Who are these people?

Thailand’s royal family

President Aquino, PhilippinesPresident Karzai, Afghanistan

Prime Minister Najib Razak, Malaysia

India’s President Manmohan Singh

Singapore: Why is the score so low?Political rights: 5; Civil Liberties: 4. Partly Free

• Government has been criticized for its attacks on speech and freedom of expression, including:

-- $300,000 lawsuit against Far Eastern Economic Review for defamation of the Lees (Prime Minister)

-- $122,000 suit against International Herald Tribune

• Tight control of media: all newspapers, t.v, radio, etc., is connected to the state.

• Music, videos, published text are all subject to censorship and the Sedition Act

• Internet is widely available, but context is regulated.

Concluding Thoughts

• Political rights and civil liberties vary considerably in the countries of South and Southeast Asia.

• Afghanistan’s political chaos and hampers development of a stable civil society.

• Most countries in Southeast Asia adopted the tight state controls of their colonial overlords.

• Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia, in particularly, are working towards greater political and civil liberalization.

• With the possible exception of Singapore, all countries in these two regions suffer from corruption.

Artists as Social Criticsin South and Southeast Asia

Nov. 30, 2011

*Paper due this Friday

Artists as Social Criticsin … Hawaii!

Makana

Official censorship limits freedom of press, regulates newspapers, television, and radio.

Books and films are also censored or banned.

Yet, there is considerable by social commentators who challenge the government and test limits of artistic expression.

Pakistani artists often express the view that the world has too limited an understanding of the country’s cultural riches and complexity.

Artistic Expression in Pakistan

“Those of us on the other side of the world are tired of being misrepresented by the media in ways that make it seem that they are talking about another country.

They don’t seem to get a sense of the vitality and energy, or the sheer courage and grit that make up a people or a nation. That was something that I wanted to address.

Salima Hashim2009 Asia Society Exhibit “Hanging Fire” of

contemporary Pakistani Artists

The work here could not have come out of the sort of country that we read about in the headlines. It does not proclaim things, it doesn’t carry a label, it doesn’t wave a flag.

But it is self-assured, and in that self-assurance you find the kernel of Pakistan – you get a sense of the determination of a people, their sense of themselves, their dark humor, and their delight in life.”

http://sites.asiasociety.org/hangingfire/

2005 Exhibit at Honolulu Academy of Arts

Sherbano Quizilbash

“I am working on the theme of women’s emancipation. I want to bring out the concept which I think I feel about the most.

The chaddar is the surrounding for the women in the society I live in from the day they are born….The chaddar not only covers the body but a lot of things along with it. For me, chaddar is a covering on the women’s body, her mind, heart, eyes, even her soul and spirit.”

The catalog essay comments that these artists focus on issues of bodily representation and the chador.

Another approach:Saad Haroon, a Pakistani comedian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdcKgzKWnw

Censorship was more stringent under previous governments, notably the conservative Hindu BJP Party.

In 2003, the BJP govt. attempts to censor the film War and Peace were overturned.

The Indian government still censors or bans artistic works considered religiously offensive or inflammatory.

• The Da Vinci Code is banned in several Southern states with strong Christian presence.

• Jodhaa Akbar was banned (then later admitted) in Rajasthan and the Northern States for its portrayal of Rajputs.

• Several Bollywood films have been banned (or not distributed in some states) because of violence or implied sexual activity.

Film Censorship in India

War and Peace explores issues of nuclear warfare

The Bollywood film that addresses the issue of India’s reservation system.

Filmmaker Prakash Jha, who has a history of socio-political films, says he wanted a critical look at the issues

Dalit groups protested the portrayal of lower castes in the film; Jha agreed to remove certain scenes and dialogue.

Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh banned the film, citing its potential to incite violence.

2011 Controversy: Aarakshan

War and Peace explores issues of nuclear warfare

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1EiDMCDnE8

• Oct. 2011: Delhi University removed the essay “Three Hundred Ramayanas” by A.K. Ramanujan

• Why? Conservative religious groups charge it is anti-Hindu, presenting offensive versions of the epic.

• Professors and students have gathered to protest the censorship.

• Oxford University Press in India has stopped publication of two books containing the essay.

• The essay has “gone viral” on the Internet.

Academic Censorship in India

Writers in New Order Indonesia:Pramoedya Anantata Toer

• Under Suharto’s 32 year rule of Indonesia (1967- 1998), artistic freedoms severely restricted.

• Tens of thousands writers, artists, social critics, and suspected communists killed or imprisoned following alleged 1965 Communist coup.

• Pramoedya, journalist critical of government, held in on Buru island for 24 years with 1,200 others.

• After 1979 release, under house arrest until 1992.

• While on Buru, Pramoedya memorized a quartet of novels, which he published upon release. He remains Indonesia’s most famous novelist.

Upon Suharto’s death, Pram wrote in Time Magazine, “Dictator From Day One”: What happened to me was also experienced by 1.5 million others. Half a million people were

killed, according to the Western press, and some military officials say the number is even higher. Suharto needed the slaughter to instill fear in everyone….With the founding of the New Order, the trampling on humanity continued. The killing has never stopped, right up to Suharto's fall and beyond. A prison official once told us: The only right you still possess is the right to breathe.http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2054188,00.html#ixzz1fCGZjSKx

Protest Art in Indonesia -- a long history

Countryside Henry van Velthuysen (1881 – 1954)

SUDJANA KERTON (1922-1993)

“Capital At The Fight for Independence: Bamboo Spears”, 1945-1946-1978

Colonial style vs. revolutionary style

SOEDIBIO (1912-1981)“To You People of Jogja”, 1949

1975, Rantai yang Santai(the relaxed chain)

comments on domestic life under Suharto’s New Order Indonesia

Artists in New Order Indonesia:FX Harsono

1994 Voice Without a VoiceHands spelling out “demokrasi,” with the last hand bound in rope

“Pieta,” 2009

“Rights/Those with no right to a voice,” 1993

F.X. Harsono, b. 1948

1994: The Voices are Controlled by Power

The mouths of the topeng masks are removed and surrounded

1994: The Voices are Controlled by Power

1999 Republic Indochaos

More recently, Harsono has explored the violence againstChinese on his home island of Blitar, a massacre that took place

in 1948.

To Live, To Cease Living #1 and #2, 2009

His installation piece, “Writing in the Rain”

refers to the Suharto-era law that forbade use of

Chinese names

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1FiS4cOhrLs#!

ASTARI RASJID (b.1953)“Waiting to Explode”, 2009

WAYAN SUDARNA PUTRA (b. 1976)“Soldiers”, 1999

Corruption, military rule

The Indonesian Performance Club takes their social protest “Perfurbances” into the streets, here performing in Jakarta in front of the presidential palace.

The Club has sought to highlight corruption and the collusion between government and large corporations.

After the 2008 volcanic eruption of Mount Merapi, perfurbance #4 exposed environmental damage by area industries and held educational workshops for villagers.

Socially-oriented Performance Art

• Even in repressive political environments, people find ways to make their voices heard.

• Literary, musical, and artistic protests are made against political regimes, as well as inequitable gender traditions and industry practices.

• While challenging the status quo, the arts help strengthen individual and group identity, as well as a culture’s civil society.

Concluding Thoughts

Good luck with your papers!

Please bring them at the beginning of class, then send a back-up email copy

Remember your cover page and bibliography, neat, typo-free presentation.

Send a email if you have any last minute questions.