Utan Kayu Community faces new test

Utan Kayu Community faces new test

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The cafe looks no different from any other eatery, except that it
serves as a meeting place for emerging artists and intellectuals.

Founder of Tempo magazine Goenawan Mohamad, writer Ayu Utami,
poet Sitok Srengenge and progressive Muslim scholar Ulil Abshar
Abdala are among some of those who patronize the place.

Historically, the place's significance might not be valued as
high as the house in Pegangsaan Timur, Central Jakarta, where the
country's proclamation text was written.

But, to a certain extent, it is of similar importance. For the
last decade, the green tables set up under a polycarbonate roof
at Kedai Tempo have witnessed intense discussions on the freedom
of thought and expression.

Freedom is something that never comes freely for the people
who initiated the Utan Kayu Community (KUK), the people who
filled the cafe with afternoon chats and late night talks.

And it is the same fight for freedom that they strive to
preserve through activities that take place in and surrounding
the cafe.

In neighboring Galeri Lontar, in the small auditorium of
Teater Utan Kayu, in the offices of the Institute for the Free
Flow of Information (ISAI) and the Liberal Islam Network (JIL),
as well as in the broadcasting room of Radio68H.

"We set up this community as a statement of a fight," said KUT
initiator Goenawan Mohamad. "Against any kind of oppression of
the freedom of thought that is."

Established in 1994 by media activists and veteran
journalists, including Goenawan, KUK emerged to accommodate the
fight for a free press after the New Order regime closed down
three magazines: Tempo, Editor and DeTIK.

Along with Aristides Katoppo, Mochtar Pabottinggi, Mohamad
Sunjaya, Ashadi Siregar, the now senior editor at Tempo magazine
founded ISAI.

"It was a media laboratory, from where we published our
opinions through instant political books," he said.

Serving as a think tank for the media, ISAI also provides
workshops and training for college students and media activists.

During the Soeharto era, when differing opinions had no place
in public, Galeri Lontar and Teater Utan Kayu, established in
1996 and 1997 respectively, served as places to hold prodemocracy
discussions.

"We had our discussions above the gallery and when the police
came to the place we would go downstairs and pretend to be having
an art event or something," Goenawan said.

Nowadays, the centers have developed into KUK's arts and
cultural wing with successful programs like the Jakarta Film
Festival, the International Literary Biennale and the Philosophy
Festival.

Films are screened for free in the 150-square-meter theater
and experimental exhibitions are open to the public in the
gallery. TUK also accommodates public debates on relevant issues
such as gender, ethnic minorities and even philosophy. Meanwhile,
literary expression finds a place in KUK's Jurnal Kalam.

Later, after the fall of Soeharto, news radio Radio68H added
to the free expression arena in KUK.

In 2001, JIL was established as a center for religious
discussion, promoting progressive and contextual Islamic
discourse that challenged conservative thought.

The group later took KUK for another endurance test in the
fight for free expression, as they put it. "Freedom is now
challenged by the conservatives and fundamentalists," said
Goenawan.

"And those working here are all fighters through their own
capabilities," he said.