AIAA Patrons
AIAA would like to thank and acknowledge the Consul General for the Republic of Indonesia Sydney for holding the position of Patron of AIAA. Many thanks also to Byron Shire Mayor Cr Jan Barham for continuing in the role of AIAA Patron, and attending AIAA events such as opening the Byron Harmony Festival every year.
I Made Denis Artist-in-Residence Project
During May – December 2010 AIAA was very fortunate to host the 7th Artist-in-Residence Project with visiting Balinese musician I Made Denis from Tianyar, East Bali. This project was self-funded utilizing funds raised through school shows and touring. This project was AIAA’s most successful Residency to date with I Made Denis visiting over 30 schools across Australia including visits to Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane as well as many regional centers such as Grafton, Taree, Picton, Bellingen, Toowoomba etc The project has been highly valuable for both the visiting artist and for the Australian community. The project has been successful in creating participation and collaboration with people of all ages across a broad spectrum of the Australian community and across a wide geographical area. The project involved direct participation and experience of Balinese Kecak Dance and Balinese traditional gamelan and contemporary music, as well as Sundanese Angklung, Balinese, Javanese and Sumatran Dance workshops and performances.
While resident in the NSW North Coast area I Made Denis worked intensively in the following areas:
teaching and performing at primary and high schools across Australia
instructing individual musicians
performing with Australian and Indonesian musicians and gamelan groups
presenting performances of Balinese Gamelan Music and Dance in Murwillumbah, Byron Bay, Gold Coast and Woodford Qld.
In NSW: Made Denis successfully formed a new Balinese Gamelan group in Byron Bay holding weekly, often bi-weekly workshops as well as free classes in Gamelan and Angklung at Byron Multicultural Drop In, visits to Suara Indonesia Radio Show on Bay FM, Byron Bay, performances at Byron Harmony Day 2010 and the Unity Festival Murwillumbah as well as school performances and workshops. Participating schools included Fernleigh PS, Coorabell PS, Durrumbul PS, Mullumbimby HS, Macksville HS, Sth Grafton HS, Chrysalis Steiner School Bellingen, Taree PS, Scotts Head PS, Eltham PS, Blakebrook PS, Cooper Nook PS, The Risk PS, Ruchenvale PS and Collins Creek PS. Sydney schools included St Mary’s Star of the Sea Picton and The John Colet School, Belrose. The program was presented by Made Denis supported by Judy Shelley and Yvonne Jessup as well as dancers Bpk Agung Pindha, Ibu Vera Kos and Warga Rukun Bali.
In QLD: School performances included Fernygrove HS and Harristown HS involving Made Denis supported by Bpk Agung Pindha and Judy Shelley, as well as community workshops and performances in Southport organized by Ibu Vera Kos, Indonesia Dance Group Gold Coast and Indonesian Independence Day at Broadbeach. Major performances of Balinese Kecak and workshop series were a major feature at Woodford Folk Festival.
In WA: Made Denis’ visit to WA was supported by the Indonesian Consulate in Perth, where he was provided accommodation, transport and musical instruments and by John Septimus Roe College which provided a loan of gamelan instruments. He was accompanied on this trip by Gold Coast Balinese dancer Mr Agung Pindha and supported locally by Perth dancers Ibu Hermine Astuti, Ibu Yayih, Ibu Dewi and Ibu Endang Partington. Participating Schools included Tranby College, John Septimus Roe College, Quintillian School and La Salle College.
In SA: The SA visit was supported by Murdoch University and Dodik Darmadi through the loan of instruments. Made Denis and Judy Shelley visited St Monica’s Pariah School and Crafers School, Crafers supported by dancers Ade Suharto and Ibu Dewi. Made Denis also participated in a Javanese gamelan class and met students and lecturers at the Murdoch University pendopo.
The major finale event of the Made Denis Residency was his participation along with 40 other musicians, dancers and chanters for a season of kecak workshops and performances at Australia’s largest music festival – Woodford Folk Festival, Qld. The project brought together performers from NSW Nth Coast and Southern Qld with the lead dancers being from Rukun Warga Bali, Gold Coast. Made Denis was also enlisted by Woodford Festival to work in the pre-festival team creating 50 Balinese Penjor street decoration to create a Balinese atmosphere throughout the festival.
Byron Harmony Festival 2010
Byron Harmony Day 2010 presented by the AIAA subcommittee Byron Harmony Team was held on 6 May 2010 and was a huge success for AIAA and the Nth Coast community. Supported by Byron Shire Council ($2,500) and CRC ($2000) the one day festival involved a very wide representation of the many multicultural communities that live in the North Coast and incorporated a variety of performances by Indonesian cultural groups and artists such as Made Denis.
People who attended and participated were overwhelming in their praise and appreciation for the holding of the Byron Harmony Day event. The Festival attracted the participation of about 200 performers, volunteers and workshop leaders and attracted an audience of approx 1000.
Byron Harmony Day 2009 involved people from many CALD groups including Indigenous, Latin American, French, Brazilian, Indonesian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Thai, African and Spanish.
Many thanks to coordinators Corrinne Sinclair, Yvonne Jessup, Judy Shelley and the Harmony Team for all their hard work and to Byron Shire Council, CRC, Byron Echo, Bay FM radio and other sponsors.
Byron Harmony Project
Besides presenting Byron Harmony Day, the Harmony Team also continued the Harmony Program including the weekly Multicultural Drop In at Byron Community Centre encouraging cultural sharing by presenting free cultural workshops in Indonesian gamelan, angklung and dance, African dance, Latin American cooking, music and dance, Hawaiian dance, Japanese cooking, Chinese painting, drawing etc, maintenance of the multicultural website www.byronmulticultural.org.au, coordination of ethnic radio course etc
School Activities
During 2008-2009 AIAA provided a number of excellent Indonesian school activities as part of the Made Denis Residency including performances and workshops at schools in Sydney, NSW North Coast, Adelaide, Perth, Toowoomba and Brisbane. AIAA also presented a major Indonesian Extravaganza combined schools concert at Mullumbimby High School during 2010. Many thanks to Made Denis, Judy Shelley, Bpk Nyoman Suma and Ibu Sri for presenting a wonderful concert and workshop program including Balinese Dance, Balinese Gamelan and Sundanese Angklung. After undertaking one hour workshops in gamelan music a number of the students involved in the project were able to present their own gamelan music performances to the rest of the students.
Suara Indonesia Radio Show
During 2009-10 Suara Indonesia Radio Show was presented by Francesca Von Reinhaart and Kirana Talip supported by Yana Sutiana, John Lewis, Ming and Judy Shelley. Suara Indonesia continues to present many hours of interesting live interviews, music, CD reviews, news and Indonesian community events for the community of the NSW North Coast and beyond. The program is streaming live every Wednesday 12-1pm at www.bayfm.org
AIAA Support for Members and Cultural Organisations
The AIAA Board and National Coodinator support many other Australian and Indonesian organizations and individual artists with performances, information, support letters and guidance for their projects as well as undertaking community action and fundraising.
Deep appreciation to AIAA National President Malia Ritaningsih for her great dedication and energetic involvement in all Indonesian cultural activities and fundraising in Brisbane, representing AIAA at major events and being a popular MC for the Brisbane community. Malia has initiated many important projects such as the Pesta Rakyat and as well SBKM among many others.
Many thanks to AIAA Board Member Ibu Vera Kos from the Indonesia Dance Group Gold Coast for her tireless commitment and dedication to promoting and sharing Indonesian arts and culture in Australia. Ibu Vera has assisted AIAA Artist in Residence Projects for many years by organizing events for them in the Gold Coast, providing opportunities to share their music with the Australian community. Ibu Vera has also supported AIAA projects at schools and in the community presenting performances and workshops in dance, costumes and singing.
Report from Cynthia Webb
AIAA Cultural Networker/Board Member of Australia Indonesia Arts Alliance
During the year I have continued my work of contributing Feature Articles to The Jakarta Post, newspaper. During 2010, thirteen major articles appeared. These included –
Interviews with Indonesian film personalities.
Interviews with Australian film-makers with special interest in Indonesia. There were four well-known Indonesian film personalities at Gold Coast for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Dec 2nd, 2010: Nurman Hakim, Nan Achnas, Christine Hakim, and Salman Aristo, all of whom I interviewed, and had plenty of time for socializing and friendship.
Three articles on the activities of the Non Government Organisation, Surf Aid International, which works in the Mentawai Islands (off the Sumatra coast), and played a major role in the rescue operations following the October earthquake and tsunami there.
For a month, May/June 2010, I visited Indonesia.
In Yogyakarta for three weeks, I re-connected with quite a few Indonesian friends and Arts workers, including artist, Kartika Affandi, Musician/Drama coach, Untung Basuki, arts photographer, Pandhu from GONG Magazine, artist, Nurkholis, artist, Heri Dono, dancer, Didik Nini Thowok, and others.
While in Yogyakarta I was able to introduce Mas Iswanto, of the Department of Health of Indonesia, to an American friend, Jack Wilson. He is running a project in a village area of Yogyakarta, to improve education about matters relating to everyday living, to raise health standards. Iswanto has founded a remarkable recycling and composting lifestyle in his own home kampong, which has now spread to quite a few other parts of Yogyakarta, and gained the respect of the wife of the Sultan. Mr Wilson planned to take his Indonesian staff workers to see Iswanto’s kampung, Sukunan, for themselves.
Because of 12 days of illness during my stay in Yogyakarta, I was not able to attend as many arts events as usual, but most of the relationships are maintained by email, and social networking websites.
This year I also made some new connections with others, such as writer, Putu Wijaya, reknowned actress, Christine Hakim, and actor Ikranegara, a journalist from ANTARA, Rahmad Nasution.
In October, I travelled to Brisbane to meet and interview Indonesia’s leading filmmaker, Nan Achnas, who was in the city acting as a member of the Nominations Council, for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
In December, I attended a fund-raising event for Surf Aid International at Gold Coast, and hosted the founder of SurfAid International, Dr Dave Jenkins for the afternoon, before delivering him to the train station for his trip to Brisbane, then a flight to Perth. He was visiting Australia, on a fundraising drive, and also doing his own networking, to be able to further assist the Mentawai people in the long term future.
In January 2011, I enjoyed spending time with well known contemporary artist, Heri Dono, and going with him to Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art, and to the Jan Manton Gallery, (his agents in the city).
Making as many people as possible, aware of the existence of AIAA and the aims and activities of the organization broadens our contacts, friendships and possibilities for future co-operation. For Indonesians to meet and know personally, a member of AIAA, is valuable for them and also for us. Our linkage of friends and contacts in the Indonesian arts and cultural scene grows each year.
Quite often, people in both Indonesia and Australia make contact with AIAA, to ask for assistance or information, and recently I have been assisting an editor, Ros Bradley to contact prominent philosophical thinkers in Indonesia, to request contributions to her book.
This week I’ve received a message from internationally famous dancer Didik Nini Thowok. He requested help to spread the word that he’s looking for funding of the wages of a dancing teacher for a project to offer free dance lessons to poor village children around the Yogyakarta city area.
Thank you to our Sponsors
The National Board of AIAA expresses sincere appreciation for the generous support of Byron Shire Council, Bay FM Community Radio, NRCF, Byron Shire Echo, Community Relations Commission, Australia Indonesia Institute and the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
AUSTRALIA INDONESIA ARTS ALLIANCE
GENERAL ACCOUNT
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 1ST JULY 2009 – 30TH JUNE 2010
Bank Balance as at 1st July 2009 $7485.97
INCOME
Members $ 165.00
Grants $5000.00
Fundraising $3360.30
Other $ 823.14
Interest Credit $ .09
Total $9348.53
EXPENDITURE
Administration $ 5580.52
Wages Project Officer $ 1882.40
Wages Other $ 750.00
Rent Office $ 750.00
Rent Venue $ 1423.50
Promotion $ 1132.80
Translation $ 250.00
Project $ 1838.48
Transport $ 396.00
AIAA other expenses $ 2200.00
Total $16,204.41
Balance $ 630.09
Bank Balance as at 30th June 2010 $ 630.09
AUSTRALIA INDONESIA ARTS ALLIANCE
Financial Statement 1 July 2009 – 30 June 2010
Public Art Fund Account
Bank Balance as a 1 July 2009 $ 938.12
INCOME
Donations $1550.00
Bank Interest $ .13
TOTAL $1550.13
EXPENDITURE
Administration $1850.00
Advertising $ 70.00
Venue $ 462.00
TOTAL $2382.00
BALANCE $ 106.25
Bank Balance as at 30 June 2010 $ 106.25
AUSTRALIA INDONESIA ARTS ALLIANCE
FINANCIAL STATEMENT 1 JULY 2009 – 30 JUNE 2010
WORK FOR THE DOLE ACCOUNT
Bank Balance as at 1 July 2009 $ 12.90
INCOME
Volunteers Grant DFACS $1875.00
Members AIAA $ 155.00
Workshops, Performances $ 434.00
TOTAL $2464.00
EXPENDITURE
Performers Per Diem $1725.00
Equipment $ 50.00
Administration $ 126.23
Transport $ 570.00
TOTAL $2471.54
BALANCE $ 5.36
BANK BALANCE AS AT 30 JUNE 2010 $ 5.36