> Research & Reports continued from page 25 > hyper-real world of mass, packaged for intricate, hand-made, “traditional” Postmodernism (London: Sage Publica- consumption, global telecommunica- goods increases. < tions, 1991) for instance, Mike Feath- tions, and virtual relationships, the pur- Coping, Adapting, Thriving: erstone writes about shopping as a sym- chase of an artisanal craft may act to Dr Tim Scrase was an Affiliated Fellow at the bolic and self-validating experience – temporarily anchor the consumer in a IIAS-Amsterdam branch (15 October 2001 - where the pleasure of shopping is often real world of labour production. 15 Jan 2002). He teaches in the Sociology far greater than the pleasure derived The third significant theme concerns Programme at the University of Wollongong, What role for from the commodity that is purchased. the relationship of artisan and craft pro- Australia and is a Fellow of the Centre for This argument may be extended fur- duction to the current phase of accel- Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies ther: that is to say, in the act of buying erated globalization. With the advent of (CAPSTRANS) at that university. He will an artisan craft commodity, the West- a global economy, coupled with post- continue his work on artisan production and the Theatre in ern consumer is at once buying the modern consumer sentiments, crafts consumption in India during 2002. experience of authenticity and tradi- represent a traditional (or homely) form E-mail: [email protected] tionalism in a way that symbolically of consumer goods, which, at least for connects the commodity to the pro- some buyers, imbues these goods with Dr Mario Rutten is Associate Professor at Contemporary ducer. The direct experience of buying immense appeal. In other words, the the Department of and Soci- from the producer, as in a tourist consumption of crafts allows for a ology at the University of Amsterdam, and encounter, or through a fair trade shop reconnection back to earlier and earth- Head of the IIAS Branch Office Amsterdam. (like OXFAM shops or catalogues) ier forms and designs in a fragmented, His research interest is centered on entre- Southeast Asia? where the details of the craft and the fractured, and technological world. preneurship and labour in South and South- “Performance”, designating both the performing arts (theatre, music, and producers themselves are provided, Ironically, the decline of artisans may east Asia, and on the Indian diaspora. dance) and a performative or “dramatistic” approach to human action and surely reinforces this experience. In a in fact be occurring as the demand E-mail: [email protected]. interaction, has been more thoroughly documented and theorized about with regard to Southeast Asia than for most parts of the world. Geertz’s (in)famous theatre and cockfight merely constitutes the top of the iceberg. The literature on performance and shamanism; philological, anthropological, linguistic, and historical accounts of Wayang Kulit in Media, State & NGOs Indonesia and Malaysia; intricately detailed studies of choreology and “organology” for both mainland and insular Southeast Asia: the field is And the Imagining of the rich, historically deep, and constantly developing. Mentawaian Community Report > By Matthew Isaac Cohen Southeast Asia egrettably, the EUROSEAS conference only provides a R mediocre index of Southeast Asian performance schol- On the one hand proposing to look at the complex nature of contemporary cultural identities Panel Report from arship, represented by a solitary panel convened by Cather- Research > and investigating the role of globalization of information and communication technologies in EUROSEAS ine Diamond of Soochow University (Taipei) and with indi- Southeast Asia the (re)construction of these identities on the other, the ASSR/IIAS/WOTRO programme vidual papers scattered through other panels (Another “Transnational Society, Media, and Citizenship” is characterized by a dual focus. The main planned performance panel, organized by Felicia Hughes- question does not dwell on global and local flows of information and communication tech- Freeland and focusing on the performer, was cancelled). The nologies, but on how the global and the local find expression in specific contexts in Indonesia, single panel devoted entirely to performance focused on the India, Iran and the Gulf countries of the Middle East. Within this programme my own research, theme of theatre in contemporary Southeast Asia. Presen- “Media, State, NGOs, and the Imagining of the Mentawaian Community” focuses on the ters were: Matthew Isaac Cohen (University of Glasgow), autochthonous inhabitants of the Mentawai archipelago (West Sumatra), the Mentawaians. Solehah Ishak (UKM, Malaysia), Kittisak Kerdarunsuksri (University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Bangkok), By Myrna Eindhoven negative attention from the international community. The and Diamond herself (Soochow University). nation state as an institute definitely has to rethink its posi- The contributors followed a liberal interpretation of “Con- ue to a number of interconnected developments on the tion in order to come to terms with these alternative voices temporary”: while some of the papers looked primarily at the D national level and in the international context, local now present within the public realm. Theoretically the cul- most recent theatrical developments in Thailand and NGOs (non-governmental organizations) recently seem to tural and political recognition of the Mentawaians now seems Malaysia, others discussed theatres of the late nineteenth and mushroom in Indonesia. For a number of ethnic groups this secured, but there still is no guarantee that they will also be early twentieth centuries. Much common ground was found, marks a new phase in their recent history, as they have never invited to participate actively in the current restructuring of though, across all the papers. The relatively modest numbers been involved in these kinds of activities before. Among these the Indonesian state and nation. Therefore the recent issue in attendance at the panel and its tight focus contributed to relatively new voices the Mentawaians’ can be found. Under of regional autonomy in Indonesia and whether it will go lively dialogue. the influence of current processes of democratization in ahead in any real sense is of huge importance. The real test Kittisak Kerdarunsuksri presented on a new form of Thai Indonesia, of renewed international interest in issues con- will be the strength of local democracy. How quickly and to Khon (masked dance-drama) created in 1997 by Phatravadi cerning human rights, indigenous peoples rights, and envi- what extend can local communities ensure that they take a Mejudhon, and combining dance with shadow puppetry. ronmentalism, of higher levels of education and last, but def- full part in decision-making? At the local level it is the local Based on his description and a video, panellists and others initely not least, of the significantly increased access to NGOs that play a crucial role. found obvious similarities to contemporary Indonesian forms, modern means of communication, the Mentawaians now The international network of NGOs, however, does not such as Wayang Ukur; it came out in discussion that Pha- express their identity more self-consciously than ever before. seem to be able to put its potential to full use at the local level. travadi Mejudhon had participated in ASEAN theatre work- Under the influence of their overseas partners local NGOs shops and performances prior to her 1997 “invention”. Dia- of Identity become entangled within a seemingly inescapable paradox mond’s paper on English language and Malay theatre since In the course of time a critical elite of mainly young of contemporary identity politics. While distancing them- 1969, closely related in theme to Solehah Ishak’s contribution Mentawaians has come into being in Padang, West Suma- selves - physically as well as mentally - from their area of ori- on “traditional” bases of contemporary Malay theatre, gener- tra’s capital. It is especially this group that has become con- gin, they are still strongly oriented towards the Mentawai ated a charged discussion concerning invented Malay heritage sciously concerned with the preservation of “its culture” and archipelago in their search for roots and “authentic culture”. and its stifling effects on theatrical production. has formed numerous local organizations intended to pur- Most local NGOs seem to lack clear goals and vision, uncrit- Cohen’s paper on the Eurasian Auguste Mahieu and the sue its cultural and political interests. The emergence of this ically copying (Western) international discourses on issues Komedie Stamboel, while grounded in century-old archival critical elite and its activities in helping to empower the as human rights, indigenous peoples rights, and the envi- material from the Netherlands Indies, provoked thought Mentawaian community in its negotiations with the state and ronment. In their exaggerated image of the Mentawaians, about nationalist historiography and identity politics in their quest for acknowledgement by greater society owed, they paint them as having been encapsulated in their own today’s Indonesia and Malaysia. and still owes, much to the support of the international com- timeless, archaic world, until logging and governmental inter- The large number of participants at the international con- munity. At the moment at least seventeen local NGOs are ference began. Very appealing to the Western audience, this ference held in Leiden in 2000 on audiences, patrons and active in the Mentawaian context, most of them sponsored image proved an excellent way to entice (foreign) donor performers in Asian performing arts had already then or even created by an overseas partner. As a result local NGOs organizations to support their local organizations financial- demonstrated that there is a definite European interest in have become part of a potential powerful international net- ly. The founding of a local NGO thus proved itself to be an East, South, and Southeast Asian performance. Other schol- work containing major Indonesian and international NGOs. easy way to make money, leading to local NGOs with little or ars also noted the conference’s strong orientation on the polit- Through strongly mediated, international networking local no reflection on their own situation, position and role with- ical and economic at the expense of anthropological and NGOs might be able to persuade powerful donor agencies, in society. In turn this is leading to dubious or even conflict- humanistic matters. It is to be hoped that future EUROSEAS such as the World Bank, to put pressure on the Indonesian ing relations with their grassroots. < conferences will feature more panels centred on perform- government to improve its policy in issues as human rights ance and interpretation studies. < and environmental protection by making such an improve- Myrna Endhoven, MA holds a degree in and ment a condition for financial assistance. Sociology of Non-Western Studies. She is presently a Phd student in Dr Matthew Isaac Cohen is a lecturer in the Department of The- As a result of mediated international networking, which the ASSR/IIAS/WOTRO programme “Transnational Society, Media, atre, Film and Television Studies at the University of Glasgow is mainly beyond national regulation, the Indonesian state and Citizenship”, researching modern cultural identities and the role E-mail: [email protected] finds it increasingly difficult to maintain its carefully con- of globalization of information and communication technology in structed national identity and sovereignty. The Indonesian the formation thereof. Her focus is on the so-called marginal or Editors’ note > state can no longer domesticate and de-politicise utterances indigenous groups in Indonesia. of ethnic identity - which it perceives as a potential threat to E-mail: [email protected] This article was previously published in ASEASUK News, vol. 30, (Autumn 2001). the unity of the national unity - without drawing immediate

26 IIAS Newsletter | #27 | March 2002