15th International Indonesia Forum Conference
Indonesia’s Complexity:
Investigating the Layers between the Apparent and the Underlying
15th International Indonesia Forum Conference Presenters
Council on Southeast Asia Studies, Yale University
Welcoming Remarks by Prof. Dr. Erik Harms and Keynote Speech by Prof. Dr. Nurfadzilah Yahaya
The wayang kulit, a renowned cultural form throughout Indonesia, is well-known for its complexity: a lamp projects the shadows of puppets, brought to life by a puppeteer (dalang), on a large white cloth screen, in front of which the audience understands the performance. Behind the screen is a complete gamelan ensemble composed of musicians and singers, adding another layer of experiential complexity to the performance. It brings together visual art (the carving and manipulation of these puppet figures), vocal finesse (the performance of different voices), and instrumental music (the accompaniment of the gamelan ensemble); it bridges the mediums of music, dance, literature, theater, as well as religious and ritual practices. An assemblage of moving parts, the wayang kulit is perhaps inseparable from its performative complexity: different perspectives, movements, symbolism, and elements all come together-occasionally in harmony and otherwise in dissonance-contributing to a sense of semantic depth and richness.
Taking the wayang kulit as our theoretical inspiration, the 15th International Indonesia Forum Conference, titled Indonesia’s Complexity: Investigating the Layers between the Apparent and the Underlying, invites scholars from all over the world to examine the multilayered dimensions of Indonesian society in their own fields of research and analysis. The conference welcomes scholars of Indonesia from across various disciplines – including arts, history, political science, economics, anthropology, sociology, literary studies, and others – to gather and present their work, with a view toward highlighting Indonesia’s complexity in its various articulations.
The 15th International Indonesia Forum Conference will be held virtually (via Zoom) on September 23-25, 2022. This year’s IIF Conference is hosted by Yale University, USA.
Scholars interested in presenting papers at the conference are invited to submit a short CV and one-page abstract in electronic form (PDF or Microsoft Word) to secretariat@iif.or.id, by Friday, July 8, 2022 (11:59 p.m. EST). All abstracts must be in English, and papers will likewise be presented in English.
Opening Performance
Phil Acimovic, Anna Wilkinson, Daraeno Ekong, & Yale Gamelan
Closing Ceremony
Dr. Dinny Risri Aletheiani, Yale University and Dr. Frank Dhont, International Indonesia Forum
The conference is FREE, but REGISTRATION is required.
To attend, please register HERE by 12 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) on FRIDAY, September 23, 2022.
Question(s) regarding the 15th IIF Conference can be sent to iifatyale@gmail.com and dinny.Aletheiani@yale.edu.
Frank Dhont
International Indonesia Forum
Dinny Risri Aletheiani
Council on Southeast Asia Studies
Yale University