Ika Krismantari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Feature | Fri, November 09 2012, 12:37 PM
Saved: A set of wooden carvings made by the Kamoro tribe in Papua is on display at the Kamoro Arts Exhibition and Sale in Jakarta. (JP/Ika Krismantari)
The Kamoro Art Exhibition is back in the capital with a slightly bigger collection this year to give the public a better chance to participate in the preservation of a dying Papuan art form.
Two hundred wood carvings from the Kamoro tribe are featured in this year’s exhibition, Jina Muller, the event’s publicist, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Muller hopes more visitors will attend the exhibition this year and more will purchase from the collection, because the main purpose of the annual event is not only to create public awareness of Kamoro art but also to create a market to sustain the tradition that is dying out in the face of modernity.
The Kamoro woodcarving tradition, unlike that of its neighbor the Asmat, has been on the verge of extinction simply because there is no demand for it. Most locals only carve for ceremonies, and with the declining interest from the younger generation, the tradition is set to perish.
Responding to this problem, Muller and her husband Kal Muller have been organizing the exhibition and sale since 2007 in an attempt to make Kamoro art more accessible and therefore giving locals reasons to continue carving.
The couple purchases carvings and provides an initial payment to carvers; as soon as the pieces are sold they give the rest of the money to the craftsmen.
Forty-three-year-old Yosef Tiriyuka is one of the carvers who has enjoyed the benefit of such a program.
Scrubbing the surface of an unfinished 2-meter-long wooden carving in the back of the exhibition room, he shared how things had changed after the arrival of the Mullers.
“We used to only carve boats and mbitoro [a large totem-like pole carved and erected for initiation ceremonies], but now even the young ones also carve,” said Yosef.
He also mentioned that more children in his village are going to school and people have received a steady income due to proceeds from the exhibition.
Realizing the exhibition’s significant role in the Kamoro economy and cultural life, Jina Muller said she and her husband had been trying to widen the scope of the event.
She explained that previous exhibitions were held as closed events at different embassy residences in Jakarta. But since last year, with the support of US Ambassador to Indonesia Scot Marciel, the organizers were able to make the exhibition open to the public.
Yet despite all their efforts, Kal Muller, who has been engaging with the tribe for more 15 years, admitted that more work needs to be done to promote Papuan art among the Indonesian people.
“The main challenge that I am facing is to get Indonesian people interested in this and not only foreigners,” said the man, who has penned several books on Papua.
Apart from organizing the exhibition, Muller has also been cooperating with other institutions like
the University of Indonesia and major publishing group Kompas to further promote the Kamoro woodcarving tradition and culture in order to help it survive.
But still he acknowledged that the tradition is barely managing to survive at the moment. That is why the man says he has been thinking of a new strategy that may work for Indonesians.
“Someone told me I need a very popular Indonesian movie star or TV star to say ‘Hey this is good stuff’ and Indonesians will go and say Okay, okay we are going to buy this stuff’,” he said of his plan.
Despite this seemingly brilliant solution, would not it be nice to see local celebrities working voluntarily to promote Papuan tradition, or more than that, ordinary Indonesians taking initial steps to protect local culture?
Kamoro Art Exhibition and Sale
The American Club
Jl. Brawijaya IV No. 20
Kebayoran Baru
South Jakarta
Nov. 9, 2012 from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Nov. 10-11, 2012 from 10:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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2) Indonesia, German firm sign agreement on tanks sale
November 09, 2012
Indonesia and German defence company Rheinmetall on Thursday signed an agreement that paves the way for the purchase by the Asian nation of 150 tanks from Germany. "The memorandum of understanding is related to transfer of technology and maintenance," said Major General Ediwan Prabowo, head of the defence facilities agency at the Defence Ministry.
Prabowo said he hoped the contract for the purchase of 100 Leopard main battle tanks and 50 lighter Marder tanks would be signed this month. On Wednesday, Prabowo had told dpa that he hoped to sign both the memorandum of understanding and the contract on Saturday, after a defence exhibition in Jakarta in which Rheinmetall was among the companies from 40 countries participating.
He said there were still some minor sticking points, mostly technical, and that there were no pending political or legal issues. He also said Indonesia wanted the first batch to be delivered this year, but Rheinmetall had not given assurances about the timing. The tank purchase is opposed by human rights groups in Indonesia and left-wing parties in Germany, who argued that the military was committing human rights violations in the Papua region, the scene of a low-level separatist conflict.
The military was accused of gross human rights violations under the rule of autocratic former president Suharto. Activists say that despite a series of reforms following Suharto's downfall in 1998, there has been little accountability for past and recent abuses committed in Papua. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has embarked on an ambitious drive to modernise its under-equipped military and build a defence industry. Also on Thursday, the Defence Ministry signed a similar agreement with Brazilian defence company Avibras Industria Aeroespacial for the purchase of multiple launch rockets.
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3) Papua Police get support to eradicate corruption
Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura | Archipelago | Fri, November 09 2012, 8:33 AM
In response to the commitment expressed by Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian to eradicate corruption in Papua, the National Police headquarters has provided Rp 2.8 billion (US$311,000) in funds and personnel backup to conduct joint investigations.
The financial aid was handed over at the Papua Police headquarters on Thursday by the National Police Corruption Crime director Brig. Gen. Nur Alim and accepted by Papua Police Special Corruption Crime director Comr. Setyo Budianto.
In 2011, Papua Police were able to uncover 28 graft cases and returned Rp 5.3 billion in lost state funds to the state, and as of October this year, they have handled 37 corrupt cases and saved Rp 120 billion in state funds.
Tito has instructed all police forces covering Papua and West Papua to get serious about dealing with corrupt cases by November and December this year. “All regency police have been instructed to handle a corruption case,” added Tito.
“So, in the next two months, we hope that Papua Police will uncover 33 corrupt cases, each case handled by each regency police force and four cases handled by Papua Police,” said Papua Police spokesman Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya.
The redistribution of wealth has failed to materialize in Papua as most of the major funds channeled by the central government to Indonesia’s easternmost province have been wasted — or embezzled by the local elites — as is evident by the fact that Papua and West Papua remain the most disadvantaged regions.
The government is also due to raise special autonomy funding for Papua to Rp 4.3 trillion ($450.5 million) next year from this year’s Rp 3.10 trillion, and to Rp 1.8 trillion for West Papua from this year’s Rp 1.33 trillion.
Papua legal practitioner Anthon Raharusun said he appreciated Tito’s commitment to corruption eradication efforts in Papua. “Now, I see a new era in fighting corruption in Papua,” he said.
So far, none of the police leadership in Papua has expressed their commitment to eradicate corruption. The police chief’s commitment should be supported by every law enforcer. “A case should reach a point where investigations have been completed [P-21],” Anthon said.
Anthon expressed hope that law enforcers in Papua would work together to eradicate and prevent corruption because corruption is devastating to the people of Papua. He said that corruption issues have a significant connection to the political issues in Papua.
“The people have expressed grave concern over the corruption issue and pin their hopes on the police chief who has shown his commitment to eradicate corruption,” he added.
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