Indonesian Punk is one of the largest Punk movements in the world, however it is not widely recognised or even known to exist. It’s an anarchic movement that began in the 80’s, where the wealthier youth of Indonesia brought Punk back home with them after holidaying in the United States. Music, magazines, and style sparked this revolutionary way of life, reaching crescendo in the 1990’s where it played a significant role in the protests against President Suharto and his 30 years of dictatorship. 1 (ABC 360Documentaries, 2014,)

Where the Punk movement had begun it’s decline by the late 1980’s throughout it’s country of origin, America, 2 (About Entertainment, 2015) the Indonesian Punk scene lived on throughout the new millennium. It was recently incited into a new wave of meaningful revolution, when in 2011 64 Punks were arrested at a concert by the Aceh government, who operates under Sharia Law. Although they were not charged with any specific crime, these individuals were detained and had their heads shaved of their counterculture hairstyles, then were forced to attend moral rehabilitation programs. 3 (BBC, 2011)

This “violation of human rights” 4 (BBC, 2011) led to a newly increased politicisation of Punk within Indonesia, many speaking out in mass against the corrupt practices carried out by the government. 5 (ABC 360Documentaries) Two Punks, Poloh and Kiki, told journalist Darius Ossami that they “will continue to fight so that we can dress as we like and for freedom of speech and our democratic rights in Indonesia”. 6(DW, 2013) It is stressed, however, that punk is not just about politics and anarchy, but also focuses on friendship and family. Another member of the Indonesian Punk sub-culture, Jarwo, tells the ABC of raising a family with the moral beliefs inherent to Punk. “…becoming a father in the punk scene is giving motivation to my kids. You have to see the world with your eyes wide open and with intelligence. You have to have a strategy for resisting this system that gives you the shits”. 7 (ABC 360Documentaries) These values are key in maintaining the idea and revolution of Punk alive within the next generation of Indonesians, and create a gateway to the radicalised political beliefs.

The Indonesian Punk scene is one made up of many individuals resisting a system they view as corrupt, and inciting change within their community. It has moved beyond the music and style into an anarchic battle for freedom of expression, whilst at its core maintaining a strong sense of family and community values.

Podcast of Interviews with Indonesian Punks:  http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2014/11/tsy_20141130_1005.mp3

(1) ABC 360Documentaries, 2014, Indonesian Punk: Punk’s not dead!, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/indonesian-punks/5909858#transcript >

(2) About Entertainment, 2015, A Timeline of Punk Music History, Ryan Cooper, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://punkmusic.about.com/od/punk101/a/punktimeline.htm>

(3) BBC, 2011, Indonesia’s Aceh punks shaved for ‘re-education’, Karishma Vaswani, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16176410>

(4) BBC, 2011, Indonesia’s Aceh punks shaved for ‘re-education’, Karishma Vaswani, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16176410>

(5) ABC 360Documentaries, 2014, Indonesian Punk: Punk’s not dead!, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/indonesian-punks/5909858#transcript >

(6) DW, 2013, Indonesia’s Punk Scene Rocks On, Darius Ossami, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://www.dw.de/indonesias-punk-scene-rocks-on/a-16715001>

(7) ABC 360Documentaries, 2014, Indonesian Punk: Punk’s not dead!, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/360/indonesian-punks/5909858#transcript >

Jacqui was born in Indonesia and moved across to Australia at a young age. Her mother is Indonesian, whilst her father is Australian, and as a family they make regular visits back to her place of birth to visit family members and attend weddings.

While sitting down in conversation with Jacqui to discuss Indonesia and her memories and understanding of the culture, the first thing she brought attention to was the substantial divide between the upper and middle classes. Her relatives belong to the wealthier population of Jakarta, and outside their gated houses she said there are often many of the individuals of lower socio economic standings squatting. For an income her family owns and operates a number of businesses, ranging from electronics to restaurants. Multiple family members operate many of these, where they all help one another out in the running of the businesses.

Another very family orientated event is a wedding. Jacqui recalls being a flower girl at one such wedding. Her family are practising Christians, and all wore traditional Batik to the ceremony. In day to day life it is only the older members of her family that wear Batik, the younger generation tend to opt towards more Westernised garments. At the ceremony however there was a mix of both Batik and Westernised dress throughout the attendees, she cites this as mainly due to the amount of Australian family members. Gifts of money were given as opposed to objects or flowers, and at the end of the ceremony everyone formed a line to shake hands with the bride and groom as the couple gave their thanks to all their guests. There was no alcohol served, and although it was just family at the exchanging of the vows, there were a few hundred people who went to the ceremony afterwards.

Although Jacqui belongs to a Christian family, she explains that it is expected to cover up at all times whilst in Indonesia. Her cut away denim shorts are never even considered as dress whilst within the country, and when she leaves the gates of her family home, must cover her legs and shoulders.

The accompanying image is a photograph supplied by Jacqui that her aunt sent her from Indonesia. It shows both Jacqui and her brother as children in 2002, dressed in traditional costume on one of their first visits back to Indonesia.

2015, pers. comm., 29 April

Photograph Credit: Jacqui’s personal collection

There is an enormous amount of waste being produced by the building sector within the UK. Duncan Baker-Brown, an academic at the University of Brighton, states, “that for every five houses we build in the UK, the equivalent of one house in waste materials gets put into landfill.”1 (The Guardian, 2014) This alarming statistic is only made more concerning by the figures released by an American firm called Architecture 2030. In the US as of 2013, 75% of all electricity produced in the US went towards generating and powering buildings. 2 (Architecture 2030, 2013) It is clear that there is a huge amount of waste being created through the architectural and building sector that highlights some very unsustainable practices that continue not only through the stages of construction, but into the later stages of inhabitance.

Duncan Baker-Brown uses his platform as an educator at the Brighton University to test emerging theories in a student orientated design lab, and has dedicated his architectural career to sustainable housing. 3 (The Conversation, 2015) The Brighton Waste House is a design inititive in the UK that deals with the challenge of waste by repurposing ‘rubbish’ from other building sites that would have otherwise gone into landfill. During the period of May 2013 to April 2014, 4 (University of Brighton, 2014) 300 students built a house using over 85% waste materials, resulting in a building that was given an EPC ‘A’ Low Energy rating. 5 (University of Brighton, 2014) This ensures waste is not only minimalized (if not eradicated) at the early stages on architectural construction, but that design can prevent further waste from being created through energy consumption throughout the life of the house.

Materials that went into the construction of this house include 2000 carpet tiles for the exterior, offcuts of wood, 20000 toothbrushes 6 (The Guardian, 2014), date sensitive vinyl banners, VHS tapes, offcuts from jeans 7 (University of Brighton, 2014)and many more. All these materials would have otherwise formed landfill. Instead the students sourced these materials free of charge to create an entirely habitable home, with furnished and decorated interiors. The result is a contemporary sustainable living space.

Baker-Brown does recognise that this house is a model for the architectural industry to look towards for inspiration, as opposed to the next generation of housing types. It aims to inspire us to reimagine our use and sourcing of construction materials, and recognise that “There is no such thing as waste, just stuff in the wrong place”. 8 (University of Brighton, 2014)

(1) The Guardian, 2014, The House that 20000 toothbrushes Built, Oliver Wainwright, visited 27^th April 2015, <http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/07/future-housing-rubbish-architecture-waste-sustainable-homes>

(2) Architecture 2030, 2013, Architecture 2030 Will Change the Way You Look at Buildings, visited 27^th April 2015, http://architecture2030.org/the_problem/buildings_problem_why

(3) The Conversation, 2015, Duncan Baker-Brown, visited 27^th April 2015, <https://theconversation.com/profiles/duncan-baker-brown-157737>

(4) University of Brighton, 2014, Brighton ‘Waste House’, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/business-and-community/the-house-that-kevin-built/about>

(5) University of Brighton, 2014, Brighton ‘Waste House’, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/business-and-community/the-house-that-kevin-built>

(6) The Guardian, 2014, The House that 20000 toothbrushes Built, Oliver Wainwright, visited   27^th April 2015, <http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/07/future-housing-rubbish-architecture-waste-sustainable-homes>

(7) University of Brighton, 2014, Brighton ‘Waste House’, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/business-and-community/the-house-that-kevin-built/about>

(8) University of Brighton, 2014, Brighton ‘Waste House’, visited April 27^th 2015, <http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/business-and-community/the-house-that-kevin-built/about>

Values, goals, and culture are defined by the local context to which one either currently or previously has resided within. By extension design, being the product of an individual’s creative and educational knowledge, also varies from one local context to another. In a multicultural society such as Indonesia, the interpretation of what design is and how it manifests itself is as broad as the backgrounds of those who live within the country.

The academic paper “The Application of Multicultural Education and Applying ICT on Pesantren in South Sulawesi, Indonesia” highlights that “Indonesian society has multiple ethnic groups, social status groups, economic groups and educational groups”1 (Aqsha Lubis et al 2009). Information technology has revolutionised the way Indonesians connect with one another, broadening access to various localities and the design culture that is inherent within these contexts, creating a more globally influenced design culture at a local scale.2 (Aqsha Lubis et al 2009)

Evidence of how different local contexts enable varied interpretations of a design element is seen in textiles throughout Indonesia. Batik, the process of intricately dying patterns onto fabric, originates within Java.3 (UNESCO 2009) Traditional styles can increasingly be seen to have influences from “Arabic calligraphy, European bouquets and Chinese phoenixes to Japanese cherry blossoms and Indian or Persian peacocks”.4 (UNESCO 2009) This is just one example of how different areas are influenced by other situational contexts to create unique designs that are used in day-to-day life.

Going beyond a purely locational influence, Batik also varies from age group to age group. Babies right through to those on their deathbeds wear Batik, and it is their own unique contexts that determine what style they don. Traditional dyes and prints are still worn too, however contemporary adaptions have been adopted into everyday corporate wear.5 (American Design Batik Competition 2013)

“Indonesian Batik has a rich symbolism related to social status, local community, nature, history and cultural heritage; provides Indonesian people with a sense of identity and continuity as an essential component of their life from birth to death; and continues to evolve without losing its traditional meaning” 6 (UNESCO 2009)

Diana Santosa is a current fashion designer, bringing new uses to Batik within the fashion industry. Through this contemporary approach, Santosa is bringing Batik to the global market place.7 (The Jakarta Post 2009) Removed from the context of Indonesia, one must question how much cultural understanding the wearer has of the garments they possess, and the meaning behind the styles, dyes, and forms of the garments that aren’t inherently obvious.

An example of contemporary Batik, originally found on ASOS Marketplace before being reblogged on Pintrest

(1) Maimun Aqsha Lubis, Mohamed Amin Embi, Melor Md.Yunus, Ismail Suardi Wekke, 2009, The Application of Multicultural Education and Applying ICT on Pesantren in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Issue 8, Volume 6, pg 1401 <http://wseas.us/e-library/transactions/information/2009/29-554.pdf>

(2) Maimun Aqsha Lubis, Mohamed Amin Embi, Melor Md.Yunus, Ismail Suardi Wekke, 2009, The Application of Multicultural Education and Applying ICT on Pesantren in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Issue 8, Volume 6, pg 1402 <http://wseas.us/e-library/transactions/information/2009/29-554.pdf>

(3) UNESO Culture Sector 2009, Indonesian Batik , viewed 25^th April 2015, <http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/00170>

(4) UNESO Culture Sector 2009, Indonesian Batik , viewed 25^th April 2015, <http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/00170>

(5) American Design Batik Competition 2013, Batik and Indonesia, viewed 25^th April 2015, <http://americanbatik.embassyofindonesia.org/batik_indonesia.htm>

(6)UNESO Culture Sector 2009, Indonesian Batik , viewed 25^th April 2015, <http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/RL/00170>

(7) The Jakarta Post 2009, Danar Hadi: The Stylistic Evolution of Batik, Dita Ajani, viewed 25^th April 2015, <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2013/04/28/danar-hadi-the-stylistic-evolution-batik.html>