chitarum and Konijn Sate on Rooting Art in Family and History
How do we make art about national history and personal narrative, and overcome our fears? In this instalment of Behind the Naratif, two Indonesian art…
Tag: History
Indonesia, 1965: A Conversation With My Parents
My parents lived through Soeharto’s New Order regime. We don’t see eye-to-eye politically, but would I be able to sit with them, listen to their s…
Ripple Effect
My mother became a refugee in her own country during the Indonesian War of Independence. The experience reverberated through the rest of her life.
In Suharto’s Anti-Communist Purge, Prisoners Made an Island Bloom
In his 2020 memoir "Pearls on the Prairie, A Survivor’s Story", the late author Tedjabayu recounts his 14 years as a political prisoner and shares p…
“Raffles Renounced” With Faris Joraimi
On today's episode, PJ Thum speaks to Faris Joraimi about his book, Raffles Renounced. They talk about how the book came about, how it rejects the ort…
Why Do Indonesian Dictionaries Call Women “Whores”?
In the official Indonesian dictionary, the concept of the word “woman” is associated with derogatory and sexualised compound words. Ika Vantiani t…
In Surabaya’s Abandoned Colonial Warehouses, Hundreds Make Their Home
With land and adequate housing out of reach for many working poor in Indonesia’s Surabaya, some have made their home for decades in abandoned coloni…
A Faithful History of Colonisation
Fidellithy Tan, writer and host of the "History of Colonisation" podcast, discusses with PJ Thum and Sean Francis Han (Wake Up Singapore) about her po…
Raffles Must Fall? The Memory and History of Colonialism
The story of the Raffles statue in Singapore is a story of memory, not history. From its creation in 1887, the statue has been part of an official col…
Indonesia’s Years of Violence
Indonesian writer Martin Aleida lived and wrote through a dark chapter of Indonesia’s history. His new memoir "Romanticism in the Years of Violence"…
