The Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, in its 50th Anniversary Year, presents:

THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM on the

MALAY MUSICAL ARTS OF INDONESIA’S RIAU ISLANDS (SIRI)

Theme: Sound, Body Movement and Hierarchy in the Musical Arts

Dates: Wednesday 14th to Friday 16th January 2015

Place: The Music Auditorium, Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music, Clayton Campus,Monash University, Melbourne

Actress Uci Saptarini in her princess’ costume making up the face of one of her ladies-in-waiting before a mendu theatre performance on Bunguran Island, Natuna, Riau Islands Province, 20 January 2013. Photo: Karen Kartomi Thomas

1

For information about the conference, registration and accommodation, please go to http://artsonline.monash.edu.au/music-cultures/

DRAFT PROGRAM of the SYMPOSIUM on INDONESIA’s RIAU ISLANDS (SIRI)

The Mayor of Tanjungpinang, Bp H. Lis Darmansyah, plans to bring a group of musicians and dancers from the Riau Islands to perform at the Symposium. They may present an afternoon performance on Saturday 17 January, but this is not yet confirmed.

An Exhibition titled “Hang Tuah: Malay Culture will Never Die/Tak Melayu Hilang Dibumi” celebrating Indonesia’s Malay Arts with special reference to the Riau Islands Province will be presented in the foyer of the Performing Arts Building.

BACKGROUND

The symposium will investigate sound, body movement, hierarchy and socio-historical context in the musical arts of (i) the Muslim Malays who live on the more accessible, partly industrialising islands of the Riau archipelago (Kepri) and (ii) the Orang Suku Laut/Sea Nomads living in areas that are relatively untouched by modernisation. Both the sedentary and the sea-nomadic Malays are heirs to the arts of the Riau-Lingga-Johor and Pahang kingdom (official Kepri terminology), which formerly covered the present-day province of Kepri. The kingdom traces its heritage back to Bukit Siguntang (near Palembang) in the 7th century CE, followed by its re-locations in Bintan, Singapore, Melaka, Johor, Pahang and Daik-Lingga, including the Viceroy at Penyengat from the mid- to late- 18th century. The Symposium will adopt an across-the-arts approach in its study of the styles and syntax of the music, dance, theatre, bardic arts, martial arts, and popular commercial arts in relation to the Kepri people’s history; lifestyles; royal Malay heritage; religious, socio-political and gender ideologies, and the sustainability of the arts.

The First International Symposium on this theme was held in Tanjungpinang (capital of Kepri Province) from 15-17 January 2013. Margaret Kartomi, Manolete Mora, Geoffrey Benjamin and Cynthia Chou and several associate

2

researchers have been working on this Australia Research Council (ARC)-funded project from late 2012.

OBJECTIVES of the SYMPOSIUM

The Symposium aims to: (i) discuss the relationships between history, hierarchy and power, adat, and the performing arts in Kepri, (ii) explore the relationships between the sounds and body movements of musicians, dancers, actors, poets and audiences, (iii) investigate the peoples’ efforts to revive, expose and develop their traditional arts, (iv) study Kepri’s popular commercial arts, and (v) delineate Kepri’s artistic distinctiveness in the greater Malay world.

Symposium Registration FeeThis includes the daily midday meal, morning and afternoon teas from Wednesday 14 to Friday 16 January, admission to the Exhibition of Malay Performing Arts, and the event pack with Symposium program, abstracts etc.:

Early Bird closes 13th November 2014AUD $180 for presenters and observersAUD $90 for registered students Full Price closes 14th December 2014AUD $200 for presenters and observersAUD $100 for registered students

***

Symposium Program Committee: Geoffrey Benjamin, Cynthia Chou, Margaret Kartomi (chair), Manolete Mora, Aline Scott Maxwell, Karen Kartomi Thomas

Symposium Local Arrangements Committee: Annette Bowie, Sharon Elliott, Bronia Kornhauser, Jessica Loschiavo, Anthea Skinner (chair), John Garzoli, Brigitta Scarfe, Karl Willebrant

3

Exhibition Organising Committee: Lyn Diradji, Din Diradji, Tuti Gunawan, Michael and Marguerite Heppell, Margaret Kartomi, Bronia Kornhauser, Halina Nowicka, Indija Mahjoeddin, Anne Richter, Brigitta Scarfe, Aline Scott Maxwell, Anthea Skinner (chair), Jesse Kartomi Thomas

PAPER SUBMISSIONS:Speakers submitted their abstracts by 1 August 2014, and are requested to submit full conference papers by 30 November 2014.

SPEAKERS (tbc) to include: Leonard Andaya, Harry Aveling, Aaron Corn, Geoffrey Benjamin, Cynthia Chou, Marion DeCruz, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, Hoesnizar Hood, David Irving, Margaret Kartomi, Bronia Kornhauser, Nicholas Long, Jennifer McCallum, Patricia Matusky, Manolete Mora, Mohd Anis Md Nor, Ari Palawi, Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan, Pudentia M Puranti, Lawrence Ross, Brigitta Scarfe, Anthea Skinner, Syafaruddin, Aswandi Syahri, Karen Kartomi Thomas, Vivienne Wee, Noorashikin Zulkifli and Jamal Mohamad

DISCUSSANTS and CHAIRS: Barbara Andaya, Bp Juramadi Esram, Barbara Hatley, Nicholas Long, Julian Millie, Anthony Milner, Tuti Gunawan, David Mitchell, Halina Nowicka, Aline Scott-Maxwell

MUSICIANS, DANCERS AND POETS (tbc): Supriyadi Hasanin, Dwi Saptarini, Abdulkadir Ibrahim, Helmi, Indija Mahjoeddin, and a group of musicians and dancers from Tanjungpinang and Kabupaten Lingga, Riau Islands Province

***

PROVISIONAL SCHEDULE: Music Auditorium, Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music

Day 1: Wednesday 15th January 2015

8.30am: Registration

9.15: Welcome by the Symposium Convenor.

4

Official Opening: speeches by the Chancellor of Monash University, His Excellency the Ambassador of Indonesia to Australia, and His Worship the Mayor of Tanjungpinang, Bp H. Lis Darmansyah

Performance of a traditional dance from Daik-Lingga, Riau Islands Province

Paper Session 1

Chair: Professor Margaret Kartomi, Monash University

9.45: Keynote Address: Professor Leonard Andaya, University of Hawaii at Manoa: “The world of the Southern Malays”

10.45 - 11.00 Morning Tea

Paper Session 1: “Sound of music of the Sea Peoples”

Chair: Dr Geoffrey Benjamin, Centre for Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University

11.00: Associate Professor Cynthia Chou (University of Copenhagen): “The sound of music and the Orang Suku Laut in the Riau Islands today”

11.30: Lawrence Ross: “Orak Lawoi festival songs in maritime Southwest Thailand”

12.00 Jacqueline Pugh Kitingan (Universiti Malaysia Sabah) “Call-and-response genres among the west coast Bajau of Sabah: forms, functions and possible origins”

12.30 lunch

Paper Session 2: “Sound and hierarchy in island Riau’ Royal Traditions”

Chair: Professor Anthony Milner, Australian National University, Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Kuala Lumpur, ANU and the University of Melbourne

5

14.00: Professor Margaret Kartomi (Monash University): “Reconstructing and revitalising the nobat ensemble tradition of the former Riau-Lingga palaces”

14.30: Jennifer McCallum (Kings College, University of London, UK): “Sound, power and emotion in 19th-century Riau: azmat, ramai and merdu”

15.00 Noorashikin Zulkifli and Jamal Mohamad, Curators, Malay Heritage Centre in Singapore: “Re-imagining Singapore’s connections to the Riau Islands at the Malay Heritage Centre (Taman Warisan Melayu)”

15.30 Dr Patricia Matusky (University of Michigan) and Datin Marion d’Cruz (Akademi Seni Budaya dan Warisan Kebangsaan ASWARA): “The transmigration and transformation of court dance and music from Riau: the joget gamelan of Malaysia”

16.00-17.00 Welcome Reception and Launch of Exhibition: “Hang Tuah - Malay Culture will Never Die/Tak Melayu Hilang Dibumi” and the John Noble Textile Bequest in the foyer of the Performing Arts Building.

***

Day 2 - Thursday 16th January 2015

Session 3: “Constructing Malay-ness in dance and theatre”

Chair: Professor Barbara Andaya, University of Hawaii

9.15: Professor Mohd Anis Md Nor (University of Malaya): “Zapin-Melayu: Constructing Malay-ness from the body, music and dance of Hadhramaut”

9.45 Dr Karen Kartomi Thomas (Monash University): “Cultural Survival and Continuance: Structural Essentials of Malay Theatre, Mendu in Natuna"

10.15: Drs Haji Abdul Kadir Ibrahim M.T. (Independent Scholar), Tanjungpinang: “Decades of development of mendu theatre performance in Natuna”

6

10.45: Bp Syafaruddin (Department of Education and Culture Tanjungpinang Office): “Revitalisation of the gobang mask theatre in island Riau’s Anambas Archipelago”

11.15 tea

Session 4: “The cultural memory and select items of island Riau’s music and dance”

Chair: Dr Aline Scott-Maxwell (Monash University)

12.00: Bronia Kornhauser MA (Monash University): “How a bangsawan musical theatre performance built on the cultural memory of the Riau-Lingga sultanate, with special reference to its syair song”

12.30 Anthea Skinner (Monash University): “Ceremony, Royalty and the People: The Organology and Style of Serunai Musical Performance in the Riau Islands”

13.00 Brigitta Scarfe (Monash University): “Biola playing in the Riau Islands”

13.30 Lunch

Paper Session 5: “Contemporary and cosmopolitan trends in island Riau music ” Chair: Dr Julian Millie, Monash University

16.30: Associate-Professor Manolete Mora (University of New South Wales), “Musical Cosmopolitanism in Kepri: an Examination of Local Aesthetic Responses to Socio-Cultural Transformation”

17.00: Dr Geoffrey Benjamin (Centre for Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS), Nanyang Technological University): “Contemporary Malay art-music composition and performance in Tanjungpinang and Pulau Penyengat”

17.30: Dr Nicholas Long (University of London, UK): “'Who Cares About Malay Culture? And Why?”

19.00pm - Informal Indonesian Dinner

7

***

DAY 3 Friday 16 January

Paper Session 6: “Arts in Other Malay Cultures”

Chair: Professor Barbara Hatley, University of Tasmania

9.30: Harry Aveling (Monash University): "Sutardji Calzoum Bachri and Mantra"

10.00: Ari Palawi (Monash University): “Two female lullaby singers in Malay

villages of the Banyak Islands: How fragile is their tradition?”

10.30: David Irving (Australian National University):

“Histories of Malay music and dance on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands: Archival Musings Preparatory to Fieldwork”.

11.00: Aaron Corn (Australian National University): “The Malay world in North Australia: the ceremonial remembrance of a marginalised history”

11.30: 12.00 - Poetry reading by Addul Kadir Ibrahim from Tanjungpinang

12.00 Lunch

Paper Session 7

Chair: Professor Barbara Andaya (University of Hawaii)

13.00: Aswandi Syahri, Secretary of the Kepri Historical Society/ Masyarakat Sejarahwan Indonesia Kepulauan Riau: “Nobat dalam naskah-naskah Melayu” (to be confirmed)

13.30 Hoesnizar Hood, Ketua Dewan Kesenian: “Perkembangan Kesenian Tradisi Melayu Kepulauan Riau” (tbc)

14.00 Summing Up and Discussion of the Symposium Papers: Discussant: Professor Barbara Andaya

15.00 Closing Ceremony

15.30 Tea

8

FILM SHOWINGS

17.30 -19.00 - Film Showings (tbc):

1. Mata Pena Mata Hati Raja Haji Fisabilillah (“Eye of the Pen and Eye of the Heart: Raja Haji Fisabilillah”). This controversial film (in Indonesian) is about the life of Kepri-born National Indonesian Hero Raja Haji Fisabilillah (1727-1784) who was a renowned warrior and also the Yang Dipertuan Muda (Viceroy) of the Riau-Lingga Johor and Pahang Sultanate at Penyengat from 1777 to 1784. The film was made by Kepri’s Department of Tourism in 2010.

2. Die Orang Laut-Menschen des Meers (‘The Orang Laut, People of the Sea’) by Birgit Kannen and Klaus Tuemmler, 1989. Produktion Koeln WDR. This video (in German) is from a TV series titled Landen, Menschen, Abenteur (“Lands, Peoples, Adventures”). With Commentary by Cynthia Chou

3. Laskar Pelangi (“The Rainbow Troops”), based on a 2005 novel by Andrea Hirata, is about a group of Malay-dialect speaking islander children in Belitung and includes Malay songs such as Seroja by Husein Bewafie. The film (in Indonesian) has been viewed by more than 4 million people, the largest number ever for an Indonesian movie. It sold more than 5 million copies with an estimated 15 million copies in circulation. The movie was produced by Mira Lesmana, who also produced Laskar Pelangi the musical. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1_B4GJQUCk

***

Extra Day Saturday, 17 January:

9.30-12.30: Kepri Workshop: Learn to Dance, Sing or Play Music of Kepri with Expert Artists!Music Auditorium, Performing Arts Centre Building 68

12.30 – Lunch

9

15.00: Concert of Riau Islands Music, Dance and Drama, Music Auditorium, Performing Arts Centre

A Malay bangsawan musical theatre scene from the Riau Islands. Photo: Karen Kartomi Thomas, Tanjungpinang, September 2013

10