From Batavia to Jakarta in prose, poetry and film

The past is what has been, governments cherish hush-hush policies, but history remains alive in the family memory. How do younger generations look at the making of Indonesia? What is left of the aspirations of their parents? Has the decolonization process been completed? Young writer Nukila Amal projects herself in the time. In addition she gives her own view on history. Roaming the streets past buildings, streets and squares the Jakartan poet Zeffry Alkatiri brings images from past and present to life. His poems are framed by historical and contemporary film and sound material about Batavia and Jakarta. Martin de Vletter of the Dutch Architecture Institute comments on the images and talks with Zeffry Alkatiri. Joss Wibisono hosts the conversation. Dutch and English spoken.

20070117130101

Information

Date and time Thursday 11 January 2007 20:00 tot 20:55 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - grote zaal

The past is what has been, governments cherish hush-hush policies, but history remains alive in the family memory. How do younger generations look at the making of Indonesia? What is left of the aspirations of their parents? Has the decolonization process been completed? Young writer Nukila Amal projected herself in the time and looked at the past through her father's eyes. In addition she gave her own view on history. Roaming the streets past buildings, streets and squares the Jakartan poet Zeffry Alkatiri brought images from past and present to life. In his collection Dari Batavia sampai Jakarta, 1619-1999 he describes the eventful history of the Indonesian capital. His poems were framed by historical and contemporary film and sound material about Batavia and Jakarta. Martin de Vletter of the Dutch Architecture Institute did comment on the images and talked with Zeffry Alkatiri. Joss Wibisono hosted the conversation. Dutch and English spoken.

Line-up

Zeffry Alkatiri

(1960) was born and raised in Jakarta. His family history - with Arab, Pakistani and Betawi ancestors - reflects the cosmopolitan character of the city of his birth. He studied Russian and American Studies at the Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta. At the moment he teaches at the department of Russian at the Universitas Indonesia. His poetic genius was established with his volume of poems Dari Batavia sampai Jakarta, 1619-1999 for which he received the prize for the best Indonesian volume of poetry 1998-2000’. Other publications are Manusia, Mitos, dan Mitologi (1998), Pintu, Etalase, Batavia Centrum (collected poetry, 1998), and Konflik Nilai dalam Sejarah Perkembangan Sastra Rusia.
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Nukila Amal

(Ternate, Indonesia, 1971) has had her 2005 short story collection, Laluba, named Best Literary Work of the Year by Tempo magazine, and her novel Cala Ibi (2003) shortlisted for the Khatulistiwa Literary Award. Both works have marked the latest phenomenon in Indonesian literature by their détournement from the tradition of story telling and conventional narrative forms. At present, she serves on the Committee of Literature at the Jakarta Arts Council.
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Martien de Vletter

(1972), an architecture historian, has been employed at
the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAI) since 1997. From 2005 she has worked as chief curator and is therefore responsible for the exhibitions, lectures and debates programme as wel as the educational programme. As part of her thesis about F.J.L. Ghijsels, an architect working in the Netherlands East Indies between 1910 and 1927, she conducted research in Indonesia. In 1996, this research led to a book and a travelling exhibition in Indonesia. In 1997 she published a book on post-war Jakarta and the urban development of this city (Batavia: Beeld van een stad). At the NAI, De Vletter has curated exhibition on such projects as J.J.P. Oud, UN Studio, Asymptote, Dutch architecture and planning in the 1970s and the collection of Piet Sanders. In 2007 an exhibition on colonial architecture in the Netherlands East Indiens entitled 'Moderniteit in de Tropen' will be on show at the NAI in Rotterdam and later travel to Indonesia.
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Joss Wibisono

(1959, Malang, East Java) studied economy and worked as a journalist/researcher for a regional newspaper in Central Java. Since 1987 he has been working with the Indonesian department of the Dutch Radio World Service, starting as a programme maker. Since then he has been responsible for the current affairs programme, broadcast daily in Indonesian. In the 1980s he was a correspondent for a number of Indonesian media. Over the years Joss Wibisono has specialized in Dutch Indonesian relations. He has also done research into the influence of the army on political and economic life in Indonesia and Indonesian federalism. Wibisono is an expert in the field of gamelan ( (traditional Balinese and Javanese music) on western music.
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