Feb 08, 2025 Last Updated 9:40 PM, Feb 6, 2025

Arts

Two Sumatran films

The National Library of Australia now has the most comprehensive collection of Indonesian films available outside of Indonesia. Two films in this collection come from Sumatra.

Agung Kurniawan: 'My main theme is violence'

TOM PLUMMER talks with a graphic artist in Yogyakarta whose work is drawing international praise.

Poem from prison

From Sajak-sajak cinta dari balik terali (Love poems from behind bars) by Bambang Isti Nugroho, published by Penerbit Widya Mandala, Yogyakarta, 1994.

Rock'n'Roll radicals

DAVID HILL and KRISHNA SEN scour the music shops. They find that foreign music is now as Indonesian as batik. From Hindi film to 'Indie' punk rock, foreign musical genres are being indigenised, and imbued with Indonesian political meaning.

Writing on the wall

Remember the election last May? MAS SUJOKO was there and listened in to the people's vote, recorded on walls all over Yogyakarta.

Art for a better world

TOM PLUMMER speaks with Moelyono, an artist engaged with farmers threatened by a large dam.

M16s for punks

Punk rockers turn to Yogya craftsmen for ‘guitar weapons’.

Battle royal

Challenge to political parody on Indonesian television.

Reviews - Marrying up in Bali

Review: Tarian bumi is the story of four generations of Balinese women

Wisanggeni, Ned Kelly, and Tommy

A new novel explores the ambiguous role of the outlaw in today's Indonesia

Remembering Sam Kapissa

He was a wood carver, musician, and mover and shaker for the arts on Biak

The bronze Asmat warrior

Contemporary art in Papua is about new and contested identities

Merdeka!

Prajurit jaga malam

Revolution of hope

Independent films are young, free and radical

Theatre blossoms

A sampling of performances in Java

Two Visionaries Of Indonesian Theatre

Two directors resided in an intercultural realm

Puppeteers on wheels

An innovative shadow puppet show combats post-traumatic stress disorder in Bali

Women's voices in the arts

Women’s movement activists and artists unite

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A selection of stories from the Indonesian classics and modern writers, periodically published free for Inside Indonesia readers, courtesy of Lontar.