Indonesian voices on 1965-66 mass violence in Indonesia silenced

For the past 10 months, together with Kate McGregor, my co-coordinator of the edited series 'Translating Accounts of the 1965-66 mass violence in Indonesia', we've worked with the Festival to create a series of panels, launch of our translation series and sponsorship of the AJAR photo exhibition 'The Act of Living'.

The proposal was initially put to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of violence, killings, imprisonment and torture of those who were labelled 'communist' in Indonesia.

Late Friday afternoon (23rd October) we finally received confirmation from the UWRF Director that events in the festival program featuring discussion on the 1965-66 mass violence in Indonesia would be cancelled. As the Festival makes clear in its statement, this was as a result of pressure from authorities and threats to close the entire UWRF down.

The book series 'Translating Accounts of the 1965-66 Mass Violence in Indonesia', which was to be launched at UWRF on 27th October, seeks to address the absence still of accounts of the mass violence as told by witnesses, survivors or perpetrators. Since the fall of the New Order, an increasing number of memoirs and short testimony collections are available in Indonesian, very few are yet available in English.

The three books in the series are Forbidden Memories: Women’s experiences of 1965 in Eastern Indonesia, Edited by Mery Kolimon, Liliya Wetangterah and Karen Campbell-Nelson; Breaking the Silence: Survivors Speak about 1965–66 Violence in Indonesia, Edited by Putu Oka Sukanta; Truth Will Out: Indonesian Accounts of the 1965 Mass Violence, Edited by Dr Baskara T Wardaya SJ. They are all translated by Jennifer Lindsay and published by Monash University Press.

These books were all published in Indonesia some years ago (2011-2013) and are available widely in book stores, as well as being reviewed in major publications.

The absence of translations of these voices has prevented a greater understanding outside Indonesia of how this violence continues to impact on Indonesians and of how they now understand this traumatic period in their nation’s history. These translated works are therefore valuable resources for all who seek to understand Indonesia today.

The books in this series are all edited collections with contributions predominantly from victims, their relatives, supporters and also in a rare event, perpetrators of this violence. Together these testimonies provide a deeply complex picture of the conditions, both local and national, personal and political, under which these acts of terror and violence were carried out and their still lasting impacts.

As well as the launch of this book series, we had arranged for the three editors of these books to speak on a panel 'Bearing witness' at which they would have talked about the process of researching and writing these books. No doubt we would have heard about the extreme difficulties they and their contributors encountered getting survivors and perpetrators to share their stories; the immense courage it must have taken for those who have been unable to speak out of fear for many decades. And about the nightmares that may have returned as a consequence of reviving memories better forgotten.

Fifty years on, the silencing of these voices at UWRF this week is a startling setback in the struggle to heal these deep wounds and to seek some form of reconciliation.

Cancellation of 1965 Program at UWRF 2015

Media Release

24 October 2015

The Herb Feith Foundation is shocked and disappointed at the forced cancellation of its sponsored events at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2015. We were notified of this decision yesterday at 4pm AEST, 23 October, four days before our program was due to commence on 27 October.

Indonesian voices on 1965-66 have again been silenced.

We have lost an opportunity to hear contributions from key Indonesians writers and researchers towards a better understanding and reflection on this traumatic history. This highlights an enduring problem in Indonesia of being unable to deal with the legacy of 1965.

The sponsored program at UWRF 2015 included three discussion panels, a photo exhibition curated by Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR) and a launch of three books in the Herb Feith Foundation series ‘Translating Accounts of 1965-66 Mass Violence in Indonesia’, edited by two academics Katharine McGregor and Jemma Purdey, translated by Jennifer Lindsay and published by Monash University Publishing. One panel focused on literary works on 1965, one on local approaches by Taman 65 to address the legacies of 1965 in Bali and the other was to be a discussion with the writers of books from the translated series.

The books in the series are Forbidden Memories: Women’s experiences of 1965 in Eastern Indonesia, Edited by Mery Kolimon, Liliya Wetangterah and Karen Campbell-Nelson; Breaking the Silence: Survivors Speak about 1965–66 Violence in Indonesia, Edited by Putu Oka Sukanta; Truth Will Out: Indonesian Accounts of the 1965 Mass Violence, Edited by Dr Baskara T Wardaya SJ.

The main purpose of our translated book series is to expose international audiences to Indonesian voices about this traumatic period in their nation’s history. The original books were published in Indonesia between 2011-2013, are freely available and have been reviewed in national media outlets. These books survey a range of Indonesian experiences of the mass violence.

The books are available for free download via the Monash University Publishing website.

The Herb Feith Foundation, established in 2003, was named after the famous Australian Indonesianist, Herb Feith. Following his life long interest and dedication it supports the study of educational activities in the fields of human rights, peace studies and conflict resolution in Indonesia. The Foundation works together with organisations, communities and individuals in Indonesia to carry out its programs.

Jemma Purdey
jemma.purdey@monash.edu; +61 (0) 409 257 154
Katharine McGregor
k.mcgregor@unimelb.edu.au; +61 (0) 433 168 532

1965 under the spotlight at Ubud Writers Festival 2015

I'm very excited to be involved, together with Kate McGregor, in organising a series of panels at UWRF 2015 sponsored by the Herb Feith Foundation to mark the 50th anniversary of the mass violence in Indonesia. Speakers include Putu Oka Sukanta, Ayu Utami, Mery Kolimon, Baskara Wardaya and a group from Taman 65 in Bali.

For full details check out the festival program.


At the festival we will also be launching three books in the Herb Feith Translation Series, 'Translating Accounts of the 1965-66 Mass Violence in Indonesia', and opening the photographic exhibition 'Survivors of 1965', with Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR): Bar Luna @Casa Luna, 27 October 2015, 6pm.

Linking people: Connections and encounters between Australians and Indonesians

With my co-editor Antje Missbach and more than a dozen contributors, Linking people shines a spotlight on the people to people relationships and connections between Australians and Indonesians, some good and some challenging and difficult.

For more information about the book visit our publisher's website.

Review, 'Riding the rollercoaster', Duncan Graham, Jakarta Post, 27 July 2015

Prabowo's rise

I've taken an interest in Prabowo Subianto, head of the Gerindra political party and former senior military figure, for some time now. Here are a couple of pieces I've written on him that might be of interest.

'US backflip on Modi ban a fillip for Prabowo', Jakarta Post, 23 May 2014

'The myth and making of a political dynasty', Election Watch Indonesia, 4 July 2014

'Where’s Prabowo?', Indonesia at Melbourne Blog, 24 July 2015

The Act of Killing and Indonesia's ethnic Chinese

In the wake of the announcement of an Oscar nomination for the documentary film, The Act of Killing, Robert Cribb and I were pretty astounded by news reports coming out of China and Hong Kong referring to the genocide and mass murder of ethnic Chinese Indonesians in the 1965-66 killings and also in rioting in Indonesia in May 1998.

Here is our response, 'Analysing the Act of Killing'.

Breaking the Silence on 1965

Kate McGregor and I are co-editors of a small series for the Herb Feith Translation series, translating testimonies from survivors and perpetrators of the 1965-66 killlings, into English.

We recently contributed this piece to The Conversation, 'Half a century on, victims' voices haunt a democratic Indonesia'.