesia’s major museums has been affected by fire in recent years.
Other cool stuff
Registrations are still open to view new Indonesian film Autobiography, to be screened by the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (University of Sydney) on Tuesday 26 September from 5.30pm. This is a great conference add-on if you are in town for ICOC, and it’s free!
Also film-related, the 2023 ReelOzInd! Australia Indonesia Short Film Festival premieres on 19 October in Melbourne at ACMI and in Yogyakarta at STMM MMTC. The pop-up travelling festival will then run from 20 October until 21 December. The theme this year is pencarian/quest and you can view the Festival Trailer here.
Congrats to Lukas Fort (University of Western Australia) who has won the 2022 John Legge Prize awarded by the Asian Studies Association of Australia (ASAA) for his thesis ‘Making Indonesia clean from waste: The role of culture in the development of new waste management services in Sumbawa, Indonesia’.
Speaking of ASAA, book prizes are now open, so get your nominations in.
Last but not least, the Australia-Indonesia Institute grants round is open! These grants are designed to be used to build relationships and track record for work going forward. Take a look at the guidelines here, and note that applications close 26 October 2023.
Publications
Professor Budiman Minasny, usually known for his research on soil, has published a short piece in New Mandala on colonial life in Deli, Sumatra.
Meanwhile, Professor Michele Ford’s first book in Indonesian is coming out next month, with an attention-grabbing cover – congrats!
It’s been a busy month at my end so this publications section is looking a little thin. If you’ve got something you’d like to share, please let me know.
Vale Emeritus Professor Harold Crouch
We were very sorry to hear of the death of eminent scholar Harold Crouch. Ed Aspinall published a moving obituary, which in turn draws on a tribute to Crouch written by the late Jamie Mackie, Greg Fealy and Ed on the occasion of Harold’s retirement. Marcus Mietzner also published this obituary in Indonesian for Kompas. Turut berduka cita.
ACICIS Update
Bahasa Sesh is back! This initiative, which was first launched in 2022, aims to encourage Australians to engage with Indonesian language and culture by sharing their favourite word in Bahasa Indonesia in video form via social media.
Last year ACICIS received around 50 entries, including from The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Ms Penny Williams, and the High Commissioner to Brunei, Mr Luke Arnold. Some of the winners were also interviewed and featured on ABC Indonesia. Delta Williams was the inaugural winner with the word curhat: to have a heart-to-heart.
The grand prize this year is one free session (3 weeks) of tne ACICIS Indonesian Language Short Course at Satya Wacana University in Salatiga, Central Java (valued at over AUD$3,000!).
If you want to participate in the Challenge, be sure to post your submission between 1-26 October.