Part 1

• Archipelagic Goddesses: Prostitution, Ritual and the Disruption of Yang Maha Esa in Java Dag Yngvesson University of Nottingham

  Based on ethnographic and archival research in Yogyakarta and Central Java, this paper examines the resilience of what it terms a fragmented, “archipelagic” symbolic order in the face of increasing contemporary attempts to concentrate power in a single, masculine point of reference. Over several centuries, imperialism, the adoption of monotheistic religions, and the rapid reorganization of the Southeast Asia into modern nation states triggered vigorous processes of symbolic and actual unification around concepts like the “one and only God” (Tuhan Yang Maha Esa) and myriad, related iterations of father figures. From one perspective, the fall of Indonesia’s most infamous paterfamilias in 1998 did little to curb this trend, unleashing a flood of conservative, and rigidly patriarchal, interpretations of Islam, especially in Java. Yet from another point of view, centralized power after Suharto was splintered and redistributed among myriad and often mutually-contesting sources, reflecting enduring, regional conceptions of authority as fluid and archipelagic––divided between numerous centers of influence that are separated, yet also connected, by common bodies of water. This paper examines how legendary Javanese figures of feminine power have also ridden these undercurrents, quietly maintaining and re/establishing their authority in the face of massive waves of conservatism. Through myriad contemporary reinterpretations of these figures, a potentially subversive, archipelagic conception of power is argued to be continually reproduced across diverse media (paintings, photographs, novels, films), and in the otherwise “unlikely” contexts of lokalisasi (quasi-legal prostitution complexes) and sites of ritual sex.

• Fight for God Citra Aryandari Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta

  The documentary film is portraying the ancient Balinese community called Tenganan Pegringsingan. The community already exist since the 11 century. They held a ritual called Mekare-kare or Pandan War every year. The pandan war shows the people united with the ritual procession, and the combination results in a unique and exciting performance. In pandan war, some game, ceremonial and ritual drama aspects happened and are done simultaneously.
  Dewa Indra Myth is express in pandan war. The image of Dewa Indra, who fights against Mayadenawa, is represented through the war simulation. Dewa Indra and Mayadenawa’s war is reconstructed and played by the Satria (knights) of Tenganan. Feeling involved in the war is the main thing that is needed to value a ritual. The bloodshed is evidence that earth accepts Dewa Indra’s sacrifice
  The ritual of the pandan war is an effort in reactivating the myth of Dewa Indra’s triumph over Mayadenawa, which caused an enormous number of victims. Tradition reactivates the relation between the present and the past by bringing a new value about the bloody sacrifice to worship Indra.

• The Children of Tobacco Koes Yuliadi Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta

  The Children of Tobacco Village portrays children’s lives in the largest tobacco producer in Central Java, Indonesia. There are two villages chosen as locus, namely Kemloko and Lamuk. The children of Tobacco Village always be rumored of exploitation issues because many children drop out of formal school. However, is this related to exploitation or have other causes?

  What is seen the children work is just fill the time and play. The tobacco industry is large and full of intrigue, making farmers’ lives increasingly squashed. The price of tobacco is getting cheaper on the world market, making farmers not earn a profit. Still, there is no way out, considering that is the only ability that they have. The tobacco farming community does not pay attention to formal education.

  However, in Kemloko village, even though they drop out of the proper education, children are used to studying religion in Islamic boarding schools from childhood to adulthood. Islam provides the strength to survive. In contrast to Kemloko, Lamuk villagers prefer to do arts to calm themselves down from the political tobacco issue, getting more entangled.

Part 2

• Fashion is my belief Nindityo Adipurnomo Independant artist

  This art project eventually became a kind of video work with a duration of 15 minutes, as if calling for nuances in a short film work that we can generally highlight. I chose to lock up and end
  an art project - ‘male-gaze investigation’ that I worked on for more than a year (early April 2009 to late June 2020) on video. I never imagined before. Initially, I named this art project “male-gaze investigation.” However, in its development, analysis of the emerging critical awareness, I continued to accommodate as much as possible, which turned out to have the opportunity to shift focus on the issue of the problem. Initial explorations tend to be very simple, naive, and somewhat fabricated to experience a contradiction between the “male gaze” and “female gaze” as a reality that seems to be distant from my daily life. I did not even calculate and could not plan in a metric measure the probability of artistic manifestation of the representation that would emerge during the investigation of the contradiction of the two ideas. Therefore, I also never chose the medium of expression that would end up because, in the end, I just let it flow spontaneously.
  The social order, I assume, is constantly changing. Through religious beliefs and beliefs developing, as a ‘way of life in an extensive network of complex social communities; along with drifting and dissolving: on the one hand is the ambiguity of change - modernization and modernity which tend to be pragmatic; on the other hand, is spirituality with the social spirit of a large community. These two ambiguous coalescences are adept at protecting and maintaining the patriarchal status quo.

• Witchcraft among the Nagas Iris Odyuo Sao Chang College

  WITCHCRAFT AMONG THE NAGAS
  Iris Odyuo
  Associate Professor,
  Department of History, Sao Chang College, Tuensang, Nagaland
  Email: irisodyuo@gmail.com : irisodyuo@yahoo.co.in

  Abstract
  Traditional Naga religion recognizes a supreme God or Creator and lesser gods such as the spirits of the rivers, forest, mountains, caves and stones, who represent the unwritten law, traditions and customs of the village. Nagas believe “U rhuou keyie chü kenyü” (Life does not belong to us, the gods give us life, the gods protects our lives and when we hurt the gods, destruction, sickness, and death will befall on us). While some Naga tribal institutions such as headhunting, the morung and feasts of merit have become obsolete because of the contact with the colonial powers and Baptist missionaries, stories and accusations of poisoning and witchcraft are still persistent today. Poisoning and witchcraft among the Nagas has never been studied, though the few available data highlights its practice in the past and in the present. This assay critically examines the practice of poisoning and witchcraft and its role to act on people’s life which still remains unexplained.
  Keywords: Witchcraft, Poisoning, Divination, Healing, Worldview

Abstract