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Censorship at Ubud writers' festival proves a creeping menace
Sydney Morning Herald - October 29, 2015
A panel has now been scratched on the controversial reclamation of land in Benoa Bay in southern Bali for a massive luxury development that critics say will devastate the environment.
Also cancelled is the launch of the novel "From now on everything will be different" – a love story set during the post-Suharto reformasi period, decades after 1965.
The highly anticipated ForBALI session, scheduled for Saturday, was a panel on the Benoa Bay reclamation featuring Jerinx, a vocal opponent of the development and a drummer in popular Balinese punk band Superman is Dead.
Critics say the creation of artificial islands in the bay – which could include a theme park, yacht marina, condominiums, a race track and a golf course – will damage the mangrove ecosystem and put local fishermen out of work. "When it's environment versus big business, passion tends to run high," the program says.
Wayan Suardana, a well-known environmentalist, said he was unsure if the police had prohibited the ForBALI session or the organiser voluntarily cancelled it.
"Either way, it shows the authorities or people in power are abusing their power by preventing any event that is critical in nature," he said. "First it was about 1965, now it's about reclamation."
Mr Suardana said ForBALI was a movement based on culture and art and representatives had spoken at many other culture and art festivals: "No problem so far. Then suddenly, now, it's a problem. The people in power do not wish for what ForBALI is doing to be heard by the international world."
Mr Suardana was also critical of the festival's organisers, who he said "lacked the courage" to provide an alternative forum. "They bow to government pressure. So I see it as the government abusing their power and the organiser... has shown no effort to show power."
The Author of "From now on everything will be different", Eliza Vitri Handayani, said she was bewildered that her book launch had been banned and emailed the festival organisers, assuming a mistake had been made.
A review in The Sydney Morning Herald described the book as a "compelling" account of the "constrictions, compromises and disappointments" encountered by a free-spirited photographer and a medical student under the thumb of his conservative mother.
"It's a coming-of-age story about people finding their identity as a nation is trying to find a new identity," Handayani said. "It's a book about freedom, so it's ironic its freedom is being restricted like this." Every day of the festival Handayani will wear a different T-shirt featuring text from pages of her novel.
"I wanted to think of a creative way of circumventing the censorship," she said. "It's expressing your voice but also through your body and what you wear, which is a freedom that is also often restricted in Indonesia."
Ubud Writers and Readers Festival national program manager I Wayan Juniarta said local authorities had advised the festival to drop any events related to 1965 or that contained sensitive issues.
"They advised us ForBALI was an issue of sensitivity because it was a difficult issue for the community in Bali and they asked us to return to the mission of the festival as an art and cultural event," Mr Juniarta said.
He said the festival had sent a PDF of From now on everything will be different to an internal reviewer and asked for a recommendation.
He said a decision was made to hold off on the launch because although it was a work of fiction it contained references to real places in Indonesia and sensitive issues.
Gianyar police chief Farman said the festival organisers had only been asked to adjust the program to feature events connected to culture, art and "Bali tourism progress" in line with their permit application. "We 100 per cent fully support the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival event," he said.
Other cancelled events include three panels on the 1965 anti-communist purge, a screening of the film The Look of Silence by Joshua Oppenheimer, and the launches of several books related to the massacres.
At least 15 of those whose events were cancelled are no longer participating in the festival, including Australian academics Jemma Purdey and Katharine McGregor and writer Putu Oka Sukanto, who was jailed for 10 years for suspected leftist leanings.
Some of the cancelled panel sessions have deliberately not been replaced and the venues left empty as a reminder of the censorship. "It's kind of a tribute for all of us and for freedom of speech," Mr Juniarta said.
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