think archipelago, V2 May 2013

V2 May 2013

think!archipelago human interest I cityscape I landscape I architecture I art

The edge of Indonesia’s tourism Contemporary jazz into the grassroot Titanium shell egg Traces of the loggers

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Editor’s note

As I stood on the submerged atoll surrounded by a vast archipelago of the Thousand Islands north of Jakarta’s coast, where the calm seas did not seem to present any danger to us, and where our presence did not seem to be a threat to the a number of water species swarming across my legs, I wondered if this natural spot would be better off left unvisited.

The fact that roughly half of the total number of islands is designed as recreational destinations and the rest half is either privately owned or remained uninhabited suggests that the municipal government is lost in their way to decide what they plan to do with this district. Some of the islands, due to the relatively bigger size and closer distance to the Jakarta coast have become a major getaway for hordes of tourists each week, bringing with them more noise and wastes. It in turn has compromised the natural beauty under the shallow waters surrounding the islands. Scores of fish with easily distinguishable colors were still unalarmed by our presence in this atoll, a secret kept told by the locals to the tourists hungry for what kind of pure natural sights these farther islands have to offer. Decades of slow growth in tourism industry have made this submerged atoll remain rarely visited, something I selfishly reckoned as a blessing in disguise. In this edition we also give a new focus on jazz music scene in Jakarta. Is it true that Indonesians can only go as far as enjoying learning to love jazz, and not enjoying listening to it for themselves? Loving it by design or by nature, is it what it is all about in introducing art? Besides the abstract, we bring the shape, the space, and that particular element that changes a city as we get close to an art center built a couple of years ago in the capital of the middle kingdom.

Last, our signature section, the road least traveled, brings you another rare, mind-broadening story.

Contents The fusion that appeals to segmented local audience

Jazz, incorporating traditional instruments

P11 An introduction to art Paul Andreu’s post-influence in Beijing

P15

P5 Leisure industry Late or slow growth?

P18

Wood for life Taking the road least traveled to the once lush forest of West Java

One P5

obstacle to the

Thousand Islands

Article section 1

On the white sand beach of Sepa Island, among the vast archipelago of the Thousand Islands, a Spaniard leaned against the breeze while sharing the beauty of the islands formation far ahead with a person next to him. He muttered in awe that he had never seen anything like this in his long journey as an avid traveler. It is not a rocket science to envisage how high the district development will have leveraged the wealth of the islands and their scattered local inhabitants, if and when it happened. But rapid development has not reached this edge, considered to be one of the farthest parts of the district from the north coast of Jakarta.

Infrastructure to support tourism grows at a slow pace in the past years. It is evident in the number of tourists that does not see significant increase from time to time. Boat traffic is scant compared to the size. Trip from and to Sepa island, for instance, is fixed on once every day, including weekends. One boat carries a maximum of total 40 passengers. Country policy that favors domestic tourism, or lack thereof, seems to resonate merely in an empty chamber.

Clockwise from top left: A man enjoys sunbath while his grand daughter keeps him company. Sepa Island offers the boy a secluded tourism getaway.

A visitor gazes at the surrounding islands.

Much ado about nothing Visitors in Sepa Island enjoy each moment in seclusion.

The noise that came from an elated boy could be heard throughout the beach, and quickly swallowed by the unremitting splashes of water. Two and a half hour from Jakarta, people needed time to adjust to the completely new kind of leisure experience, something that gave a sense of momentary isolation. Many found themselves an ample of time to do just about anything they wanted, nothing. A band of cafĂŠ musicians were also stranded there on the weekend. They brought with them high-pitch voice and stage noise that only lasted during lunch or dinner time. Then we returned the occasion again to the symphony of the calm nature.

Top: A tiny atoll that offers nothing in sight except warm white sands becomes a unique visiting spot by the tourists from neighboring islands.

Below: A view of Sepa Island, one of a few resort islands, taken from the wooden dock.

360o view The make use of 360 degree panoramic views in this story marks the first appearance of such technique in think!archipelago.

No treasure island Natural beauty like this still claims major parts of the Thousand Islands.

Biodiversity on land or sea, though not remarkably varied, does not change since the formation of the islands took shapes long time ago.

Unfortunately presence of modern humans leaves traces in the form of consumable wastes in some parts more likely visited.

Some other interior part of the uninhabited island like this was left with, if any, minimal traces of humans’ visitation. By the time we journeyed into approximately a third of the island’s total diameter, all we had encountered was monotonous types of floras.

We left with boredom. Sepa Island, with over two dozens of cottages built since it was opened for tourists, surprisingly holds an endemic fauna referred to by the locals “the locals”. They are a few giant lizards, a meter and half in length, untamed, yet shy of humans.

Quo vadis?

Reclining on a seat adjusted to this view is a treat no one can refuse. A fixed one trip per day to this island means that nothing would get in your sight to enjoy this scenery for the rest of the day, alone, except for occasionally seeing people renting kayaks, jet skis, or traditional boats to play around the vicinity. Perhaps this surpasses all the expectation.

However there is so much to be done should the country aims to rake in more money through tourism industry. Improved transportation means in modern times have made travel to the corner of the world so much easier. Yet Indonesia remains stumbled in repetitive jargons and exhausting promotional campaigns without optimum result. It is regarded as the malaise of this country which persists to this day. It is also seen as an irony at the time when the country has not ceased to impress the business world for consumer-driven high economic growth. But is it necessary to hurry? If rapid growth has finally made it to Sepa Island, chances are you will no longer experience the vacation there this way.

These docks are found at any inhabited islands, fit only for small boats and fishing vessels.

ERWIN SUPANDI Pictures in this article, including the magazine cover, showcase the image color enhancement by Erwin Supandi, a professional photographer based in Solo, Central Java. See his genuine works at www.erwinsphotoworks.com

P11 Article section 2

EAST meets WEST Riza Arshad (keyboardist, left) and friends play some jazz at Goethe Haus, Jakarta.

JAZZ

is not for the faint-hearted, especially those who make a living out of it in Indonesia. Unlike any other places, jazz is more than just a choice for Indonesia’s aspiring musicians. It is a conviction that fortunately has gained appreciation over time by the public. Everything is so specific and segmented when it comes to jazz. Just like when the word public is mentioned, meaning a very specific audience who generally reside in the city, are fond of western culture and history, continuously repositioned themselves in this ever globalized world society.

Riza Arshad hinted at how he coped with frustration having to shuttle back and forth from Jakarta to Bandung. His shows as the co-founder of simakDialog, a prominent jazz band in Indonesia had been limited to these two cities. And that evening, as he hosted two German jazz players playing in Goethe Haus, he voiced his pent-up dream that one day he would in turn be hosted in Germany. Jakarta and Bandung have been known as two of the leading cities in the country in terms of its art scenes. For the likes of simakDialog, the band with its own style signifier, even less people can get in tunes with the way they express themselves through music.

Nevertheless, Arshad does not falter. He continues to create songs with unfathomable names. He often took listeners by surprise with several climax slipped into the composition, not to mention the random intensity of the rhythm. Since its inception, simakDialog consists of special percussion section that uses kendang. A formation of three people fills this section, and has become inseparable to the band. Arshad leads the band with such confidence. On an occasion he said that the songs they play are “unlike any other alay bands.� He soon got response of laughter and even bigger applause.

Read before listen

simply click here

www.indonesiajazzreview.blogspot.com Complete Indonesian Jazz Album Review Made to Satisfy Every Jazz Aficionados

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Inside the egg The only structure of contemporary architecture situated among conventional governmental buildings in Beijing. Its citizens do not only learn to welcome the quirky new guest across the block, but also to love it, in and outside.

P15 World section

Acquired taste Most of the time, art is more of something to be appreciated by feelings rather than understanding. But in homogenous society, even among the well-educated, everything foreign tends to be a subject of study from a single perspective. In Beijing, it is the high society that first bragged about the spectacle of the country’s new wave of performing arts in Turandot, played in the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing two years after its inauguration. It is one of the most widely publicized Chinese operas in 2009, which is an adaptation of a masterpiece by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini. It was met with positive reception. But it will take time before it is the public who commend, not the media.

From left: Enormous glass panels constitute the facade of NCPA in Beijing. Transparent wall allows natural light to fill the main hall on second floor.

No city in the modern history of the world experienced such colossal transformation in a very short time the way Beijing had in the past decade. And few arts center had drawn such immense impact on social environment like the way NCPA had on urbanites in the capital city of China. It was not the only nouveau object approved by the authority in order to gain the world’s attention that had been frowned upon by its own citizens. CCTV tower, dubbed the Big Pants, drew the same degree of criticism due to its peculiar shape. But what made NCPA so controversial to the locals was that it was built in the central area of power for the ruling regimes since many centuries ago.

As if NCPA did not stop breaking the conventions in location only, the design was surely to make many Chinese scratch heads.

Its dome shape that gives a futuristic look makes a staggering contrast to the Soviet-style buildings that house many governmental institutions. A number of people have begun this hate to love relationship with this building since

the project was initiated in 2001. But apart from its appearance, NCPA still has to confront another issue, the shows. Traditional Chinese operas and orchestra are still frequent programs as the two has enjoyed wide acceptance among

Beijingers, but the introduction to foreign culture either through adaptation works like Turandot or imported shows, and more contemporary performance could take a longer process, as the Chinese society moves toward openness.

Circular pond around the NCPA in Beijing creates an illusion of a half-submerged dome. Visitors walk through the sub-level entrance hall with a glass ceiling. Natural light that permeates through the waters brightens the hall and makes an impressive show of lighting.

Watch online slide show at Purnadi Phan Photography website for more pictures of National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing.

Next: Special coverage on land exploitation in a place seen by a very few on

the road least traveled â–ş

P18 The

road least traveled

The three-meters-wide dirt road that spans 20 kilometers deep into the forest in Central Java has existed since early 90s when loggers began exploiting the area. The hidden activity increases during summer as the road mostly turn muddy in wet season, thus obstructing trucks transporting the lumber. The fact that the plain, green area of a hundred hectares in total size is labeled a nonproductive forest, coupled with the Land Protection Act issued by the

Forestry Department, have little effect on preventing

illegal logging. The locals told that logging culminated between 2001 and 2003. Now the trees comprising mostly Oak and Acacia are all comparatively small and short. They are the evidence that can tell us how much that had been taken away. There have been measures to clamp down on the

loggers,

but more of an

occasional operation rather than a routine. According to a local resident whose house is located near the small road leading into the forest, he saw crackdown only once this year. Forestry Department, through the local district representative office, has set up

watch post complete with a gate where there are two

to three personnel on guard on daily basis. However, the gate has more often been seen opened up rather than closed down. As the activities saw a gradual decrease in the past five years, pathopening projects no longer takes place. But another project to widen the existing networks of foot paths continues. The forest contains a variety of wildlife including boar, Javan Hawk-Eagle, and some even claimed to have seen local tiger subspecies thought to be extinct, although

rarely.

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