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Yogyakarta artists fight against intolerance

Jakarta Post - April 21, 2016

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Bambang Muryanto – Artists in Yogyakarta have used a creative way to protest the intolerance that continues to grow in a city that claims to be a dignified city of culture.

At a recent art event, artists created murals and posters and staged musical performances to symbolize their fight against intolerant groups. These intolerant groups have tried to limit artistic freedom of expression of late.

In their resistance, street artists painted several strategic places black. On the Kewek railway bridge, they wrote out a sentence that read "penyeragaman membunuh keberagaman" (The process of uniformity kills diversity). They also created a large question mark painting to call into question the city administration's tagline: Yogyakarta: city of tolerance.

"It's a sign of mourning and it's our response to a case affecting Survive Garage," Djuwadi, an artist and activist from the Peaceful Yogya Solidarity Forum (FSYD), told thejakartapost.com on Monday.

Meanwhile, street artist group Antitank created a poster reading: "Emergency of Intolerance in Yogyakarta". Antitank is widely known for its posters that express sharp social criticism.

Yogyakarta artists say violent acts perpetrated by intolerant groups, with the support of the police, have begun to threaten freedom of expression. The disbandment of the art event Lady Fast 2016 held at Survive Garage on April 2 was the latest example of intolerance affecting artists in the city. A transgender literary event held at the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) also received threats from intolerant groups toward the end of December 2015.

As reported earlier, after the disbandment of Lady Fast 2016, local residents prohibited Survive Garage members from staying in a house they had leased at Tegal Kenongo, Tirtonirmolo, Bantul, Yogyakarta.

Several musicians have also moved to fight against intolerance by creating a group called Saksinada. They want to fight for social change by providing greater room for freedom of expression, tolerance and pluralism.

"We will participate in the fight against social problems. There are many conflicts in Yogyakarta," said Bagus Dwi Danto, a member of musical group Sisir Tanah, during the launch of Saksinada at the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in Yogyakarta on Sunday.

Saksinada comprises several local musical groups and musicians. They include Sisir Tanah, Agoni, Deugalih, Dendang Kampungan (Yogyakarta), Iksan Skuter (Malang), Antitank (Yogyakarta) and Fajar Merah and Fitri Merah, two children of Wiji Thukul, a poet who was forcibly "disappeared" prior to the reforms in March 1998.

Galih, from Deugalih, said all artists must unite to fight against intolerant groups. "If we act alone, we will be easily defeated and we will have to hide from them," she said.

Musician Iksan Skuter, who composed a song for Salim Kancil, a farmer murdered in Lumajang, East Java, for fighting against illegal sand mining, said art should not be limited to entertainment. "Art can also be used to move people to rebel [against injustice]," Iksan said. (ebf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/04/21/yogyakarta-artists-fight-against-intolerance.html.