The Populi Center and the Indonesia Visual Art Archive (IVAA) collaborated in a discussion with the theme "Towards the East: Looking for Other Ways for Our Art". This discussion seeks to dissect the book "To the East Direction Towards" which is the result of research by the Populi Center team in the Maluku Islands. This event was held on Wednesday 2 October 2019 at the IVAA Yogyakarta Office and was attended by three speakers namely Ope'e Wardany, Phomat Wali, and Hikmat Budiman. The discussion on book review this time was moderated by Yan Parhas.
The discussion was opened by Yan Parhas who gave an introduction to the importance of the book "To the East Direction Toward" from an artistic perspective. This is based on criticism of the art ecosystem in Indonesia which so far has tended to side with art centers which are geographically located in the western part of Indonesia. Various fights on aesthetics, activism, and the market took place in spaces far from Eastern Indonesia. This situation can be interpreted as inequality in the world of Indonesian art. The context of art which is close to the social environment, both dialectically and physically, is actually able to contribute in constructing ideas about where Indonesia should be heading.
Ope'e started this discussion by noting that from the book we can reflect on indigenous movements with environmental movements, bearing in mind that what is happening in Indonesia in the current modern era is that indigenous movements are not connected to the environment, and customary movements are sometimes only used as political tools. The traditional, legal, rational, and charismatic types of leadership in Maluku are being exploited as weapons in utilizing traditional leadership as a means of contestation in modern politics. Departing from this, it is important to see the interconnectivity of a work that should be inherent in the context of development in Indonesia as a whole.
Phomat added that based on his experience as a son of Maluku, he was only constructed on values that were closely related to the conflict that occurred in Maluku. This book is an introduction that there is value that must be seen about Maluku, so that we are not trapped in studies about Maluku which only talk about war and so on.
He added that the glory of trade routes in the past, should not also trap us in the construction of past knowledge. The glory of Maluku at this time may not lie in spices, but is in another dimension that we are consciously or unconsciously aware of, we don't want to touch it because we are still stuck in the perspective of trade routes. This is the challenge of art going forward, to pass the boundaries of past knowledge.
Hikmat Budiman tries to piece together what is being debated in this book in the context of art. This book does not require that East Indonesia or Maluku be the locus of research, it must become a destination for academics, artists or anyone else. The results of this study are a form of concern that everything should never be seen in isolation, bearing in mind that there are other dimensions that must be seen and placed in priority as part of the nation's and state's commitment.
Giving a perspective from or heading to Eastern Indonesia is not without risk, but what needs to be underlined is that all actions or results of human movement must have risks, depending on how we manage it all.
In addition, East Indonesia is an inseparable part of our lives, it is not outside our lives, or our future and past. Rather it is the present that is right in front of us. Then why Maluku? It is the motivator for us to become Indonesia, Maluku's central role in spices is able to change the world, in fact it is the forerunner of the form of modern capitalism that is happening in the world. Why are we still Indonesia today, maybe because we still have people who indirectly become the objects of our anger. People outside Java insult the Javanese or vice versa, the Chinese become the target of horizontal anger, or other ethnicities that complement the discourse of the Indonesian unity debate.
What we don't realize, those we consider different are a direct part of our lives, including Maluku, which we may think is far away but in fact it is part of our lives today. Likewise with art, the expanse of horizons must be expressed as broadly as possible. It is this horizon of art that knows no scope that can be used to express Indonesian forms more evenly.
The discussion was opened by Yan Parhas who gave an introduction that the book "Ke Timur Haluan Menuju" was tried to be seen from an artistic perspective, this is based on that so far the arts ecosystem in Indonesia has tended to side with art centers which are geographically located in the western part of Indonesia. Various fights on aesthetics, activism, and the market took place in spaces far from Eastern Indonesia. This situation can be interpreted as inequality in the world of Indonesian art. The context of art which is close to the social environment both dialectically and physically is actually able to contribute in constructing ideas about where Indonesia should be heading.
Ope'e started this discussion by seeing that from the book we can reflect on the indigenous movement with the environmental movement. Because what is happening in Indonesia in this modern era is an indigenous movement that is not connected to the environment. How the customary movement is sometimes only used as a political tool. The types of leadership in Maluku that are traditional, legal, rational, and charismatic are trying to be exploited as weapons in utilizing traditional leadership as a tool for modern political constellations. Departing from this, it is important for us to see that the interconnectivity of a work should be inherent in the context of development in Indonesia as a whole.
Phomat added that based on his experience as a son of Maluku, he was only constructed on values that were closely related to the conflict that occurred in Maluku. This book is an introduction that there is value that must be seen about Maluku, so that we are not trapped in previous studies of Maluku which only talked about war and so on.
He added that the glories of trade routes were in the past, and we as knowledgeable human beings are not trapped by the construction of past knowledge. Maluku's glory today may not lie in spices, but in another dimension that we are aware of or not we don't want to touch it because it is still stuck in the perspective of trade routes, and this is the challenge of art going forward, trying to see what should be seen.
Hikmat Budiman tries to piece together what is being debated in this book in the context of art. This book does not require that Eastern Indonesia, or Maluku as loci of research must become destinations for academics, artists, or anyone else. The results of this study are a form of concern that something should never be seen alone, there are other dimensions that must be seen and placed in priority as part of the nation and state. Giving a perspective from or heading to Eastern Indonesia is not without risk, but what needs to be underlined is that all actions or results of human movement must have risks, depending on how we manage it all.
Apart from that, Eastern Indonesia is an inseparable part of our lives, it is not outside our lives, or our future and past, but it is the present which is right in front of us. Then why Maluku? It is the motivator for us to become Indonesia, Maluku's central role in spices is able to change the world, in fact it is the forerunner of the form of modern capitalism that is happening in the world. And why are we still Indonesia today, maybe because we still have people who indirectly become the objects of our anger.
People outside Java insult the Javanese or vice versa, the Chinese become the target of horizontal anger, or other ethnicities that complement the discourse of the Indonesian unity debate. But what we don't realize, those who we consider different are a direct part of our lives, including Maluku, which we may think is far away but in fact it is part of our lives now. Even so with art, the expanse of horizons must be expressed as broadly as possible. It is this artistic horizon that does not know its reach that can be used to express Indonesian forms more evenly.
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