Indonesia Council Digest - July 2023
It’s out! The draft program for ICOC 2023 has been sent to all registered speakers for review, and we expect to be in a position to share the final program in late August.
It has been a lot of work putting together the program, with over 350 speakers, a plenary panel stacked with up-and-comings, more than a dozen book launches and some 90 sessions and roundtables. Our PG Workshop on Networking in Academia, followed by a food tour, are also looking like a lot of fun thanks to the work of our postgraduate representatives from University of Sydney and Western Sydney University.
The program also includes a morning coffee catch-up on the last day with members of the IC Exec, where you can hear more about the incorporation and membership process. Even if you’re not terribly interested in incorporation, we would still love to meet you!
If you didn’t get around to submitting an abstract, you can still come along and enjoy the great feast of Indonesia-focused research – but remember you need to register by 31 August. If you’ve got questions, get in touch with the conference organisers: icoc2023.conference@sydney.edu.au
Sampai jumpa,
Natali
iclistdata@gmail.com
What's happening...
President Joko Widodo visited Australia, in case you missed it! There was plenty of news coverage and op-eds about the visit, outcomes, significance, so I won’t rehash it here. What I will say is that the agreement I was hanging out for, on maritime heritage cooperation, doesn’t seem to have happened. But there was lots of good news if you’re into electric vehicles!
On 8 July, the Netherlands Government announced that it would be returning 478 objects of cultural significance to Indonesia (and Sri Lanka), which had been wrongfully acquired during the colonial period. Two days later, the transfer of ownership of the Indonesian objects took place at a ceremony in Leiden. The objects being returned to Indonesia come from 13th century East Java (four masterpiece statues), late 19th century Lombok (335 precious objects looted from a royal palace), and early 20th century Bali (a royal keris and 132 paintings). This is a historic step in the ongoing effort to redress the effects of colonial violence, and to make more accessible these cultural heritage objects of exceptional value. Read the Netherlands Government press statement here.
KONEKSI’s inaugural Collaborative Grants round—on the theme of Environment and Climate Change—was announced this month! KONEKSI is Australia’s flagship program in the Indonesia knowledge and innovation sector that supports better use of knowledge-based solutions for inclusive and sustainable policies and technologies. Some 38 Australian-Indonesia research partnerships (to the value of AUD $11 million) were awarded. Read more about KONEKSI and the funded projects here, and remember that KONEKSI will be at ICOC, so come and talk to Angie
Other cool stuff
Saturday Extra’s regular panel on international relations recently explored the improving relationship between Australia and Indonesia. You can listen to the discussion with Melissa Conley-Tyler (Asia-Pacific Development, Diplomacy and Defence Dialogue), Greg Barton (Deakin University) and Hervé Lemahieu ( Lowy Institute) here.
If you’re in Canberra, get on down to the launch of Living Art, edited by Elly Kent, Virginia Hooker, and Caroline Turner on Thursday 3 August 2023 from 5-6.30pm followed by refreshments. This book is inspired by the conviction of so many of Indonesia’s Independence-era artists that there is continuing interaction between art and everyday life. The book will be launched by H.E. Dr Siswo Pramono, Indonesian Ambassador for Australia and the Republic of Vanuatu. Amrih Widodo will discuss the content of the book and Eve Warburton will chair. More details and register here.
For those in Sydney, we’ve got something for you too. 16albermarle, the fab Southeast Asia-focused gallery in Newtown, is holding a public program on Saturday 22 July from 2-3.30pm on Land Sovereignty and Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia. Speakers include Jeff Neilson, Mitra Wulandari and Simon Butt. I am sure this will be a fascinating event so do get along if you can.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, the Monash Indonesian Seminar Series will hold a seminar on The Early Years of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), 1602-1623 on 27 September. This will be delivered by Professor Abe de Jong, a professor of corporate finance, so if you’re keen to learn more about business operations and financial policy within the context of colonisation, this is for you (and it’s free, so take that, mercantilists).
Last but not least, check out this Winter School International Program on Tourism development and planning. The School of Architecture, Planning, and Policy Development at the, Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB) invites university students from Indonesia and abroad to join its very first Winter School Program. This program offers an online short course on tourism planning plus hands-on experiences during field school in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. The online course will cover tourism planning, social and community development, disaster mitigation and adaptation, and the role of communities in mitigation and planning.
Registration Deadline: June 30, 2023
Main Activities : September 15-16, 2023 (online course) | September 17-23, 2023 (Field School in Lombok, NTB)
Register here.
Fee: $250 USD
For more information, click here or please contact:
(+62) 82 889 8880 | a.furqan@itb.ac.id (Alhilal Furqan, Ph.D)
(+62) 812 1478 5844 | bagasputra@itb.ac.id (Bagas Dwipantara Putra, Ph.D)
Call for papers
Rhetorical Patterns of Text in Indonesia and the Malay world conference
The theme for this applied/educational linguistic conference is ‘Expanding and Disseminating Research in Language Teaching and Rhetorical Patters.’ The call for abstracts is open until 25 September, with the conference to be held on 25 November in hybrid form (online and at the University of Bengkulu). More details here.
Publications
Two must-reads this month.
First, War on Corruption, by Todung Mulya Lubis, has just been published by Melbourne University Press. It deals with the complex interactions and consequences of corruption in Indonesia, and is written by one of Indonesia’s most important advocates, human rights lawyers and supporters of Indonesian legal aid. As founding editor of the MUP Asia Law and Society Series (and IC Deputy President) Jeremy Kingsley says, ‘This is a text that will have ongoing relevance to the affairs of the socio-political and cultural giant on our doorstep.’ The next book in this series coming is from Simon Butt, Sydney Law School, out later this year – one to watch out for!
Next, Kate McGregor has a new book coming out any moment (and note that it will be launched at ICOC 2023!). Systemic Silencing: Activism, Memory, and Sexual Violence in Indonesia is published in the Critical Human Rights Series by University of Wisconsin Press. This book recognises and addresses enforced military prostitution in occupied Indonesia, untangling both the history of the system during the war and also unpacking the context surrounding the slow and faltering efforts to address it.