The New Local Politics and the Rise of Local Strongmen in Indonesia Big Bang Decentralization Amalinda Savirani (School on Local Politics and Autonomy Gadjah Mada University) After almost five years on the implementation of the law on decentralization, the Indonesian has witnessed many changes in the dynamics of local politics. Unfortunately, the dynamics has not...Read More

Cloth at Home : Consumption of Indonesian Textiles Viewed from Shige Oomura Collection (National Museum of Ethnology Japan) Rie Taguchi (Research Institute for Humanity and Nature/RIHN) The aim of this paper is to examine one case about Japanese consumption of Indonesian Textiles as globalized commodity, by analyzing the museum collection. The collection is “Shige Oomura...Read More

Interface between Local Batik Production and its Transnational Demand: The Case of Batik in Cirebon Teruo Sekimoto (Institute of Oriental Culture University of Tokyo) In his paper on craft production in Mexico, Scott Cook emphasizes the need for studies on demand for craft commodities. In the past century, huge literature had been accumulated about technological...Read More

Material Ties: The Museum as Contact Zone Fiona Kerlogue (Anthropology Department Horniman Museum London) The focus in this paper is on how Indonesian handicraft items produced in rural contexts have been consumed in large metropolitan centres by museums, and the tension between their local and global interpretation over time. Since at least the seventeenth century...Read More

Dari Desa ke Dunia: Dilema Pengrajin Batik di Trusmi, Jawa Barat dalam Memasarkan Produk Semiarto Aji Purwanto & Cut Vianne (Universitas Indonesia) Batik merupakan salah satu kerajinan tradisional Indonesia yang sudah dkenal dengan baik di pasar domestik maupun internasional. Dalam hal pemasaran batik, seringkali pertanyaan yang muncul adalah berkaitan dengan jenis komoditasnya: apakah batik tulis,...Read More