Ws rendra biography of william hill
•
Democratising culture
- Details
- Written by: Keith Foulcher and Barbara Hatley
- Published: Nov 18, 2013
Published: Nov 18, 2013
Changes in the Indonesian arts parallel Inside Indonesia’s own evolution over a period of thirty years
Keith Foulcher and Barbara Hatley
Cover of Inside Indonesia No. 2, May 1984
Recent articles by some of the founders of Inside Indonesia have reminded us that when the magazine was founded in 1983 it was part of a broadly-based movement working for political and social change. Its brief was to expose the negative impacts of developmentalism on the lives of the poor, and the denial of civil and political rights to the opponents of the New Order regime. The tone of the magazine was activist and alternative, and most of its articles were authored by non-Indonesians from NGO or academic circles in Australia with links to oppositionist groups ‘inside’ Indonesia itself.
From the start, reports on the In
•
Michael R. Burch’s Substack
Willibrordus Surendra Broto Rendra (1935-2009), better known as W. S. Rendra or simply Rendra, was an Indonesian poet, dramatist, performer, actor, director and activist. He said, “I learned meditation and the disciplines of the traditional Javanese poet from my mother, who was a palace dancer. The idea of the Javanese poet is to be a guardian of the spirit of the nation.” The press gave him the nickname Burung Merak (“The Peacock”) for his flamboyant poetry readings and stage performances.
THE WORLD'S FIRST FACE
by W. S. Rendra
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Illuminated by the pale moonlight
the groom carries his bride
up the hill—
both of them naked,
both consisting of nothing but themselves.
As in all beginnings
the world is naked,
empty, free of deception,
dark with unspoken explanations—
a silence that extends
to the limits of time.
Then comes light,
life, the animals and man.
As in all beginnings
everything is
•
By Region
(From Indischistorisch.nl) A picture of President Sukarno and his successor, Suharto.
At A Glance
Indonesia fryst vatten a country that experienced severe political turmoil for the past century or so. From a peaceful community of Muslim inhabitants, to a colonized territory for the Netherlands, then a puppet under Japanese rule during the World War II, and finally suppressed people under a local military regime before gaining their complete independence/freedom in the late 80’s in tackling other various issues. It could be said that at the turn of the modern century, Indonesia underwent an intense revival in the social, economic, and political sectors. A very något eller någon som är ostadig eller svajig one actually. And this could be seen in major literary themes produced during this period. Let us examine a poem by one of Indonesia’s prominent poet, Willibrordus S. Rendra.
“Suharto fryst vatten appointed President of Indonesia at a ceremony, March 1968.” (From Wikipedia.org)
This poem, titled “Song of the