Contextual Resources: Indonesia

Nonfiction for Adults

• Ring of Fire: An Indoneisa Odyssey by Blair, Lawrence and Lorne.  A first-person travel account by two brothers who journeyed through Indonesia. Also an Emmy-winning PBS documentary series. (See the beginning here.)
• The Indonesia Reader: History, Culture, Politics, Hellwig, Tineke and Tagliacozzo, Eric, eds.  A multifaceted, multicultural introduction to Indonesia, through a variety of historical and personal accounts, literary works, and images.
• The Indonesian Kitchen: Recipes and Stories by Sri Owen. Owen, a leading authority on Indonesian food in the West, weaves personal stories and delicious recipes into a fascinating cookbook/memoire.
• Arts and Crafts of Indonesia by Ann Richter. An image-rich book that gives a good first glimpse at everything from ceramics to puppets found throughout the country.
• A History of Modern Indonesia by Adrian Vickers. Focusing on the 20th century, Vickers’s account takes readers from the end of colonialism to the establishment of the contemporary Indonesian state.  Watch Vickers and his Indonesian colleagues talk about Bali, its history, and evolving contemporary identity in this documentary.

Literature

To hear a creative, human view of Indonesian history, read this interview from October, 1999, with late Indonesia literary icon, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, who discusses his political difficulties, prison time, and turn to writing. Learn more about this outspoken, thoughtful writer and his perspective on his homeland in this short documentary.

Books for Young Readers

• Gecko’s Complaint: A Balinese Folktale by Ann Martin Bowler. A bi-lingual, retold folk tale about a gecko’s amusing struggle with pesky fireflies determined to keep him from sleeping.
• Spotlight on Indonesia by Bobbie Kalman (geared toward ages 7+). A short introduction to the country for grade school readers with lots of colorful photos.
• Indonesian Fables of Feats and Fortunes by Kuniko Suguira (geared toward ages 9 +). Suguira, a well-traveled folklorist, has a series of colorful retellings of Indonesian folk tales great for younger readers, or for reading aloud.

Articles

• Facing Down the Fanatics: A more tolerant Islam is confronting extremism in the world’s most populous Muslim country by Michael Finkel. National Geographic Magazine (2009).
• Indonesia: Land of Contrasts. PBS NewsHour photo essay.
• The Big Picture: Scenes from Indonesia, a striking photo essay about Indonesia’s people and natural resources.

Visual Art

The Indonesian National Gallery has extensive information in English about its contemporary and early modern collections.

Learn about Yogyakarta’s annual contemporary arts fair here, including an online gallery of featured works by young Indonesian artists.

Pop Music

• Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia’s Most Popular Music by Andrew E. Weintraub. Weintraub gives an in-depth history of dangdut, a decades-old pop form that has recently made major waves, thanks to a new generation of high-powered, risqué performers, like Julia Perez.
• See Julia Perez strut her (Lady Gaga-inspired) stuff here.
• Listen to some old-school dangdut by icon Rhoma Irama.
• Modern Noise, Fluid Genres: Popular Music in Indonesia, 1997-2001 by Jeremy Wallach.  Wallach discusses the role of popular and “underground” music in Indonesian culture and in its evolving democratization. He has a great collection of videos on the musicians he worked with here.
   

Yogyakarta

• Yogyakarta: Cultural Heart of Indonesia by Michael Smithies. A guide book focusing on the city’s handicrafts and art.
• A photographic tour of Yogyakarta’s stunning 10th-century Hindu temples

West Sumatra

• Nan Jombang draw on Minangkabau traditions, which have been studied extensively by Western scholars and ethnographers. Check out an early 20th-century film of randai, the folk theater/martial arts traditions that have inspired the dance company’s creations.
• Theater & Martial Arts In West Sumatra: Randai & Silek of the Minangkabau by Kirstin Pauka. Watch Pauka and collaborators working on a Randai performance at the University of Hawaii (in English).
• Walk in Splendor: Ceremonial Dress and the Minangkabau by Ann Summerfield. A large-format art book that uses the striking textiles of West Sumatra to talk about its culture, with essays on everything from food to music.