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Indonesian Heritage – Vol 01 – Ancient History

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000

Indonesia’s record of human activity spans one million years of time; it’s territory covers 1/8th of the earth equator – a 5,000-kilometre-wide swath of space. In this lush environment some of mankind’s oldest ancestors first walked. In the forests, seas and soils of the archipelago, early Indonesians found a wealth of resources which they exploited to create rich artistic traditions. Archeologists have discovered here some of the oldest examples of Asian art. By 2,000 years ago, the islands were linked in complex and cosmopolitan maritime networks. Ancient Indonesian civilisation constructed monuments and statues which are among the masterpieces of world art. The gradual introduction of Islam beginning in the 13th century added further further complexity and depth to Indoensians culture. This book presents a picture of the ancient historical unity which underlies the unsurpassed cultural diversity of this emerging world power, the world’s fourth most populous nation.

Indonesian Heritage – Vol 6 – Architecture

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000

The architecture of Indonesia reflects both the cultural diversity of the region and its rich historical inheritance. The wide range of vernacular styles is the legacy of an Austronesian architectural tradition characterised by wooden pile dwellings, high pitched roofs and extended roof ridges. The great Hindu Buddhist temples of Java, on the other hand, share an Indian ancestry, though indigenous influences have led to the creation of a distinctly Indonesian style of monumental architecture. Mosques and other Islamic structures similarly betray a mixture of local and exotic elements, while the Dutch incorporated many Indonesian features into the architecture of their native Netherlands to produce an eclectic synthesis of Eastern and westerb forms . Today new opportunities arae arising for the re-establishment of a truly Indonesian architecture, combining traditional forms and aesthetics with modern building materials and construction techniques.

Indonesian Heritage – Vol 3 – Early Modern History

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000

The early modern period, from about 1400 to 1900, was one in which the various societies of the Archipelago assumed the forms we now see as ‘traditional’, though they are in reality a product of unceasing change. Indonesians became an integral part of the world trading system, producing the spices that helped fuel a global trade boom, and building cities, states and shipping networks that served it. Islam and Christianity reshaped the way Indonesians understood the world. A combination of new Islamic ideas, new technologies and new wealth brought Indonesians states to their highest pinnacles of power in the early 17th century. When the Dutch East India Company took much of the trade wealth away from these states, Indonesians responded by developing pluralistic networks, alliances, and ideologies which brought societies together without the centralised state. This volume covers this process up to the fall of the last Indonesian states around 1900.

Indonesian Heritage – Vol 2 – Human Environment

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000

A multitude of cultural groups inhabit over 17,508 islands that make up Indonesia. The country’s diversity is among its most conspicuous features, whether seen in physical terms or in human terms. A complex and rich history has heightened the Indonesian experience. Modernisation is transforming the human geography of the country, with expanding road networks, a growing health and educational infrastructure, and rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. Changes on this scale mean inevitable transformations in the way Indonesians and especially young Indonesians are thinking about themselves, their lives and their futures. This volume, while demonstrating an environmental lattice within which development is occurring, also traces the threads of interaction and change that are such a part of the modernisation process, of people’s lives.

Indonesian Heritage – Vol 10 – Language & Literature

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000

The Indonesian Archipelago is a region of great linguistic wealth. Hundreds of distinct languages are found, and many ethnic groups have their own scripts and writing traditions. Over time, languages and styles of expression have been juxtaposed and blended, history and experience being fashioned into recorded texts and oral traditions. The materials of Indonesian manuscripts show incredible variety – bamboo, bark, and palm leaf to name but a few – reflecting the natural world in which these traditions evolved. With political unification the idea of uniting the nation through a common language, Malay, emerged. Now named ‘Indonesian’, this language was used by politicians, military strategists and creative writers to spread the idea of ‘Indonesia’. In the years since the birth of the Republic, Indonesians have witnessed massive changes in their education system and communications network. As the nation has developed, so too have the language and literature of the country. As the 21st century approaches, Indonesian literature now stands on its own.

Indonesian Heritage – Vol 8 – Performing Arts

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000

Indonesia’s vast cultural diversity is exemplified in the endless variety of its performing arts, from entertaining processions and village mask-dances to the wayang shadow puppet theatre of Java with stories taken from the Indian epics and the local Panji cycle; from traditional musical accompaniments by the full slendro- and pelog-tuned gamelan and smaller local ensembles to the wayang wong and royal court-patronised dances; from ritualistic seblang and wali dances to Muslim inspired seudati and golek menak and finally to modern genres of dance, theatre and music. It is possible to trace the Archipelago’s total historical experience through its performing arts. Indonesia’s traditional performing arts are characterised by a contrast between fluidity of movement and buildup of the character. This balance of traditional elements with modern styles and inventions remains an intrinsic principle in modern Indonesian theatre, music and dance.

Indonesian Heritage – Vol 4 – Plants

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000

Indonesia’s equatorial environment encourages the evolution of an exceptional number of species, each adapted to a specific habitat. To this great diversity which is common to all equatorial regions, Indonesia adds a further variation: its archipelago landform. As sea levels have risen and subsided over the past two million years, animal communities have been severed and reunited several times. Whereas western Indonesia has, at times, formed a single land mass, eastern Indonesia has remained a series of isolated stepping stones over which only a few mobile spcies, such as birds, have been able to cross. As one progresses eastward, one moves from the Asian to the Australian animal community. This traditional feature in wildlife has attracted the attention of many of the world’s greatest naturalists, beginning with A.R. Wallace in the 19th century and continuing into the present. The interaction between humans and animals in Indonesian history has been predictably intensive. Only now is it a main research priority to preserve the beauty and complexity of the animal communities in this huge repository of life’s experiments with variation.

Indonesian Heritage – Vol 7 – Visual Art

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000

Indonesian art has an unbroken tradition reaching back 5,000 years. Beginning with prehistoric art, this volume goes on to trace the emergence of traditional folk art, and the gradual progression into contemporary representation. We find examples of cave and rock art , ancient bronzes and megalithic sculptures, and examine how many of these early motifs find expression in later artistic forms. Humble, utilitarian objects have grown into important artistic traditions. Starting with Raden Saleh, the first ‘modern’ Indonesian artist, and the painters of the later colonial period, the book follows Indonesian art’s progress through the Modern era, the turbulence of thr revolution and World War II, and on into the last 50 years .During this period Indonesian art , in all it’s forms – painting, sculpture, ceramic and fibre art – has developed so that it is now recognised and appreciated by art collectors and critics throughout the world. No other work has covered Indonesian art in such depth or breadth as the volume presented here.

Indonesian Heritage – Vol 5 – Wildlife

BBooks — Tue, 30 Oct 2001 16:00:00 +0000