Art as a weapon for people's liberation

March 1, 2000
Issue 

Art as a weapon for people's liberation

By Kath O'Driscoll and Melanie Bull

In Yogyakarta a young busker with an old guitar stands in front of a wall adorned with graffiti of a large pig-like Suharto, his song calling people onto the streets. Such scenes are common in Indonesia, and indicate young people's dissatisfaction with the extremely limited democratic reforms of the Habibie and Wahid-Megawati governments.

Art and culture are an intrinsic part of the democratic struggle in Indonesia, from the graffiti covering the cities to the growing numbers of underground performances and exhibitions addressing political issues.

During more than 30 years of Suharto's rule, progressive and radical art was banned and suppressed. The new democratic space has led to the formation of a range of new cultural groups.

One such organisation is the Anti-Fascist Front (FAF) which evolved from the punk scene in Bandung, central Java in 1999. With around 30 members, FAF uses music and other mediums to campaign for democracy, an end to the dual function of the military and against racism.

FAF aims to unite punks, not only around music, but also in struggle with others in the community. They organise demonstrations, conferences and music festivals and produce pamphlets and leaflets to distribute among youth, including on high schools. They are also in the process of establishing a women's collective and producing "zines" focussed on women's rights in Indonesia.

The cultural wing of the Lampung Students Forum (an activist organisation at Bandar Lampung University) is another relatively new organisation, formed in August 1999. Many of its members are involved in anti-racist and anti-military campaigns using art, including traditional dance and music, to reach out to young people and involve them in political activity. They hold discussion groups and help to organise rallies of students, peasants, workers and the urban poor.

The United Musicians of Indonesia organises amongst one of the most under-privileged sections of society, the urban poor. In Indonesia many people are forced to find a living on the streets through prostitution, selling petty commodities or by busking. Their frustration at the system which impoverishes them and their willingness to struggle can be heard in the political content of many of the buskers' songs.

Taring Padi is another collective, made up of 20 artists and activists located in an abandoned art school in Yogyakarta. With murals and graffiti, posters and postcards, they are attempting to revive a culture of "people's art" in an environment of academic art geared towards business and tourism.

In December, they organised the Scarecrow Festival, which aimed to help local farmers resist the regime's promotion of hybrid seeds and chemical fertilisers. They collaborated with the farmers in the traditional production of scarecrows, using this to popularise organic farming techniques. Through this project, a community art centre was set up — the collective see such projects as part of forming people's councils in the area.

Such organisations in Indonesia are rebuilding the concept that art and culture can't be separated from social and political conditions and that it must be used as a weapon for people's liberation.

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