2015
A Black Day for the Festival – and for Indonesia
23 October 2015
Just received a notification from the Festival committee about the forced cancellation of all the sessions, book launches, films, etc. on the subject of the 1965 massacres which were to have been an integral part of this year’s festival. This year is the 50th anniversary of the state-sponsored slaughter of up to a million so-called communist sympathisers after the 30 September Coup blamed on the PKI (the legal Communist Party of the time). The festival has been threatened with losing its permit to hold these writers festivals if they go ahead with the program as it stands. The letter we attendees / participants received is reprinted below. While understanding the position the festival committee has been put in, I am nevertheless outraged. Indonesia has been in denial of what happened here (yes, including in beautiful Bali where some of the worst killing occurred) for 50 years and the silence cannot be allowed to continue. It was believed under the new president it would be possible to finally talk about those terrible events and seek justice for the victims, or at least some sort of reconciliation. Ironically at the recent Frankfurt Book Fair, where Indonesia was the Guest of Honour to great acclaim, three of the most lauded books were on this subject! What is going on here? I have replied to the committee with my concerns and asking that at least we participants can be given an opportunity to discuss what has happened and why. So many authors, scholars and journalist had been especially invited to the festival too. What will they make of it? There will be huge gaps in the program!
I have just rung a friend here and he tells me there has been an article on this in today's Sydney Morning Herald which I have just read online, so it may not be news to many of you. Here's the link if you did not see it.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-threatens-to-shut-down-balis-international-writers-festival-20151023-gkgv0c.html
Back to the more mundane aspects of life in "paradise" (no capital letter!!)
Had a wonderful visit from friends I met in Sydney at the end of last year, Denny and Axel from Holland/Germany. Denny is Indonesian but has lived in Europe for 25 years. They are staying down at the coast but came up for the day especially to visit me. After meeting here at Josh's we went on a jaunt into the countryside to my favourite garden temple, stopping at the rice fields view for a photo op.
I have just rung a friend here and he tells me there has been an article on this in today's Sydney Morning Herald which I have just read online, so it may not be news to many of you. Here's the link if you did not see it.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-threatens-to-shut-down-balis-international-writers-festival-20151023-gkgv0c.html
Back to the more mundane aspects of life in "paradise" (no capital letter!!)
Had a wonderful visit from friends I met in Sydney at the end of last year, Denny and Axel from Holland/Germany. Denny is Indonesian but has lived in Europe for 25 years. They are staying down at the coast but came up for the day especially to visit me. After meeting here at Josh's we went on a jaunt into the countryside to my favourite garden temple, stopping at the rice fields view for a photo op.
Followed by an excellent Javanese lunch at Pulau Kelapa, at their Kamasan cafe overlooking the beautiful gardens down the back - often mentioned in previous Bali jottings, I know! Wonderful to talk over matters Indonesian, literary and European (Syrians in Germany).
Alas, I never did hear from my writers festival contact, Pak Jun on Wednesday when he was supposed to be up in Ubud. We were to have met up - not sure what happened - maybe it was the blow up over the program cancellations - all the committee members must have been in an uproar.
However, Josh and I had a lovely couple of hours yesterday evening over sunset drinks on our verandah with Stephen of Cinta Bahasa Language school. His wife Ochie visited me in Sydney recently while Stephen was home in Canada. Ochie is coordinator of the volunteers for the festival and was working late last night - will see her soon I hope.
Josh and I are back to our swimming routine today. Jazz is delighted it is Friday. Coming to terms with her new hair, but still no photos allowed. We are making oatmeal porridge for breakfasts each day now. She loves it - sent me to Bintang supermarket to find rolled oats - reminds her of her life in Sydney! She must be the only kid at Pelangi School who starts her day with a big bowl of steaming hot porridge. Grated palm sugar and a sliced banana on top as a concession to life in Bali! I taught her the concept of a breakfast that "sticks to your ribs"! She had this morning's leftovers for afternoon tea just now when she got home from school! Maybe she won't need dinner.
A new sight in Ubud - urban ducks. At the end of our street where it come out on to the very busy main road. They seem to prefer the pavement to the water in the field behind them.
Alas, I never did hear from my writers festival contact, Pak Jun on Wednesday when he was supposed to be up in Ubud. We were to have met up - not sure what happened - maybe it was the blow up over the program cancellations - all the committee members must have been in an uproar.
However, Josh and I had a lovely couple of hours yesterday evening over sunset drinks on our verandah with Stephen of Cinta Bahasa Language school. His wife Ochie visited me in Sydney recently while Stephen was home in Canada. Ochie is coordinator of the volunteers for the festival and was working late last night - will see her soon I hope.
Josh and I are back to our swimming routine today. Jazz is delighted it is Friday. Coming to terms with her new hair, but still no photos allowed. We are making oatmeal porridge for breakfasts each day now. She loves it - sent me to Bintang supermarket to find rolled oats - reminds her of her life in Sydney! She must be the only kid at Pelangi School who starts her day with a big bowl of steaming hot porridge. Grated palm sugar and a sliced banana on top as a concession to life in Bali! I taught her the concept of a breakfast that "sticks to your ribs"! She had this morning's leftovers for afternoon tea just now when she got home from school! Maybe she won't need dinner.
A new sight in Ubud - urban ducks. At the end of our street where it come out on to the very busy main road. They seem to prefer the pavement to the water in the field behind them.
here is the notice regarding cancellation of select 2015 program sessions following increased scrutiny from local authorities:
It is with great disappointment that the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival must today (Friday 23) announce the cancellation of select 2015 program sessions.
Three panel sessions dedicated to discussing the 1965 Communist repression and an art exhibition and book launch The Act of Living will no longer be taking place across the Festival period. In addition the film screening of Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence has also been cancelled.
This comes after increased scrutiny from local authorities who have the power to revoke the Festival’s operating permit, issued by the national police. The Festival has been involved in extensive negotiations with local authorities, but ultimately was advised that should certain sessions proceed, it could jeopardise the overall viability of the Festival, which spans over 225 events.
After much consideration and discussion, with deep regret the Festival has decided that it cannot jeopardise the entirety of the event at this late stage.
We sincerely apologise to our Festival attendees, the many people who have put in extensive time and resources into these sessions, including Joshua Oppenheimer, the Herb Feith Foundation and of course the people whose lives were impacted by the issues under discussion.
We also take this opportunity to thank the many committed supporters of the Festival, who graciously donate their time and resources to ensure the longevity of the Festival.
We sincerely hope that as the Festival continues to create open spaces for constructive conversation in the years to come, so too will Indonesian authorities embrace this. Despite this setback, we are extremely proud to be presenting one of our most Indonesia-focused programs to date, which highlights the incredible diversity and richness of the archipelago.
It is with great disappointment that the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival must today (Friday 23) announce the cancellation of select 2015 program sessions.
Three panel sessions dedicated to discussing the 1965 Communist repression and an art exhibition and book launch The Act of Living will no longer be taking place across the Festival period. In addition the film screening of Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence has also been cancelled.
This comes after increased scrutiny from local authorities who have the power to revoke the Festival’s operating permit, issued by the national police. The Festival has been involved in extensive negotiations with local authorities, but ultimately was advised that should certain sessions proceed, it could jeopardise the overall viability of the Festival, which spans over 225 events.
After much consideration and discussion, with deep regret the Festival has decided that it cannot jeopardise the entirety of the event at this late stage.
We sincerely apologise to our Festival attendees, the many people who have put in extensive time and resources into these sessions, including Joshua Oppenheimer, the Herb Feith Foundation and of course the people whose lives were impacted by the issues under discussion.
We also take this opportunity to thank the many committed supporters of the Festival, who graciously donate their time and resources to ensure the longevity of the Festival.
We sincerely hope that as the Festival continues to create open spaces for constructive conversation in the years to come, so too will Indonesian authorities embrace this. Despite this setback, we are extremely proud to be presenting one of our most Indonesia-focused programs to date, which highlights the incredible diversity and richness of the archipelago.