Australia Indonesia Arts Alliance National Annual Report 2005 – 2006

AIAA Work for Dole Project 2005- 2006

The AIAA Work For the Dole Project has been a wonderful support for the work of AIAA since 2001, providing training and work experience for up to10 unemployed people at a time while concurrently supporting cultural exchange between Australia and Indonesia. AIAA WFD 2005 took place from February to August 2005 and was a really fantastic and exciting project for the AIAA Team supervised by Judy Shelley, Dee Tipping, Kery Greedy, Kim and Carole Chapman. The project was presented at the AIAA office at Bayshore Drive, Byron Industrial Estate – the main project completed during this time was the Inspirasi Indonesian Arts Festival.
The project incorporated an enormous amount of activities such as Inspirasi Opening Night, Film Screenings, Sumatran and Balinese dance, music and wayang workshops and performances, DVD production, Performance Art by Firman Djamil, photographic exhibitions, as well as the extraordinary Heri Dono Contemporary Wayang Kulit performance presented as the finale of the festival.
The next WFD project then continued on immediately taking place between August 2005 – January 2006. This project presented another highly successful Festival -The Colours of the World Multicultural Festival held in January 2006. WFD participants played an enormous role in the many projects undertaken by AIAA including : Festival Projects, Inspirasi Magazine, Asep Suhenda Artist-in-Residence Project, AIAA website, Kecak Dance Project, Photographic projects, DVD production etc

Inspirasi Indonesian Arts Festival June-July 2005

The AIAA Indonesian Festival Project was an enormous success and exceeded all expectations in the presentation of the Inspirasi Indonesian Arts Festival – a one month festival from June-July 2005 which presented an exciting array of exhibitions, performances and workshops in Indonesian music, dance, martial arts, shadow puppets and films. The Festival was coordinated by Judy Shelley, Dee Tipping, Kim Mitchell, Kerry Greedy and Dharma Bradridge, the WFD Team and many wonderful volunteers.

Opening Night

The Festival Opening Night was held at Byron Bay Community Centre, opened by Mr Greg Vickery, Hon Consul Republic of Indonesia and MCed by Tjintana Matahari.
The program included a presentation of short and feature films – Ketok (Tintin Wull), Rebuilding Our Lives (Konfiden), Bread Winner (Tjintana Matahari), Reading the Kebaya (Victoria Cattoni), 3022984 (Johan Marais-Piper) and Legong (Henry De La Falaise); Jaipongan Dance by Obek Junaedi and the Finale was a fantastic Fashion Parade of Traditional Indonesian costumes presented by Ibu Vera Kos and the children of the Indonesian community.

‘Portraits of Love’ Photographic Exhibition

The Portraits of Love Exhibition was a very beautiful and poignant expression of the love between Australia and Indonesia through the children of mixed background living in Byron Shire and in Ubud. 45 children of Australian and Indonesian parents were photographed for the exhibition, at a time when Australia was in the grip of intense media-induced hysteria over Chappelle Corby, The Expressions of Love was the AIAA response – “we are here, we are beautiful – we are an expression of love!”
Kirana Talip volunteered to be the coordinator of the Portraits of Love Exhibition. The Exhibition involved four photographers taking photos of children of Australian-Indonesian families in Byron Shire and in Bali. WFD participants Kirana Talip, Dale Roberts and Fiona Blandford photographed children in Byron Shire while AIAA volunteer Zen Player photographed children located in Ubud, Bali.
The Exhibition was a main feature of the Inspirasi Indonesian Arts Festival Opening Night Celebration held at the Byron Bay Community Centre and received great media attention as well as celebrating our survival as a community

Balinese Children’s Art Exhibition

In 2004 AIAA held a Bali Art Competition with children from various schools across the North Coast such as Evans River School, St Finbarrs Primary School, Upper Main Arm Public School, The Channon Public School and the Byron Bay High School.
The children’s art was displayed at the ANZ Bank Byron Bay, Byron Cinemas and Mullumbimby Library. It was then displayed at the Seniwati Gallery in Ubud Bali and at two Primary Schools in Ubud.
Children from the Seniwati Gallery then sent their artworks about Australia to us in Byron Bay. These artworks were then toured around Byron Shire as part of Inspirasi Indonesian Arts Festival. We firstly displayed the artworks in the ANZ Bank in Byron Bay. The response from the Bank and the customers was that they were really delighted with the exhibition and were sad to see it move on. The Bank also donated prizes which were sent to the children in Bali. Schools participating were St Finbarrs School, Cape Byron Steiner School and Fernleigh Public School.

Inspirasi Festival Finale

Many activities took place during the month following the Opening ceremony such as performances and film screenings at Brunswick Heads, Bangalow and Belongil as well as cultural workshops in Balinese Kecak Dance and Shadow Puppet workshops by visiting artist Heri Dono who also participated as a speaker at FEHVA Art Festival.
The Festival Finale was held over two days 16-17 June 2005. The First day of the Finale took place at Byron Arts Factory and Buddha Bar with a full day and night of workshops, visual arts, Open Forum and performances held throughout the complex. Workshops included gamelan, Acehnese dance and Sumatran music. Exhibitions included photography by Andy Baker and the Portraits of Love Exhibition at Byron Cinemas.
Performances commenced with a fantastic Performance Art work by visiting artist Firman Djamil from Sulawesi, (sponsored by Ginny Jones and Garuda Airlines).
The evening continued with visiting artist Efen Jaenudin, Balinese Kecak Dance, Poco Poco by Macksville High and Saman Dance by Scotts Head PS, Rhythm Hunters, Gamelan Swara Naga and Bamboo.
The Last Day of the Festival was held at Byron Peace Pole and Surf Club and was MCed by Judy and Tjintana with Sound by Dharma and Aaron.
Performances commenced with a Balinese procession let by the Barong and the Childrens Gamelan Group followed by the Barong and Rangda dance, Swara Naga Gamelan, Salendro Gamelan, Childrens gamelan, The Rhythm Hunters, Alfira O’Sullivan and Jade Tyas Tunggal – dancers, Efen, Tim and Mike, Drumming Circle and finally the Heri Dono Shadow Puppets/Performance Art Spectacular (Sponsored by AII). Other activities included Martial Arts, Clay and Saman dance workshops, Healing tent, Indonesian food, stalls and craft.
Sponsors included: Australia Indonesia Institute, Work For the Dole, Regional Arts, Byron Designworks, Byron Arts Factory, Buddha Bar, Beach Hotel, Garuda Indonesia, BayFM, Thai@Byron, Inside Indonesia, Mother Art, Byron Echo, Byron Cinemas etc

Colours of the World Multicultural Festival January 2006

The AIAA Multicultural Festival was a project which incorporated the presentation of a one day Festival on 28 January 2006 at Byron Bay Community Centre showcasing the music, dance and arts of all the many ethnic groups and cultures within the North Coast community as well as smaller events leading up to the Finale Day. The Festival was coordinated by Judy Shelley, Dharma Bradridge, Ozzie and the WFD Team with lots of help from Meilin, Riteria and Corrinne. The Project also incorporated video and photographic presentations of multiculturalism in Byron Shire and was the culmination of six months of project development including community meetings and consultation.
It was decided to hold the Main Festival day on the 28 January at the Byron Bay Community Centre and Railway Park with some smaller events such as a multicultural picnic at Brunswick Heads being held in the lead up to the finale day. The Festival Day took place from 12 Noon in Railway Park commencing with Aboriginal and Maori Welcome ceremonies and a Martial Arts Expo including Iaido, Capoeira, Aikido, Jiu Jitsu, Zen Hapkido and Mauy Thai.
The Festival then continued on in the Byron Community Centre with music and dance performances, workshops, video and photography throughout the day and night until 11pm. All in all 22 acts performed including Tommee, The Romaniacs, Ganga Giri, Juego, Maori Haka, Flamenco, Candela Rosa, AuraCalls, Friends of the Solomon Islands, Emerald, Mabuhay Filipino Society, Thai dancers, Summerland Filipino Group, Highland/Irish Dancers, Babila Ligilagy Aboriginal Dancers, Sudanese Women’s Group and Salendro Gamelan, B Boys and B Girls, Shakuhachi Flutes, Mahikutai, and Indonesia Dance Gold Coast, MCed by Meilin, Riteria and Tjintana.
Workshops were held throughout the day including Bollywood Dancing, Indonesian Dance, Laughter Yoga, Dances of Peace, Understanding Islam and Falun Gong. The day also included an indigenous short film program including Us Deadly Mob, Guri Inda Nami, First Nations and The New Boots as well as film a produced specifically for the Festival by the AIAA WFD Team called One Love One Heart – a film about the multicultural community of the North Coast.
Sponsors were Work For the Dole, BETC, The Buddha Bar and Living Colour Printers.

Faces of Byron Photographic Exhibition

It was decided to undertake a photographic exhibition to be screened as a DVD at the Multicultural Festival Finale day. The Exhibition involved many of the WFD participants including Grant, Crystal, Dale, Kellie, Jen, Vera, Neil and Simone becoming the photographers and taking photos of the many kinds of people who live in Byron Shire.
Photographic subjects have included multicultural artists, shopkeepers, gallery owners, NRMA and Byron Taxi crews, street musicians, restaurant workers, families and community members of many backgrounds. The exhibition was then screened on the Festival day while Boaz performed his music.

Inspirasi Magazine

The WFD Team were responsible for the production of Inspirasi Magazine- covering reportage of Indonesian cultural events taking place throughout Australia and Indonesia, with many contributions being provided by AIAA National Secretary Cynthia Webb, Gold Coast and AIAA members throughout Australia and Indonesia.

Asep Suhenda Musician in Residence

Sundanese musician/dalang Asep Suhenda from Bandung, West Java visited Australia on the invitation of The Indonesian Embassy assisted by our wonderful friend in Canberra Dodik Darmadi. Thanks to Dodik, AIAA were able to invite Asep to undertake a residency in Byron Shire during March 2006. During his residency Asep was a great guide and teacher to the AIAA Salendro Gamelan group. He also assisted with teaching the AIAA Children’s Gamelan Class at St Finbarrs School, as well as Gamelan Langen Sari. Asep also presented several great wayang golek performances and workshops for children at local schools such as Banora Point High School, Byron High, Mullumbimby High, Mullumbimby Primary, Fernleigh Primary and Cape Byron Steiner School.
The Finale of Asep’s stay in Byron Bay was the “Bandung to Byron” Concert organized by Chris Wetheral and Janelle Stein from Gamelan Langen Sari. The concert was a showcase of local Indonesian talent, supported by visiting stars Efiq Zulfiqar from Sambasunda and Kym Hall from Suara Naga.. The highlight of the show was Asep’s Wayang Golek with audio visual projections, accompanied by the Salendro Gamelan. The event was also a CD launch for Gamelan Langen Sari’s CD which they produced with the assistance of Wahyu Roche in Bandung during July 2005.

Salendro Gamelan

Many thanks to AIAA Vice President Dharma Bradridge and partner Bunny Calero who have been coordinating and teaching the AIAA gamelan groups for adults and children. The groups performed at Inspirasi Festival and Colours of the World Festival as well as other community events and performances. Congratulations to the Salendro Gamelan musicians for their success and to the many children who have been learning gamelan at St Finbarrs School and Shearwater School over the years.

Suara Indonesia Radio Show

Suara Indonesia has now been on air for over ten years. The program is coordinated by AIAA Vice President Dharma Bradridge and volunteer Kirana Talip, who both became fully trained presenters by training through the AIAA Work for the Dole Program. Suara Indonesia continues to present many hours of interesting live interviews, CD reviews news and Indonesian community events for the community of the NSW North Coast.