Performance, Politics and Shadow Puppets: Indonesian Studies Day 2025

As the second phase of De:link//Re:link will focus more on the implications of the BRI in Southeast Asian countries, members of our network took part in the HU’s Indonesian Studies Day on 9 May 2025. Prof. Dr. Claudia Derichs, whose research focuses on Indonesia, chaired a roundtable on the subject of China, Indonesia and the BRI. The arts featured prominently in the event, with enthralling performances opening and closing the day: Berlin-based artist Herlambang Bayu Aji kicked off the festivities with his shadow-puppet theater, and a performance from an Indonesian punk band brought the programme to a fitting end. 

Critical Insights 

The performance of the traditional Indonesian theatre wayang can take various forms. Herlambang Bayu Aji (Bayu) specialises in shadow-puppet shows, performing plays in kindergartens and schools in and beyond Berlin with his company Wayang Rajakay. Children also learn how to build shadow-puppet characters in his workshops. Bayu hails from Java, Indonesia’s biggest island and home to most of the famous wayang genres and stories. In Java, one play lasts for six hours or more and is performed in front of large communities in villages or other public spaces. Artists often use the stories to convey critique that is otherwise difficult to express when targeting, for instance, political authorities. Wayang can thus act as a means to communicate critical opinions and attitudes via art. In Germany, Bayu also picks up socially relevant topics in his performances for children (which, of course, do not last for hours). At the Indonesian Studies Day, he attracted an audience of all ages with a tale of a group of animals forced to leave their beloved forest because it was being cleared to make way for a palm oil plantation. Values and virtues such as solidarity, collective action, and caring and sharing feature prominently in Bayu’s plays.

Programme

Part I
COMMUNICATING THE SOCIAL THROUGH PERFORMING ARTS

10.00 – 10.30
WAYANG PERFORMANCE
Herlambang Bayu Aji (Artist, Berlin)

10.30 – 11.30
SOCIAL CRITICISM AND INDONESIAN ART
Panel Discussion with Herlambang Bayu Aji (Artist, Berlin) // Camilla Kussl (Artist, FU Berlin) // Melanie Rennert (Author, U Hamburg)
Chair: Amanda tho Seeth (HU Berlin)

11.45 – 12.30
FEMINIST DIY PUNK IN INDONESIA
Book Talk with Melanie Rennert (Author, U Hamburg)
Chair: Eva Streifeneder (Publisher), Claudia Derichs (HU Berlin)

Part II
INDONESIA-CHINA RELATIONS AND GLOBAL INFRASTRUCTURE

14.00 – 16.00
CHINESE LINGUISTIC AND RELIGIOUS ENGAGEMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Keynote Inputs by Jafar Suryomenggolo (CASE, Paris) // Amanda tho Seeth (HU Berlin)

16.00 – 17.30
CHINA, INDONESIA, AND THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE (BRI)
Roundtable with Jafar Suryomenggolo (CASE, Paris) // John Njenga Karugia (HU Berlin) // Huiying Ng (LMU, Munich)
Chair: Claudia Derichs (HU Berlin)

17.30 – 18.30
MARJINAL
Musical performance and talk with artist Mike from Marjinal (Jakarta)

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