Panel Discussion I time: 10.45-3.00                                                      (DAY1)

ART, POLITICS AND THE STATE.

Bondan Nusantara is a prominent writer, director and performer of ketoprak theatre in Yogyakarta. He is the script writer and director of the performance Bang-Bang Sumirat, discussed by Tri Subagyo.
The Influence of Political Change on the Performers of Traditional Arts (Ketoprak).
Since the 1998 Reformation brought about by the fall of the Suharto regime, the position of traditional arts, ketoprak in particular, has undergone a dramatic change. Ketoprak is no longer a political instrument of the ruler but a community art which is autonomous and independent. However history has given proof that no traditional art can develop without cooperation with and contribution from other forces - government, private institutions, and donors.
    In 1960s when the Old Regime ruled, the performers of traditional arts (ketoprak) were in their golden age. Lekra (Lembaga Kebudayaan Rakyat) acknowledged the function and benefit of ketoprak. Thus, Bakoksi (Badan Kontak Ketoprak Seluruh Indonesia) was formed. Unfortunately, when the tragedy of G30 S occurred, all of the ketoprak groups under Bakoksi were completely dissolved. Many performers were put in gaol and some were even killed without trial.
    In 1968, the New Regime, sponsored by the army, recruited the remaining ketoprak performers into several groups. The military regiment Kodam VII Diponegoro under the leadership of General Widodo gathered non-Lekra ketoprak performers and a few of the ex-Bakoksi members in the troupe Sapta Mandala. Kodim 0734 of Yogyakarta founded Ketoprak Dahono Mataram. In addition, Kodam V Brawijaya managed groups of ludruk and wayang orang in the areas of Surabaya, Malang, and Madiun. Meanwhile, artists from all over the country were mobilized into an organization called BKKNI, which monitored the attitudes and movements of the performers in each region. These efforts were closely connected with the need for the New Regime to socialize its programs. At that time, the mass media (television, radio, and newspaper) were not as well established as today. The regime's action was effective but its strict control was often detrimental to the performers of traditional arts. Any infraction could be fatal because the doer would not get the permission to perform.
    When Reformasi occurred, the performers of traditional arts became confused. Many of those who had previously served a mouthpiece for the regime now mocked it: those who had regarded Soeharto as Semar suddenly denounced him as Rahwana. But this attitude did not solve the problems caused by the disastrous economic crisis, or help in facing the inflow of capitalized media culture. The traditional arts and its performers, who were used to working in mutual cooperation through familial relationships, lacked sufficient financial capital and innovative strategies to deal with the market forces. At the same time the politicians and new rulers paid little attention to the arts, instead focusing on issues of political and economic development.
    The introduction of Otonomi daerah (Otda) can provide great opportunities for the development of the traditional arts and its performers. The performers, as inhabitants of the region, have the same rights as other citizens to take part in determining policy directions. In the province of Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY, awareness of the importance of providing bigger role to the traditional arts (ketoprak) as a means of conveying local values and culture emerged in 2005 approaching the Pemilihan Kepala Daerah (Pilkada). The re-emergence of local ketoprak festivals, the allocation of budget to the development of traditional arts, the celebration of special occasions such as Independence Day and the Anniversary of Kabupaten with traditional arts performances involving local officials as actors – these developments seem to signal the birth of such awareness. Of course questions arise - is this merely a political strategy to gain power, or is it really a sign of the awakening of traditional arts and its performers?
    The action taken by Bupati Kabupaten Bantul, drs. H. Idham Samawi provides a good model. As well as giving attention to farmers, salesmen, and school children, he also takes action to preserve and develop ketoprak by allowing access to funding from the local budget - Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Daerah (APBD) - to all ketoprak performers in Bantul. The result is that performers gain the right to adequate earnings, totally managed by themselves, for the development of local ketoprak. The consequence is if those performers commit corruption they have to be ready to be put in gaol.
    This model can be a guide to the other regions. By having a comprehensive plan, cooperation, commitment, hard work and good will, the performers of traditional arts may gain opportunities to get involved in actively defining and maintaining the identity of local culture amidst increasing globalization.

Yustinus Tri Subagya is a researcher at the Center of Population and Policy Studies, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.
Breaking the Silence: Ketoprak and Social Healing of the Past Violence in Rural Java.
Almost seven years after the downfall of Suharto, social and political change has begun to take place in Indonesian popular art and culture. While the present government has not yet treated past human rights violations seriously, several groups of people such as local artists, NGOs and other civil society elements have initiated the articulation of voices of the past victims of violence. They have endorsed the establishment of a truth and reconciliation commission which is conducting a process of ongoing selection, their efforts have appeared in the establishment of victim organizations and other activities. Reunions victims and dissemination of their stories, are apparently important to release their pains and burdens of trauma.
    In this regard, ketoprak as a popular art in rural Java enables the mediation and articulation of truth from the victim's perspective. During the gatherings of women ex political prisoners of the New Order, ketoprak became the center of cultural programs. In addition, the performance of Bang-Bang Sumirat (The rising of Sparkling Lights) based on the events of the 1965-1966 massacre, absorbedf an audience of hundreds in the Art Bazar of Bantul. By means of the performance people could learn a different version of history from that co-opted in the past byauthoritarian rulers. The value of justice which so far has been monopolized by the rulers is beginning to be realized as not only the nation's responsibility but also that of individuals in their communities. Performing the victims' marginalized stories is an effective means to listen to the living aspiration and truth in the society. This paper critically examines the phenomenon of local performance art – ketoprak - in contemporary Indonesia and explores the possibilities of the medium for trauma healings for the survivors. It will evaluate the significance of ketoprak in mediating the recognition of the past violence and serving as a force for reconciliation in the community.

YUSTINUS TRI SUBAGYA FULL PAPER - PDF FILE

Ngurah Suryawan, is a student at the Universty Udayana-Denpasar. He as already published several books on Balinese culture.
From Cultural Tourism to Ajeg Bali -
a Geneology of Balinese Cultural and Political Change.
Beginning with the ideology of “cultural tourism” in New Order times, Bali needed to remain free of the disruptions of national politics, an area of peace and calm as a condition for the operation of tourism.  
    But when the authoritarian regime fell, various acts of violence took place. There were protests when AM Syaifudin pronounced that a woman president is not acceptable in Islam. The idea of “ Bali Merdeka” arose at that time. And when Megawati lost the presidential election in 1999 there were disturbances with attacks on government offices throughout Bali.
    When the concept of regional autonomy was introduced, it was translated by Balinese it into a strengthening of the adat village and Balinese values, an accompanied by the re-emergence of the pecalangan, adat police.  
    The Bali bombings of 2001 rocked Bali . There were “sweepings” of migrant groups and a strengthening of the power of the adat village to control people and implement local security. The political jargon changed from cultural tourism to" "Ajeg Bali ". “ Stand Up for Bali ” Ajeg Bali was a cultural strategy devised by the Bali Post group and fully supported by the mass media.  
    When the 2005 bombs struck, groups of Hindu young men banded together in the organization GAT (Gerakan Anti Teroris – anti terrorism movement) and demanded the execution of Amrozi and his friends. Almost all areas of Bali experience resentment against migrants. Vigilance and threat constitute the discourse of change in cultural politics in Bali . Now with a movement called ajeg Bali , terrorism and anti-terrorism come together within contemporary cultural politics.
    Vigilance and threat are reproduced by cultural policy for the sake of development and tourism.

I NGURAH SURYAWAN FULL PAPER - PDF FILE

Julia Perkins is a PhD student at Murdoch University. Her research investigates the development of a socialist realist cultural tradition in Indonesia, specifically in regards to a theatre praxis. Her work compares and contrasts the theory and practice of LEKRA and JAKER ((Jaringan Kerja Kebudayaan Rakyat).
An Indonesian Socialist Realist Theatre Tradition.
I intend to open up discussion regarding the development of an Indonesian socialist realist cultural tradition and, within that, the specifics of a theatrical praxis. Opening comments will rely on an understanding of Culture as referring to “a whole way of life, material, intellectual and spiritual” and therefore, similarly, Art as the “complex product of economic, social and ideological factors……owing its existence to the particular practice of the located individual.” I will examine the historically specific determinants which have influenced the development of an Indonesian socialist realist tradition to the present day. An overview of the ideological and material tensions which colored the Sukarno era is essential to understanding the cultural context since the coming to power of the New Order regime – a cultural context in which the Old Order tensions tend to be played out and in which a socialist realist tradition appears determined to resurface.

Panel Discussion II time: 14.00-16.00                                                   (DAY1)
ART, POLITICS AND RELIGION.

Aprinus Salam & Ary Budiyanto Aprinus Salam is a lecturer and researcher at, among several places, the Fakultas Ilmu Budaya and the Pusat Studi Kebudayaan, Universitas Gadjah Mada. Ary Budiyanto, S.S., M.A. is a researcher from the Centre for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies-UGM.
The Politics of Experimentation. Islamic Arts since New Order Regime.
Islamic literature, particularly the work of Sufi poets, was endorsed in the 1980s-1990s. It was conditioned by political forces in that the regime wanted to get Islamic mass support; at the same time it was a resistant form toward secular ideology (and/or kejawen ) that the New Order state developed. Nevertheless, Sufism poets became bankrupt along with the collapse of New Order regime. The questions are: what kind of transformation has happened in the post New Order era, how did that happen, and what kinds of conditions are occurring?

APRINUS SALAM & ARY BUDIYANTO FULL PAPER - PFD FILE

Rinduan Zain is a lecturer at the IAIN Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta and a PhD Candidate in Sociology of Politics, Achool of Sociology and Anthropology, University of New South Wales, Sydney
Political Islam in Contemporary Indonesia.
This study focuses on the revival and politicisation of Islam after the collapse of Suharto's New Order government and the establishment of democratic electoral politics. It studies the emergence of religion-focused politics as a strategy to carve out new political constituencies based on the shared identity of faith. It will investigate the instrumental use of religion as a mobilising ideology to provide the political opposition political legitimacy based on faith. It will also explore the way the politicisation of religion has served to promote fundamentalist interpretations. Thus the focus of this study is not on Islamic religious beliefs and practices, but rather on the way Islamic fundamentalists have promoted and emphasised certain political concepts by politicising Islam. It is not the substance of religion that is of interest nor spirituality, but religious symbolism employed in the pursuit of political ends.

Susan Ingham is a Phd candidate at the UNSW College of Fine Arts.
Issues in the Indonesian version of International Survey Shows.

SUSAN INGHAM FULL PAPER - PDF FILE  

Panel Discussion I time:9.00-11.00                                                (DAY2)
THEATRE, LITERATURE AND IDENTITY IN THE AGE
OF OTONOMI DAERAH.

Ninuk Kleden-Probonegoro is a researcher at the Center for Social and Cultural Studies, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) Jakarta.
Traditional Theatre in Indonesia after Suharto: Representing Identity and Non-Identity.
I believe that the end of Soeharto's regime in 1998 was a new beginning for Indonesia to be involved in an over-all reform to overcome various kinds of crisis in the country. There was a need to implement a decentralization policy, which was enabled by the law no 22/1999 on regional autonomy and endorsed by the law no 25/1999 on the financial balance between central government and regional governments.
    This big change has had important implications for the relationship between traditional theaters and their supporting communities. As is generally known, some traditional theaters are treated as sacred because they are performed as the fulfillment of one's vow in facing a difficult situation (as is the case with Topeng Betawi and Wayang Kulit ). Some are performed to celebrate life-cycle events (e.g. Lenong, Sandiwara Sunda, Komedi Rudat, and Mamanda ) and to strengthen intra-community integration. In all those functions traditional theaters assume the role of representing the community's identity which is ethnic identity.
    This representation of identity becomes all the more important after the implementation of regional autonomy, when each regional government, especially provincial government, wants to provide its region with a specific feature which is supposed to make it distinct from other regions. Performing arts in general and traditional theaters in particular turn out to become a popular cultural marker to serve this function. However, this has happened not without difficulties because traditional theaters are related to various group interests, these being the interests of ethnic communities, cultural agencies and even the government. The representation of ethnic identity cannot be treated as something given, but as something subject to contestation between various groups whose interests are at stake.

NINUK KEDEN-PROPONEGORO FULL PAPER - PDF FILE

Mikihiro Moriyama teaches Indonesian language and literature at Nanzan University , Japan . He has written on Sundanese language and literature, and contemporary Indonesian literature, and recently published a book on Sundanese print culture and modernity. He is a visiting fellow at the South East Asia Centre at ANU until March 2006.
Language Change and Regional Literature after Suharto.
Socio-political changes in Indonesia after the demise of the Soeharto regime and the following period of reformasi seem to have caused changes in the situation of language in Indonesia . The language policy of the state has become less coercive than in former times when Bahasa Indonesia became a symbol of nationalism and of uniting diverse ethnic groups. In other words, the long-held one language policy of the state is changing and the monolingual situation in the public sphere is also changing. For instance, Indonesian is not the only language used for broadcasting news; regional languages such as Javanese and Sundanese are also starting to be used on TV.
    In this paper, I will use the Sundanese language as an example to argue that there is a shift from a monolingual public sphere to polyglossia, and to illustrate influence of increasing regional autonomy. Then, I will discuss a literary award established to promote literary activities in Sundanese as an example of the efforts to revive regional languages and literatures.

MIKIHIRO MORIYAMA FULL PAPER - PDF FILE

Michael Bodden teaches Indonesian/Malay language and Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Victoria in Canada . He has written widely on Indonesian literature and theatre, including contemporary fiction and theatre in the regions.
Regional Identity and National Community: the Tensions of Indonesian National Culture.
Building on previous articles ( Coast Lines 2001; Basis 2003) examining the changes in local color fiction between the 1970s and the 1990s, I want to look at the attitude toward foregrounding regional and ethnic “local identity” in recent works of fiction and performance. During the course of the New Order, national language fiction moved from a generally more pro-modernization, anti-local traditions position in the 1970s that still used the language, religious practices and beliefs, and other accoutrements of local culture as key indicators of national “authenticity”, to a rather different position by the late 1990s—one much more supportive of local cultural traditions and much less enamored of the modernity represented by Jakarta and the centralized state. Have regional national language writers continued to foreground their local cultures as an alternative to the perceived domineering, authoritarian culture of the centre, or with the realization of (a perhaps disappointing) regional autonomy, has the use of local cultural elements as alternative discourses and models become less useful? Theatre and performance offer a rather different trajectory in so far as tradition was frequently seen by national culture-oriented theatre workers as a gold mine for recuperating revitalizing performance techniques and styles, and for potential more lively and intimate communication with a wider audience. Still, Rendra was always careful to see tradition as something that always needed to be transformed in order to remain vital. Thus, theatre workers continued to transform, sometimes almost beyond recognition, the local cultural elements which they appropriated to their performance styles. “Tradition” in the national art theatre, then, had become rather attenuated by the year 2000, as can be seen in the works of recent innovators such as Rachman Sabur, Asia Ramli Prapanca, Arman Dewarti, and Yogya's Teater Garasi.
    In order to carefully analyze some of the potential current meanings for local identity and regional traditions in national literature and art theatre, I will compare the work of two pairs of practitioners: the fiction of Gusaf Sakai and Oka Rusmini, and the performance works of Shinta Febriany and Petta Puang. I will use the works of these figures to investigate when and to what extent explicit expressions and representations of local cultural identity still matter in early 21 st century Indonesia.

Panel Discussion II time: 11.15-13.15                                                (DAY2)
ORAL EXPRESSION, MATERIAL CULTURE AND SOCIAL POWER IN THE REGIONS.

Arnusianto M. Mage is a Senior Lecturer at Department of Languages and Arts, Teacher Training and Education Faculty, Palangkaraya University . He is currently a PhD Candidate in the Melbourne Institute of Asian Languages and Societies, Melbourne University . The topic of his research is: The ethnopoetic of Pangunraun in marriage negotiations of wedding ceremonies of Maanyan Dayak of Central Kalimantan , Indonesia.
Local Autonomy, Identity, and Indigenous Poetic Language of Pangunraun of Maanyan Dayak, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Among the revolutionary policies that have been implemented after Soeharto's era is article number 22/1999 on local autonomy. Its aim is to ease the social unrest, (including armed movements) that was so common in various Indonesian islands. These phenomena are believed rooted deeply in economic unfairness, and lack of acknowledgment of ethnic identity, and representation in government institutions and parliament. These phenomena had been long known as weaknesses of the form of the state: negara kesatuan (united state), which is obviously unsuitable for very multi-ethnic Indonesia . The article 22/1999 gave autonomy to local communities to form and to run their local government at the level of regency (Kabupaten/Kota). Among the most important things is the fact that, the local parliament and the heads of the local government Bupati and the Deputy Bupati are elected through a direct election. In February 2001, before the article was effectively implemented in the massive island of Kalimantan , an ethnic riot between the indigenous inhabitants of the island, Dayak and Madurese migrants exploded in Central Kalimantan , following a similar riot in the neighbouring province of West Kalimantan two years earlier. The main issues behind the riot were similar to most Indonesian social unrest, the rights to manage their own natural resources, problem of representation in the body of decision maker, but the most dominant issue was acknowledgement of Dayak ethnic identity.
    On this occasion I would like to draw a general connection between local identity, indigenous arts especially ethnopoetics, and the implementation of the article 22/1999 in Central Kalimantan province, especially in the Regency of East Barito, Kabupaten Barito Timur .

ARNUSIANTO M. MAGE FULL PAPER - PDF FILE

Audrey Low is a PhD candidate at the Institute for International Studies, University of Technology, Sydney .
Textiles and Issues of Indigenous Cultural Identity.
My paper will examine the notion that the consumption of the pua kumbu object crosses cultural borders, not directly as a result of globalization, but is consumed within national boundaries by other races in Sarawak . Local patterns of consumption include the commodification and reconstitution of fragments of culture to create new expressions of identity. These patterns of consumption of objects that have crossed borders bring to the fore contestation surrounding issues of control, authority and the guardianship of cultural articulation and property. The circulation of the pua kumbu through mythic, gendered and contemporary landscapes is also examined. The route or journey of the object and its accompanying players with divergent interests can be traced around the performance, articulation and translation of Iban identity in contemporary Sarawak .

Tod Jones is currently completing a doctoral thesis titled ‘Indonesian Cultural Policy, 1950-2003: Culture, Institutions, Government' at the Faculty of Media, Society and Culture, Curtin University of Technology.
Angkutan and Bis Kota in Padang, West Sumatra: Public Transport as the Intersection of a Local Popular Culture.
While politicians were talking of returning to the traditional nagari system of local government in Padang , a vibrant and diverse form of local cultural expression were literally circling the city. The angkutan and bis kota in Padang are brightly decorated with pictures and items depicting local and global themes and are equipped with expensive entertainment systems, produced by an expanding global marketplace, that broadcast local, Indonesian and foreign music in a variety of genres. In my presentation, I will explore the different factors that shape visual and musical expression on local transport. I am particularly interested in the intersection between global popular culture, consumer goods and local culture in the everyday experiences of drivers and passengers in Padang .

TOD JONES FULL PAPER - PDF FILE

Elizabeth Morrell is a lecturer in Indonesian Language and Studies at Flinders University and a specialist in local culture and politics in South Sulawesi.
Concrete form and ideological function: The monument as public culture.

Panel Discussion III time:14.15-16.15                                                (DAY2)
LOCAL PERFORMANCE AND MEDIA- CELEBRATING COMMUNITY, BUILDING DEMOCRACY?

Mario Antonius Birowo is a PhD student at the Media Asia Research Group, Department of Media and Information, Curtin University of Technology. His thesis title is ‘Community Radio and Grass-Roots Democracy: A case study of three villages in the Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia '.
Community Radio and GrassRoots Democracy.
The fall of the Soeharto regime in 1998 generated a movement for democratisation in the flow of information through press freedom, access to information, and freedom of expression. In the reform era, measures to reduce the government's control on the flow of information have been put into practice through legislative changes. For example, Habibie's administration (1998-1999) removed earlier regulation that press must have a SIUPP or publication permit, then Wahid's administration (1999-2001) removed Department of Information, which had played an important role in controlling mass media, and Megawati's administration (2001-2003) enacted the Broadcasting Act Number 32, 2002. Many new radio stations, including community radio, emerged as a response to the new post-Soeharto freedoms. At the present time there are more 1200 broadcasting radio stations in Indonesia, about 32.2 million radio sets, and the coverage area of radio stations is about 85% of the country.
    Some scholars state that the mass media have performed disappointingly in producing participatory social change and public involvement because of their focus on entertainment, sensation, and money. They point out how the media to use their power to gain profit from the public rather than to providing social benefits, such as building political participation. While this argument is a valid one, it fails to take into account non-commercial institutions such as community media. Development communication studies provide evidence that community media can function as a tool for people to participate in the development process, by providing a forum for debate, analysis, and exchange of ideas. By contrast the mass media promote the pursuit of globalisation and hegemony of ruling elites. They cannot play a role in social change because they do not have roots within the people.
    My study, based on case studies of three villages in the Yogyakakarta area, will explore the use of local culture in community radio to promote the development of participatory democracy. Local culture is used to encourage inhabitants to express their voices as the basis of people's empowerment.

Edwin Jurriëns is a lecturer at the Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales. He has a special research interest in radio and other forms of Indonesian popular media In the context of globalization,
RRI: Radio, Reformasi, Indonesianness.
Beyond doubt, media such as radio have been influential in mediating the socio-political process of Reformasi in Indonesia since the late 1990s. The media have expressed, and been affected by, Reformasi-calls for greater freedom of speech and press freedom, amongst others.
    Since the flow of those media has not been restricted to the cultural-administrative borders of the Indonesian nation-state, Reformasi cannot be considered a strictly local phenomenon either. International news providers and NGOs have provided examples for, or directly co-operated with, their Indonesian counterparts, thereby partially setting the agenda for Reformasi.
    In this presentation, I will put the ‘Indonesianness' of Reformasi into perspective, by investigating the transnational dimensions of late- and post-Soeharto radio communications. On the basis of my case studies, I will take sides with critics of Habermas's notion of the bourgeois public sphere, and argue that the notion needs to be redefined in terms of scope and diversity.

EDWIN JURRIENS FULL PAPER - PDF FILE

Inez Mahony is undertaking an Honours degree in Journalism and tutoring in Indonesian at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Media in Indonesia since the Fall of Suharto
For most Australians and Indonesians, the only perceptions they have of their neighbours are those portrayed in the media. Thus the media plays an essential role in how each nation views the other. My study sheds light on where misrepresentations and misperceptions have occurred and identifies areas that need addressing to minimise further occurrences. It also gives readers or the audience an understanding of the differences and similarities of cultural, political and societal aspects of both nations that affect what is portrayed in the media.

INES MAHONY FULL PAPER - PDF FILE

Panel Discussion I time:9.00-11.00                                                            (DAY3)
GENDER, SEXUALITY AND ARTISTIC EXPRESSION -A

Heidi Arbuckle is a PhD Candidate at the University of Melbourne , writing a thesis on the work of contemporary women visual artists in Indonesia
New Bodies/New Selves in Indonesian Women's Visual Arts Practice.
Recently, writers have signaled a ‘liberation of expression' of Indonesian women's voices in the arts since Suharto, particularly in the fields of literature, film and performance. Little has been said, however, about women's creative expression in the visual arts. For this panel, I pose the following questions: Is there a shifting discourse from the feminine to the feminist in Indonesian women's visual arts production since Suharto? Can we speak of a female gaze in Indonesian women's visual artwork? How do Indonesian women artists represent themselves, their male counterparts, and issues of sexuality through visual imagery? Do these images contest or confirm male constructions of women's sexuality? After Suharto, how important is it to be an ‘Indonesian' woman artist, as opposed to one of particular ethnic, religious or class background?
    Drawing on the work of a new generation of Indonesian women artists who have emerged after 1998 I suggest that there has been a significant shift in the way this generation of women artists represent issues of female sexuality, identity, and the body through their visual arts practice. To an extent, these representations challenge both male constructions of female sexuality and representations of the female form found in the work of older generation women artists in Indonesia .

Wulan Dirgantoro is a visual artist and curator, a graduate of ITB Bandung, now based in Australia.
Exhibiting Gender in Indonesia
The liberation of expression in the post-Suharto era has encouraged Indonesian women in self-expression and also in participating within areas normally dominated by men, such as literature, arts and film industry. These phenomena also occurred in the field of visual arts. The growing interest in gender theories in recent years has produced a significant shift towards the representation of women or gender issues in the Indonesian art world. However, little investigation has been undertaken about how this phenomenon actually operates in Indonesian art practice.
    For this panel, I would like to pose the following questions: To what extent do art exhibitions represent gender issues? How are women represented in the exhibitions? How do women represent themselves? What role do curators and critics play? To what extent does current debate in the global contemporary art world affect the Indonesian art scene with regard to gender issues?
    Drawing on exhibitions and works from a generation of women artists which has exhibited extensively in the local, regional and international art arena since 1998, I suggest that art exhibitions have played a significant role in producing and circulating the representation of women and especially, gender issues in Indonesia. Large to small-scale exhibitions in Indonesia have made the attempt, but to what extent these exhibitions have challenged or merely confirmed old stereotypes is the real issue that should be discussed.


Margesti & Liswati Margesti is the leader and director and Liswati a performer in the theatre group Teater Abu , based in a community in Tanggerang outside Jakarta
Living for Theatre
Margesti will discuss her life as a wife and mother, an actor, a director and community activist, and Lies her experiences as a factory worker and performer.The following brief excerpts are taken from longer written statements.

Gesti:…. “as an actor and a housewife I can't just devote my time for performing. In conditions where the two roles conflict I try to do whatever I have to do at the time it needs to be done. For example, when I have to prepare a role at the same time as the family needs attention,I blend the two tasks into one, by performing household tasks while rehearsing. I am used to cooking while singing and dancing, or cleaning the bathroom while letting out my emotions….At times of crisis it is very interesting, this conditioning in fact has helped me overcome various problems.
  ... ‘Teater Abu is a medium for workers to gather and escape from the routine of the factory. Our main concern is the need for self-expression and for friendship…I begin with the concept of “humanity” …in which the rights of performers to socialize, interact, respect and be respected are valued highly……My hope is that theatre can give them the space and the freedom to develop and improve the worth of their life.

Liswati: I coped with the normal routines of factory life, but struggled when we had to chase production targets beyond our capacity, doing long hours of overtime, or when trying to make my wage last out the month. A friend invited me along to a rehearsal of Teater Abu and that was first time I knew what theatre was. It turned out that the performers were all factory workers like me…. In singing, dancing and voicing the words of the script I felt as if I was in another world….
    Now theatre is no longer just a medium of escape from the tedium of work. Theatre gives me an invaluable spiritual satisfaction, and I have gained such a lot - experience in socializing, organizing, and understanding life. I've received invitations to sing, to teach arts in schools, to work backstage at performances…. I've left my job at the factory and chosen to live for theatre.

Rachmah Ida is a lecturer in the Department of Communications, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Airlangga University , Surabaya , and a PhD Student of Media Studies , Department of Media and Information Studies, Curtin University of Technology.
Kampung Women's Consumption of Female Bodies on Indonesian Television.
My interest is in television viewing practice among urban kampung women in Surabaya and the consumption of female body images depicted on Indonesian television. I interrogate h ow urban kampung women viewers ‘link' the characters seen in the sinetron to their own identities, and ask how this television-watching experience (pleasure consumption) might be distinctive for women of their class and cultural background.
    I argue that the representations of contemporary urban women in the sinetron texts have opened up a certain space for the assertion of a critical urban middle to lower class female spectatorship. These viewers do not simply take the female image as “the mirror”: rather they are conscious that the representations are just a form of fictional creation. In other words, the kampung female viewers vigorously choose not to identify with the sinetron 's imaginary subjects because such identifications are disenabling. Characterizations in sinetron texts are recognized as offering different types of persons, but they are not adaptable for processes of identification among female kampong viewers.
    I also explore how urban kampung lower class women watch pornography videodiscs (VCD) and talk about the female bodies shown on such VCD. The female bodies shown in the video produce paradoxical feelings of attraction, shame about their own bodies, which they fear cannot be compared to those “ideal” bodies, and concern about the power of this visual representation to lure male spectators, particularly their spouses. Thus, the kampung women choose to watch pornography privately not simply because they will be ashamed to be seen doing so by their neighbours (as watching pornography is still culturally taboo and politically restricted), rather there are feelings of embarrassment at watching the female body presented for male spectacle. For those viewers, the visuals resonate to them as females, whilst at the same time embarrassing them for their own body images.
    Since the female gaze and pleasure in the context of Indonesian female spectatorship has been very little explored in socio-cultural studies of Indonesia , my study attempts to provide a groundbreaking analysis of these issues .

Shinta Febriany is a theatre director and performer, who works with the Makassar-based theatre group Sanggar Merah Putih.
Feminine consciousness in Indonesian Theatre--Creating a Space.

Panel Discussion I time:11.15-12.15                                                           (DAY3)
GENDER, SEXUALITY AND ARTISTIC EXPRESSION -B

Sirikit Syah is a fiction writer, a journalist and a lecturer in journalism with wide experience in eletronic media.
Masculinism in the works of Indonesian Women Writers
In late 1997, while almost every modern and educated woman in Indonesia was still “high” about feminism and the movement of gender equality, the world of literature was shocked by the emergence of Ayu Utami with her quite controversial novel “Saman”. It was controversial because of many things, among others: its political content and its obscenity. I consider the work is very masculine. Unlike her contemporary woman activists who cry for equality, Ayu Utami shows that woman is already equal to and even empowered to be above men. Her characters show those qualities quite explicitly in their life decisions and in their dialogues or monologues. I mean, no woman wants to be raped. When Ayu's character in Saman cries to be raped, I couldn't help associating this character with some ordinary man wanting to have wild sexual experience.
    She attracts many followers, among them is Ayu Maesa Djenar, who writes even more expressively about her thoughts as a strong woman. Her character fight, physically, with men, dominate men, even rape men. Some other followers go as far as promoting lesbianism without understanding what lesbianism is in the first place. Hermienatiens writes about two lesbian characters who through the entire book condemn the institution of marriage. But in the end it seems that their goal in life and love is to get married.
    Ayu Utami and her followers are very popular among young readers. Quite unfortunately, because there are other significant writers who talk about women's strength without sacrificing their dignity. Oka Rusmini writes beautifully about the struggle and the survival of Balinese women who are under constant suppression in their lives. Zoya Herawati writes how women were sacrificed and survived under political oppression during the chaotic 1966s.
    So, without considering the mushrooming chick-lit, there are two mainstreams of woman writers in Indonesia right now: the ones who are concerned with sexual liberation issues, which I identify as having “masculinity” values in the characters, and those who are concerned more with how women struggle and survive in political and social settings.

Pam Allen is a lecturer at the School of Asian Languages and Studies of the University of Tasmania. She has published widly on contemporary Indonesian literature and recently published a translation into English of Ayu Utami's Saman.
Beyond Ěcriture Feminine: Desperately Seeking a New Literary Paradigm.
The starting point for this presentation was a question directed to a panel of writers (all of them young urban women) at the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival in October 2004. A (male) Balinese writer asked them why they only ever write about sex, and why they don't engage with politics and contemporary social issues in their writing. I was reminded of Ann Rosalind Jones' observation that ‘In many...cultures, taboos against female speech are enforced: injunctions to silence, mockery of women's chatter or “women's books” abound'. In the Indonesian context, the question was also interesting for a number of other reasons. First, the tone of the question echoed the moral outrage that has been a feature of much of the commentary on the works of these young writers . Second, as Ayu Utami pointed out with some indignation, many of these writers have indeed addressed socio-political issues in their writing (‘I suggest you actually read the books', was her wry comment.) As Manneke Budiman points out, there is an alarming reductionism in commentary about works by women so that they are reduced to simply their s exual dimension. Third was the notion that the reading public somehow has the right to dictate to an author what she (in this case) will write about.
    My presentation focuses on the public reception and perception of the works of this new ‘generation' of writers, with particular emphasis on three themes that recur constantly in recent commentary: undifferentiated notions of ‘sex' and ‘pornography'; the quest for a ‘female tradition' in modern Indonesian literature; and questions relating to what constitutes ‘good' literature.

Rebecca Conroy is a PhD Candidate at the Conservatorium ( School of Music and Drama) , University of Newcastle .
“Since you left me……” : The love affair with post-Suharto Indonesia and the future for radical performance praxis.

I will ask the following questions, based on my thesis research:

Drawing on field research straddling the pre and post Suharto transition to “democracy”, my thesis documents and interrogates three cases studies using performance and community to develop consciousness in very specific settings. Both the results and methods of each case study reveal significance for the future of radical cultural interventions as networks occupying physical sites and physical relations, and as expressions of both performative politics and the politics of performance.
    My thesis concerns the relationship between spectator and creator in the context of Indonesian cultural movements and the significance of space/place within performance making which attempts to diminish the distance between actor and spectator as a radical act of cultural intervention. It also draws on historiography as a theoretical frame which interrogates the grand narratives of the New Order Regime and its construction of subjects and agents for shaping narratives in an historicizing capacity within a “culture of silence”.