#Diamond rush south desperation distrust free

He thanked the people for their feedback and called them to continue to build a “democratic culture”. In his State of Union address in August, Jokowi, as the President is widely known, said he was aware that the government had received criticism for failing to resolve a number of problems. “When we talk about democracy and abiding by the law, we need to question whether there is discrimination in society that incites this kind of expression – simply because people don’t have avenues to be heard or their aspirations are tone deaf when submitted through formal political channels.” “This should be seen as policy feedback for government,” Adinda Tenriangke Muchtar, Executive Director for Jakarta-based think tank The Indonesian Institute, told me in an interview. The chasing down of street artists has prompted the university students alliance Gejayan Memanggil in the city of Yogyakarta to call for mural contests, giving rise to aspiring Indonesian Banksys. But the crackdown has only drawn more attention to it. The administration is seemingly sensitive to the shortcomings in its handling of the Covid-19 crisis, which has been widely criticised as inadequate. Murals feature in Indonesia’s political tradition stretching back to the pre-independence era in 1945. Graffiti with the words “ Tuhan Aku Lapar” (God, I’m Hungry) and “ Dipaksa S ehat di N egara Yang S akit” (Forced to be Healthy in a Sick Country) were also later censored. The street art ruffled the feathers of authorities, who claimed it insulted the President as “a state symbol”, leading police to search for the unknown creators. Evidently a reference to the internet standard “404” error when a hyperlink is broken, the image has become a symbol for many in Indonesia disenchanted with the government, while the phrase “404: Not found” has turned into a rallying cry for freedom of expression.

The most controversial street art was painted in a tunnel on the outskirts of Jakarta, depicting a figure that resembled President Joko Widodo with his eyes covered and captioned “ 404: Not found”.

The murals appeared in the context of complaints about official responses to Covid-19, with many of the problems in the health sector still to be addressed.

#Diamond rush south desperation distrust free

Three spray-painted murals expressing a critical perspective on the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic were quickly covered over by officials, igniting heated debates about free expression and the role of street art in national politics harking back to the country’s independence struggle.Īlthough the graffiti controversy has dimmed slightly in recent weeks, the debate could soon surge again with the potential for a third wave of the pandemic in Indonesia – with the country already an epicentre for the virus and one of the biggest contributors of daily cases globally. Street art has been much discussed across Indonesia’s airwaves in the last couple of months.