Jan 28, 2025 Last Updated 9:51 AM, Jan 27, 2025

Arts

Review: An act of manipulation?

Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing is a bold, disturbing and ultimately unsatisfactory exploration of the place of violence in modern Indonesia

Everything is allowed

The generation of artists rising after Reformasi is failing to create meaning outside the art market

Preserving landscapes

Budi Brahmantyo continues a lineage of scientific art for which West Java’s natural resources have provided the subject

Art and the city

Indonesian artists are using new media to rethink urban space

Soft diplomacy in heavy metal

Indonesia’s liberal art scene attracts adventurous Australian artists

Herstory in art

Titarubi’s art challenges masculinity in Indonesian visual arts and beyond

Reflections of the soul

Art critics welcome exhibition of edgy works on Islamic themes

What gives rise to moral outrage?

Rather than being merely the result of religious extremism, recent cases of moral outrage point to a wide range of current political and social problems

Review: At the scene of the crime

Essays, reflections and poetry on East Timor, 1999-2010

Review: Khadir Supartini’s 'Journey'

A bold young painter signals new direction in Indonesian fine art

West Java’s mini-fictions

Technology is opening up new possibilities for Sundanese literature

Rock music and social activism on the internet

Bali rockers Navicula find a platform for social change in online social media

Sinetron keeps links with Indonesia alive

Despite isolation and multiple migrations the Cocos Malays maintain a resilient culture

Review: Martial mayhem

This silat film breaks the mold

‘You’re crazy. Don’t make up things!’

Celebrity gossip shows denigrate homosexuality, but at least they talk about it

Art for the people

Taring Padi takes stock of a more than a decade fighting the political establishment – with art as its weapon

The shadow of the Ayatollah

Indonesia’s Shi’i community is struggling to find the right balance between local traditions and its fascination with Iran

Art for Allah’s sake

A unique pesantren, founded and led by an internationally recognised Indonesian calligrapher, attracts men and women from all over the archipelago

The spirit of Sudirman

A mural competition in Yogyakarta sees Indonesians reinterpreting their revolutionary past in the light of present concerns

Theatre of life

A new generation of Indonesian theatre activists is staging performances based on the everyday experiences of local communities

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