Australia's `invasion' of Indonesia aims to please on every front
Australia's `invasion' of Indonesia aims to please on every front
JAKARTA (JP): The news has been in the air for quite some time now... the "invasion" of Indonesia by Australia on all fronts.
Worry not. It isn't an invasion that involves bombs, guns, and other means of destruction. Construction and cooperation are the keynotes of the month-long presence from down under on these shores, touching on trade, industry, education, badminton, health & medicine, environment and related technologies, tourism, biotechnology, volley ball... name it, and it's on the program.
Officially, it started last Tuesday with a bash at the Sari Pan Pacific Hotel, but some programs were already under way, like the one on education in which Australian schools, academies and universities introduced themselves.
The largest and most active component of the Australia Today Indonesia 94 event is culture and entertainment. A country settled by Europeans, Australia's culture and artistic expression of course have their roots in European culture and many Australians have from at least the early years of this century attained top international fame: Percy Grainger and Nellie Melba spring to mind.
Australia was also one of the first countries in the world to produce feature films. The trend has anything but ceased: There are writers Colleen McCullough and Nobel prize winner Patrick White, actress Zoe Caldwell, opera singer Joan Sutherland, feminist Gremaine Greer. In film, movie directors from Australia have become a much sought-after commodity even in Hollywood. As for screen stars, well, mention Mel Gibson and there'll be a lot of swooning among women everywhere in the world (just as their grandmothers swooned at the mere mention of Errol Flynn).
Again, name any type of world-class entertainment, and Australian artists will be there.
What is especially noteworthy is the presence of Aboriginal artists among others as performers, painters, and textile designers. An interesting feature is the work of Aborigine women who have adapted Javanese batik to their own design. The exhibition of Aboriginal art is organized by the National Aboriginal Arts Institute. On the performing scene, the Aboriginal Islander Dance Theatre will be presenting two works which have already earned much acclaim in, among other places, Colombia and Brazil.
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Western Australia Ballet Company, the Handspan Theatre (puppets), a group called Rock 'n Roll Circus, street theater, exhibitions, Etcetera Theatre Company, a Children's Writers Week, an exhibition of Performing Arts Design from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA)... the list is endless.
Although the bulk of the program will be concentrated in Jakarta, other cities in Java will also be host to a number of events, i.e. Surabaya and Semarang. Sports events include soccer in which a series of matches will be held culminating in The Australia Today Indonesia 94 Cup awarded on Sunday, July 3 at Senayan Stadium.
A tabloid, outlining all the activities during the month-long Australia Today Indonesia 94 extravaganza is available at the Borobudur Intercontinental. Other contacts for information regarding dates, time of events, ticket prices, etc. are telephone numbers 360722, 360787 and 360796.
--Gus Kairupan