Talking Indonesia

The past decade has seen increased global interest in Indonesian art and along with it, interest in the long-neglected field of Indonesian art history. Until quite recently, art history resources were limited, particularly relating to lesser known artists and works produced during tumultuous periods.

Today, institutions like the Indonesian Visual Arts Archive (IVAA) in Yogyakarta are doing their best to fill these gaps by building art archives and making them accessible to the public. But much work still needs to be done in cataloguing Indonesia’s extensive collection of old and new art. What are the main challenges faced by those who are trying to build Indonesia’s art archives? What is the relevance of art history to contemporary Indonesian society?

Dr Charlotte Setijadi discusses these issues with Farah Wardani, art historian, curator, author, and assistant director in charge of archives at the National Gallery of Singapore (NGS). Before joining NGS in 2015, Farah was the executive director of IVAA, the first institution dedicated to archiving contemporary Indonesian art.

On 21 April, Indonesia celebrated Kartini Day, commemorating Raden Ageng Kartini, a national hero and pioneer of the emancipation of women. More than a century since her death, gender, sexuality and morality are highly contested issues in politics and society. In recent times, a conservative turn in Indonesia has seen extreme voices come to the fore in mainstream Islam, leading to attacks on non-traditional sexualities and women’s bodies.

What is the present state of the women’s movement in Indonesia? Why have sexuality and the female body continued to be sites for contestation and national anxiety? How have women and other marginalised groups like the LGBT community responded to the conservative turn?

In this week’s podcast I explore these issues with Dr Intan Paramaditha, a lecturer at Macquarie University.

Image: Indi and Rani Soemardjan (Flickr)

What is the state of US-Indonesia relations, amidst rising geo-political competition in Indonesia's immediate region, and following the election of Donald Trump as president? What does President Jokowi's Indonesia seek from the United States on shared concerns such as the South China Sea, the fight against ISIS, and the Palestinian conflict? And will Trump's America First policy be manifest during Vice President Mike Pence's upcoming visit to Indonesia?

In this week’s Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae explores these issues with Dr Dino Patti Djalal, founder of the Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia (FPCI). Dr Djalal served as Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Indonesia in 2014, after previously serving as Indonesian Ambassador for the United States from 2010-2013, and presidential spokesperson under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono from 2004-2010.

Talking Indonesia, co-hosted in 2017 by Dr Dave McRae, Dr Jemma Purdey, Dr Charlotte Setijadi and Dr Dirk Tomsa, presents extended interviews each fortnight with experts on Indonesian politics, foreign policy, culture, language and more. Find all the Talking Indonesia episodes and more at the Indonesia At Melbourne blog.

Photo Credit: U.S. Army

While the extractive industries sector in Indonesia is particularly well-known for its widespread rent-seeking, opaque licensing rules and assertive resource nationalism, a small but growing number of civil society organizations is trying to alter the sector’s reputation through initiatives that aim to spread global norms and values such as transparency and accountability in Indonesia’s extractive industries.

Who are these groups and how do they operate? How are they linked to broader transnational advocacy networks and how do they interact with government and business actors in Indonesia? Are there noteworthy achievements that can be attributed to these groups? What challenges do they face?

To discuss these and other related issues, Talking Indonesia’s new host Dr Dirk Tomsa speaks to International Relations expert Dr Poppy Sulistyaning Winanti, vice dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, and currently a visiting scholar at the University of Melbourne.

Talking Indonesia, co-hosted in 2017 by Dr Dave McRae, Dr Jemma Purdey, Dr Charlotte Setijadi and Dr Dirk Tomsa, presents extended interviews each fortnight with experts on Indonesian politics, foreign policy, culture, language and more. Find all the Talking Indonesia episodes and more at the Indonesia At Melbourne blog.

Photo Credit: Polgov UGM (Department of Politics and Government/Regina Knowledge Hub)

The recent visit by Indonesian President Joko Widodo to Australia was considered a success, with evidence of a good rapport between Widodo and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. However, the visit came in the wake of yet another tense period in the bilateral relationship, this time because of the discovery of apparently offensive materials related to Pancasila and Papua at an Australian military training centre and the unveiling of the Papuan Morning Star flag by trespassers at the Indonesian Consulate in Melbourne.

Why does this issue remain so sensitive and what is its history in the bilateral relationship? What is the situation in Papua today and what are the challenges facing Jokowi’s government? In this week’s podcast I explore these issues with Dr Richard Chauvel, an Honorary Fellow in the Asia Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Talking Indonesia, co-hosted in 2017 by Dr Dave McRae, Dr Jemma Purdey, Dr Charlotte Setijadi and Dr Dirk Tomsa, presents extended interviews each fortnight with experts on Indonesian politics, foreign policy, culture, language and more. Find all the Talking Indonesia episodes and more at the Indonesia At Melbourne blog.

Photo: Michael Masters for the Australian Embassy Jakarta

The last five years have seen the emergence of volunteer organisations as new actors in the campaigns of some of Indonesia's most important elections. Who are these volunteers, what motivates them and what role do they play in elections. Have volunteer organisations changed the role of political parties, or opened new access for the citizens mobilising as part of them? How will they influence the 2019 presidential elections.

In this week's Talking Indonesia podcast, Dr Dave McRae explore these issues with Dr Dirk Tomsa, senior lecturer in the Department of Politics and Philosophy at La Trobe University and a new co-host in 2017 of the Talking Indonesia podcast.

Talking Indonesia, co-hosted in 2017 by Dr Dave McRae, Dr Jemma Purdey, Dr Charlotte Setijadi and Dr Dirk Tomsa, presents extended interviews each fortnight with experts on Indonesian politics, foreign policy, culture, language and more. Photo Credit: Dave McRae. Find all the Talking Indonesia episodes and more at the Indonesia At Melbourne blog.

Fake news has become a big problem in Indonesia. A case in point here is the intense circulation of inflammatory anti-Chinese hoaxes surrounding the hotly contested Jakarta gubernatorial election campaign. What can the government and other institutions really do to curb Indonesia’s fake news problem? Is the proliferation of fake news further indication of greater polarisation of Indonesian society? Dr Charlotte Setijadi explores these issues with Ignatius Haryanto.

Just how much is the controversy around Ahok related to his ethnicity and religion and how much is it about popular politics in Indonesia today? How has Ahok’s own political style played a part? We also discuss what racism looks like almost twenty years after the fall of the New Order and with it institutionalised state racism against this minority. Dr Jemma Purdey explores these questions and more with Professor Ariel Heryanto. (Photo by Hendra Nurdiyansyah for Antara Foto)

What role do political dynasties play in Indonesian politics, including the upcoming Jakarta gubernatorial election? What motivates political families to attempt to establish themselves as dynasties, and how do they do so? Are steps needed to curb the entrenchment of dynasties in the Indonesian political system?

In this week's Talking Indonesia podcast, the first for 2017, I explore these issues with Dr Jemma Purdey, Research Fellow in the Faculty of Arts and the Australia Indonesia Centre. Dr Purdey is the editor of a special edition of the South East Asia Research Journal on political families in Southeast Asia.

Talking Indonesia, co-hosted in 2017 by Dr Dave McRae, Dr Jemma Purdey, Dr Charlotte Setijadi and Dr Dirk Tomsa, presents extended interviews each fortnight with experts on Indonesian politics, foreign policy, culture, language and more. Photo Credit: Widodo S. Jusuf for Antara. Find all the Talking Indonesia episodes and more at the Indonesia At Melbourne blog.

What are the most important online tools for pro-ISIS groups in Indonesia, and what these groups use them for? How do their online activities differ to fellow Indonesian jihadis who oppose ISIS? How can the Indonesian government monitor and counter extremists’ activities online?

This week's Talking Indonesia podcast explores these issues with Nava Nuraniyah, analyst at the Institute for the Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) in Jakarta. Nava’s research on online extremism in Indonesia will be published in 2017 as part of the proceedings from September’s ANU Indonesia Update ‘Digital Indonesia’ conference.

Talking Indonesia, co-hosted in 2016 by Dr Dave McRae and Dr Ken Setiawan, presents extended interviews each fortnight with experts on Indonesian politics, foreign policy, culture, language and more. Photo credit: ANTARA FOTO/Irsan Mulyadi/kye/16. Find all the Talking Indonesia episodes and more at the Indonesia At Melbourne blog.