UCLA Center for East Asian Studies
Southern California
East Asian Calendar of Events and Exhibitions
November 2000
Ongoing Exhibitions | Lectures,
conferences and performances
Click here for where to
send event, performance, or exhibition announcements.
Please note: Underlined
names or phrases indicate links to that organization's website. You may click on such
links to visit that site for more information about the event or exhibition. Use your
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for East Asian Studies website. Click here to get directions to UCLA. Most UCLA lectures
are free and open to the public (on-campus parking costs $6).
Ongoing Exhibitions
Through November 19, 2000
Netsuke: The Japanese Art of Miniature Carving
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts organized this
exhibition which features 300 extraordinary netsuke on loan from private
collectors. Most of the netsuke on display have never been publicly
exhibited before. The exhibition explores the beginnings of netsuke
production in the 17th century, major artistic developments, contemporary
netsuke carving, and the major themes of this important Japanese tradition.
Reflecting the richness of Japanese culture and mythology, netsuke subject
matter includes legendary heroes, ghosts, and demons, Daoist and Buddhist
deities, humans, mythical creatures, animals and insects. As objects of
personal adornment, many netsuke are remarkably humorous, thus conveying
something of the playfulness of the artist or the person who originally
commissioned the work.
Santa Barbara
Museum of Art
1130 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101-2746
Tel: (805) 963-4364
Fax: (805) 966-6840
Museum Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 11 AM to 5 PM Sunday
NOON to 5 PM Friday 11 AM to 9 PM Monday closed
Admission:
Adults $5
Seniors (65+) $3
Students w ID $2
Youth (6-17) $2
Under 6 free
Through December 3, 2000
Forgotten
War Crimes: World War II in Asia A Photographic History and Film Series
Kerckhoff Hall, UCLA
Opening ceremony on November 20, 2000.
Exhibit runs until Sunday, December 3, 2000. Film showings are scheduled
for November 20 and November
21, 2000.
Sponsored by SATH. Students for the Awareness of Truth in History, is a
student run organization that teaches about human history in order to prevent
future injustices. Co-sponsors: AOHWA (Association for Preserving the History
of WWII in Asia), Historical Society To Preserve The Truth Of The
Sino-Japanese War, APTSJW (Alliance for Preserving the Truth of the
Sino-Japanese War), and the UCLA Taiwanese American Union.
Through December 15, 2000
Exhibition: "Asian Treasures from the Scripps
Basement"
Clark Gallery
Roth
Chandler Williamson Gallery
1030 Columbia Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711-3948
Phone: (909) 607-3397
Fax: (909) 607 4691
Hours during exhibitions, Wednesday - Sunday, 1-5 pm;
Closed Monday -Tuesday and during the summer.
Admission is free.
Through December 17, 2000
"Reshaping History: Japanese Prints from
the Scripps College Collection"
This exhibition will focus on how Japanese print artists
in the 19th and 20th centuries used historical narratives and current events
to reflect the extraordinary social and political changes that were taking
place in Japan. Featuring over fifty prints and related works by Yoshitoshi,
Chikanobu, and others.
Roth
Chandler Williamson Gallery
1030 Columbia Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711-3948
Phone: (909) 607-3397
Fax: (909) 607 4691
Hours during exhibitions, Wednesday - Sunday, 1-5 pm;
Closed Monday -Tuesday and during the summer.
Admission is free.
Lectures, conferences, and performances
November 1, 2000
"Socioeconomic Aspects of Rural Urbanism in
Malaysia"
Eric C. Thompson
Postdoctoral Researcher, UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies
Noon
11377 Bunche
Hall, UCLA
Despite a national discourse in Malaysia that draws sharp distinctions
between the rural and urban, in this talk Dr. Thompson will examine the
extent to which the social and economic practices of residents of Malay kampung
(village) are intimately bound up in an urban-oriented system. The
findings of a village-level survey and ethnographic investigation over
several years during the mid-1990s highlight the effects of a pervasive
urbanism in rural Malaysia and call into question both scholarly and
popular discourse that represent rural and especially village Malaysia as
a place apart from and often in moral and cultural opposition to the
nation's urban centers.
Sponsored by the
UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies. Call (310) 206-9163 for more
information.
November 1, 2000
"Japanese prints and Ceramics"
Nicole Rousmarie
Director, Saintsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Culture,
London
4 p.m.
Williamson Gallery, Scripps College-directions
November
4, 2000
"Anime A-Go-Go" Series
This evening presents a space odyssey of new anime (and one "best
of" episode) made for television and video.
7:30p.m.
James Bridges
Theater, UCLA
North American Premiere ANGEL LINKS Episode I: GUARDIAN ANGELS (Japan,
1998) Created by Takehito Ito Like Nader on steroids, ANGEL LINK¹s roving
band of warriors ply the galactic highways protecting little guys from the
big bad pirate syndicates. Captained by a sassy 16-year-old in whose
cleavage resides a diminutive, bat-winged feline, the Angels team up with a
millionaire heartthrob who has a Mia Farrow-type complex for sheltering
orphans. The series¹ gleeful grit (à la Hong Kong action movies) comes
courtesy of creator Ito, best-known for his work on OUTLAW STAR, and Kazuki
Miyatake, formerly mecha (mechanical) designer on the famed GUNBUSTER
series. Beta-SP, in Japanese with English subtitles, 30 min.
Los Angeles Premiere TENAMONYA VOYAGERS Episode I (Japan, 1999) Directed
by Akiyuki Shinbou Three unlikely cohorts‹a novice schoolteacher, her
brash, athletic student and a female yakuza boss on the lam‹are stranded
together in the far reaches of the universe. Earth is their ultimate
destination, and the women lose no time gambling, lying and cheating their
way across outer space. This rogues-view hitchhiker¹s guide to the galaxy‹by
FUSHIGI YUGI¹s Studio Pierrot‹offers an off-the-wall mix of comedy,
cops-and-robbers and mecha combat. DVD, In Japanese with English subtitles,
30 min.
COWBOY BEBOP Episode V: BALLAD OF FALLEN ANGELS (Japan, 1998) Directed by
Shinichiro Watanabe The most film-literate and possibly smartest anime
series of the '90s is, alas, over. From the first frames of its Saul
Bass-inspired title sequence, COWBOY BEBOP (premiered by the Archive last
year) stood out for its idiosyncratic cool. Freely sampling music from jazz
to funk and pop, the series hung a futuristic Western narrative of bounty
hunters in space on a quote fest of cinematic references from Bogart to Bond
to Bruce Lee. Tonight we present an encore of one of the best episodes, in
which our hero Spike faces an enemy from the past against a backdrop of '70s
rock opera redux. DVD, in Japanese with English subtitles, 30 min.
North American Premiere MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE 08TH MS TEAM Episodes
I-III (Japan, 1997) Directed by Takeyuki Kanda and Umanosuke Iida Japan¹s
longest-running anime franchise appears to be unstoppable. GUNDAM WING took
off on American cable this year, and before you know it, there's another
"mobile suit" swinging into action. Actually, lots of
"suits" because in the latest GUNDAM entry, tyrannical earthlings
are about to mass produce the awesome robotic attire to use against the very
people, the oppressed colonials, who developed it. It's up to the eponymous
guerrilla squadron of ragtag misfits to save the universe, and they go for
it, in the natty, retro-'60s style that is the series' signature. Beta-SP,
in Japanese with English subtitles, 30 min.
Sponsored by the UCLA Film Archive.
For more information, call (310) 206-8013 or (310) 206-FILM.
The Anime A-Go-Go series also features screenings on October
26 and October
31.
November 6, 2000
"Essential Problems of Japan Today"
Akimasa Mitsuta,
Paul I. Terasaki Chair in U.S.-Japan Relations,
UCLA Center for Japanese Studies
3 p.m.
Downstairs Lounge, Faculty
Center, UCLA
Professor Mitsuta, who teaches at Obirin University, Tokyo, will speak
on Japan's current social and political issues drawing from his
experiences as Deputy-General of Science and International Affairs in the
Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, and laso as Executive Vice
President of the Japan's Foundation. He is on campus as Paul I.
Terasaki Chair during Fall Quarter 2000.
Sponsored by the UCLA Center
for Japanese Studies. For more information please contact (310)
825-8681.
November 7, 2000
"Men Speak, Women Sing: Gender and
Ideology in a Northern Chinese City"
Francesca Sborgi
4:15 p.m.
Hahn 108, Pomona College map
November 8, 2000
Graduate Student Research on Southeast Asia: "Baybayin Tattoos:
Filipino Americans and the Search for Indigenous Filipino Culture,"
Randolf Argelles; TBA (Indonesia), Caty Greene; "Catechism, Politics
and Gender in Early Modern Vietnam," Nhung Tuyet Tran.
12 noon
11377 Bunche
Hall, UCLA
Sponsored by the
UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies. For more information please
contact (310)206-9163
November 8, 2000
Graduate Student Research on Southeast Asia:
Caty Greene, "Flores, Indonesia: Which Came First -- The Nage, the
Catholics, or the Colonists?"
Randolf Arguelles, "Baybayin Tattoos: Filipino Americans and the Search
for Indigenous Filipino Culture"
Nhung Tuyet Tran, "Sex in the Village: Toward a New Understanding of
Women and the Law in Early Modern Vietnam"
12 noon
11377 Bunche
Hall, UCLA
Sponsored by the Center
for Southeast Asian Studies.
November 8, 2000
"Worshipping Your Enemies: The Cult of
Evil Spirits in Japanese Religion"
Dr. Herbert Plutschow
UCLA Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
Noon-1:30 p.m.
10383 Bunche
Hall (The Library of the von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern
Studies), UCLA
Sponsored by the Center for the Study of Religion at
UCLA.
November 8, 2000
Southeast Asian Culture
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Ackerman Union
Viewpoint Lounge, A Level (next to Tsunami), UCLA
Come share and experience Southeast Asian culture with
us as we present different performances and cuisine.
Presented by Southeast
Asian Campus Learning Education and Retention (SEACLEAR), in association
with the UCLA Vietnamese Student Union, United Cambodian Students,
Indonesian Bruin Student Association, Thai Smakom, and the Association of
Hmong Students.
November 9, 2000
"Social Transformation in Modern India"
Swami Agnivesh
4 p.m.
6275 Bunche
Hall, UCLA
Swami Agnivesh is one of India's leading social reformers. He has
spearheaded the national movement against bonded and child labor in India.
Owing partly to his efforts, the Indian Parliament enacted the SATI
Prevention Act in 1987, as well as a bill banning sex-determination tests.
He is the Chairperson of the UN Trust on Elimination on all forms of
slavery, and the author of numerous works, including "Religion,
Revolution, and Marxism" (in English and Hindi). Swami Agnivesh is
the recipient of the Anti-Slavery International Award (London, 1990) and
the Freedom and Human Rights Award (Switzerland, 1994).
This event is part of the Colloquium on South Asian History and
Cultural Studies, supported by the UCLA Center for Modern and Contemporary
Studies.
November 9, 2000
"Korea's Moses: An Ch'angho and the Colonial Diaspora"
Dr. Jacqueline Pak
Postdoctoral Fellow, UCLA
Special Guest: Dr. Sang Chang President of Ewha Womans University
4 - 5:30 p.m.
243 Royce
Hall, UCLA
Sponsored by the UCLA
Center for Korean Studies. Call (310) 825-3284 or email koreanstudies@isop.ucla.edu
for additional information.
November 10, 2000
"Vedic & Religious Perspective on Social Justice in
India"
Swami Agnivesh
Church in Ocean Park
235 Hill Street, Santa Monica
A donation is requested. Call 310-399-1631 for the precise time of the
talk, for directions and for additional information. This event is
sponsored by the Coalition for an Egalitarian and Pluralistic India.
November 11, 2000
"Social Service and Spirituality: A Hindu and Roman-Catholic
Dialogue"
8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Ahmanson Auditorium,
University Hall 1000, Loyola Marymount University
8:30 a.m. Welcome and Introductions
Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., Chair, Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount
University
Dr. Christopher Key Chapple, Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount
University
Sr. Anne Field, S.S.S., Hindu-Roman Catholic Dialogue of the Catholic
Archdiocese, Los Angeles Pravrajika Saradeshaprana, Vedanta Society of
Southern California
8:45 Establishing Schools in India
Dr. Ashok Malhotra, State University of New York at Oneonta Director,
Ninash Foundation; Founder, The Indo-International School
9:25 Social Justice Strategies for Southern California
Maribeth Larkin, S.S.S., Los Angeles Metro Strategy of the Industrial
Areas Foundation
10:05 Service for the Poor and Spiritual Realisation
Swami Asaktananda, Ramakrishna Mission Ashram, Narendrapur
10:45 to 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 On the Ground in East Los Angeles
Fr. Michael Kennedy, S.J., Rector, Dolores Mission
11:40 Panel Dialogue followed with Audience Discussion
12:15 1:00 p.m. Self-Host Lunch, University Hall Dining Center
1:00 The Word on the Street: Direct Service and Political Witness to
the Kingdom of God Eric De Bode, Los Angeles Catholic Worker
Community
1:40 The Struggle for Social Justice: Liberating Bonded Laborers in
India
Swami Agnivesh, Religions for Social Justice
2:20 Jesus and Gandhi: The Common Ground of Nonviolence
John Dear, S.J. Executive Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation
3:00 Coffee Break
3:15 Film Segment: Doing Vipassana, Doing Time
3:30 Inner Development for Social Development
Kiran Bedi, Joint Commissioner of Delhi Police (Training), India
4:10 Panel Dialogue followed with Audience Discussion
November 13, 2000
"Bones of Power: Buddha
Relics in Early Medieval Japanese Society
Brian Ruppert
East Asian Language and Cultures, University of Illinois
3 p.m.
Hacienda Room, Faculty
Center, UCLA
Sponsored by the UCLA Center
for Japanese Studies. For more information please contact (310)
825-8681.
November 13, 2000
"First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia
Remembers"
Loung Ung
3 p.m.
Small Auditorium, University Student Union
California State University, Long Beach
Free Admission
Presented by the Cambodian Student Society and the "New" United
Cambodian Community.
November 15, 2000
"Donors and Democracy in Indonesia: The Repercussions of East
Timor"
Annette Clear,
Asia Foundation.
12 noon
11377 Bunche
Hall, UCLA
Sponsored by the
UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies. For more information please
contact (310)206-9163
November 15, 2000
"Features of Pre-modern Korean Art in Comparison with China,
Japan, and the West"
Prof. Jang-Sup Cha
Samchok National University and visiting scholar at UCLA
4 - 5:30 p.m.
243 Royce
Hall, UCLA
Sponsored by the UCLA
Center for Korean Studies. Call (310) 825-3284 or email koreanstudies@isop.ucla.edu
for additional information.
November 15, 2000
"Grandma's Off to Day Care; Renegotiating Parent
Care Obligations in Japan"
Brenda
Robb Jenike
Anthropology, Pomona College
4:15 p.m.
Hahn 108, Pomona College map
November 15, 2000
Century-Old Tibetan Buddhist Tradition Comes Alive At UCLA
Padmasambhava Empowerment
H.H. Jigdal Dagchen Sakya
7:30 p.m.
Fowler Museum—Lenart Auditorium, UCLA
Discover the language, the culture, the philosophy of Tibet— the Land
of Snows
Cost: $20 ($10. for students with valid Student ID)
Pay at the door—cash/check
Padmasambhava, considered the Second Buddha, is the Indian yogi who
came to Tibet to spread the teachings of the Buddha. H.H. Jigdal Dagchen
Sakya is a lineage holder of the Sakyas — a living tradition from the
11th century. His father was the last great throne-holder in Sakya, Tibet.
Reservations: Barbara Hodgson, 310/276-6745, TaraLing@aol.com
http://www.TaraLing.com
November 16, 2000
Creation of first US Academic Program on Korean Christianity
Terrill E. Lautz, vice president and secretary of the Henry Luce
Foundation; program director for
Asia and the Henry R. Luce Professorship Program.
Robert Buswell, director of the UCLA Center for Korean Studies
Byong-suh Kim, professor of sociology, Ewha Womans University and Luce
Distinguished Professor of Korean Christianity at UCLA
Jacqueline Pak, Luce Postdoctoral Fellow in Korean Christianity at UCLA.
10:30 a.m.
Gold Hall 312, Anderson School of Management, UCLA
Scholars, donors and community leaders will announce a four-year grant
of $504,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation to the UCLA Center for Korean
Studies to establish the first academic program on Korean Christianity at
any U.S. university. The grant will fund the Luce Distinguished Professor
of Korean Christianity, postdoctoral and graduate fellowships, and a
regular colloquium series.
Korea has one of the most dynamic Christian traditions in the world
today, but it has been little studied in the West. Christianity is crucial
to understanding the modern history of Korea. Only 2 percent of Asia is
Christian, contrasted with 33 percent of South Korea's population. In Los
Angeles, home to the largest ethnic Korean community in North America, an
estimated 50 percent to 75 percent of the community is Christian. UCLA has
the biggest program in Korean Studies in the continental United States, as
well as the largest enrollments of Korean-American students in the country
(some 3,300), about 80 percent of whom identify themselves as Christian.
November 17 and 18, 2000
"Mata Hati" (Mind's Eye)
Eko Supriyanto and Dancers
8 p.m
UCLA Glorya Kaufman Hall, Theatre 200
Cost: $10 general, $8 students
For tickets, call (310) 825-2101
Parking $6, Lot 4 at Sunset/Westwood campus entrance
Theatre 200 is located on the 2nd floor of Kaufmann Hall and is accessible
only by staircase. For information and requests for access and
accomodation, please call (310) 825-3951 seven working days prior to the
event.
November
20, 2000
Forgotten War Crimes: World War II in Asia, A Photographic History and
Film Series
Opening Ceremony: 4 p.m.
Film Screenings: 5 p.m.
"Magee's Testament," "In the Name of the Emperor," and
"Comfort Women"
Kerckhoff Hall, UCLA
Held in conjunction with the exhibition
on World War II in Asia. Sponsored by SATH, Students for the Awareness
of Truth in History, is a student run organization that teaches about human
history in order to prevent future injustices. Co-sponsors: AOHWA (Association
for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia), Historical Society To Preserve
The Truth Of The Sino-Japanese War, APTSJW (Alliance for Preserving the Truth
of the Sino-Japanese War), and the UCLA Taiwanese American Union.
November 21, 2000
"Multiple Identities in the Philippines: Overseas Labour and a
Diasporal Consciousness"
Prof. Raul Pertierra,
University of New South Wales, Australia.
12 noon
11377 Bunche
Hall, UCLA
Raul Pertierra is an Associate Professor in the School of Sociology,
University of New South Wales, Australia and a Visiting Professor at Ateneo de
Manila University in the Philippines. He has written extensively on
Philippine Studies and on theoretical issues. He was born in the
Philippines and received his anthropological training in Australia. He
is the author of (1) Explorations in Social Theory and Philippine
Ethnography, and (2) Philippine Localities and Global Perspectives.
Sponsored by the
UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies. For more information please
contact (310)206-9163
November
21, 2000
Forgotten War Crimes: World War II in Asia, Film Series
Screening of "Black Sun: The Nanjing Massacre, "Factory of Death:
Unit 731," and "Comfort Women"
3:30 p.m.
Kerckhoff Hall, UCLA
Held in conjunction with the exhibition
on World War II in Asia. Sponsored by SATH, Students for the Awareness
of Truth in History, is a student run organization that teaches about human
history in order to prevent future injustices. Co-sponsors: AOHWA (Association
for Preserving the History of WWII in Asia), Historical Society To Preserve
The Truth Of The Sino-Japanese War, APTSJW (Alliance for Preserving the Truth
of the Sino-Japanese War), and the UCLA Taiwanese American Union.
November 21, 2000
"Umehara Ryuzaburo's Vision of Wartime
Beijing: Aesthetics, Politics, and Ideology"
Donald
McCallum
Professor of Art
History, UCLA
4:15 p.m.
Hahn 108, Scripps College-directions
November 28, 2000
"Shaping the Internet in China: Evolution of Political
Control"
Eric Harwit
University of Hawaii
12 noon
4269 Bunche
Hall, UCLA
Internet use in China has recently grown at a tremendous pace, and today
there are 17 million users in the PRC. This talk examines government control
over the physical data pipelines and network content. It explores the
management and revenue flows from the information highway, and political
efforts to regulate the content that appears on Chinese computer screens. It
also analyzes the post-WTO role foreign companies may have in the network's
future development. It concludes that, though the telecommunications
bureaucracy is keen to extract monetary profit from the Internet, political
drive for control over content is muted by schizophrenic government policy,
user self-censorship and, in the short run, user demographics.
Eric Harwit is a Associate Professor of Asian Studies at the University of
Hawaii, and a visiting scholar at Stanford University's Asia/Pacific Research
Center for the 2000-2001 academic year. A 1984 graduate of Cornell
University, he received a diploma from the University of International
Business and Economics in Beijing in 1990, and his Ph.D. in political science
from the University of California at Berkeley in 1992. Professor Harwit
is the author of China's Automobile Industry (M.E. Sharpe, 1995), and several
other articles on industrial and economic development in Asia. He is
currently writing a book about the politics of telecommunications in rural
China in mid-2001.
Presented by the UCLA Center for
Chinese Studies.
November 28, 2000
"Reinventing Japan...Again"
Frank Gibney
Director, Pacific Basin
Institute at Pomona
4:15 p.m.
Hahn 108, Scripps College-directions
November 29, 2000
Korea's Economy Seminar Transformation of Korea's
Economy: Reform and Future Prospects
3:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Wilshire Grand Hotel
930 Wilshire Boulevard
Downtown Los Angeles
The Seminar will provide an opportunity to promote an understanding of
Korea's Policy on Economic reform and Korea's current economy.
For more a list of participants and for more information please see the seminar
flyer.
November 29, 2000
"Gender and Nationalism in Vietnamese Film"
Prof. Kathryn McMahan, California State University, Long Beach.
12 noon
11377 Bunche
Hall, UCLA
Prof. McMahon's research focuses on Vietnamese post-war
film and popular culture funded in part through a Rockefeller Residency in
Teaching and Research at Vietnam National University. She is an Assistant
Professor of Women's Studies and International Studies at California State
University at Long Beach and at the UCLA Center for the Study of Women and
both a founder and director of CAST.
Sponsored by the UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
For more information please contact (310)206-9163
November 29, 2000
Universe Festival: The Power of Indigenous Sound
8 p.m.
Royce Hall, UCLA
Universe Festival is a wave of music woven from diverse cultures:
Australia, Brazil, Japan, Scotland, United States; a blend of indigenous
and modern sounds. A wave of peacemaking and harmony traveling through
music, gathering people in an environment where cultural diversity is a
richness inspiring healing and inviting people to create new sounds, new
possibilities for a harmonious global score. The evening is a musical
adventure that moves the soul and inspires a new perspective.
The festival will be interactive in that the emcees will interview the
artists about their purpose in life, thus inspiring people to explore
theirs. The line-up for the evening:
JAMI LULA, critically acclaimed soloist, Best Vocalist LA Music Award
1997
THE LA TAIKO CENTER ENSEMBLE, LA based Japanese drumming
ensemble performing regularly at the Japanese American National Museum and
the Annual Tofu Festival.
VIVER BRASIL DANCE COMPANY, chanting, drumming, and martial arts
dancing acclaimed by the LA Times.
The Taiko Center of LA will be working with Viver Brasil to blend
distinct sounds from Japan with the sounds of Brazil.
BROTHER blends the ancient with the contemporary, creating a unique mix
of pop/rock with strong Celtic and World music influences that bridge the
gap between mainstream radio and World music.
These artists will give sound and voice to the Festival's vision. The
evening is a musical adventure that moves the soul and inspires a new
perspective.
Tickets: UCLA Central Ticket Office (310)825-2101 or TicketMaster
(213)-480-3232
Prices: $25, $20, $15
For more information please call Sohini Sinha or Chiray Koo at
(310)446-8293.
November 30, 2000
"The National Tragedy of 1965 and the Moral Responsibility of
Indonesia's Writers"
Ahmad Tohari, Indonesian Author
Noon
11377 Bunche Hall,
UCLA
In this presentation, Tohari will be discussing past political and
social injustices (especially under Suharto's New Order regime) and the
role of Indonesia's writers. His argument is that during the Suharto
regime, Indonesia's journalists and writers have not adequately documented
the many incidents of human rights violations, focusing mainly on the 1965
Communist uprising and the more recent "Gali" killings of the
early 1980s. He will also provide some brief readings of excerpts from his
past works, translated into English.
Ahmad Tohari was born in Banyumas, Central Java, on June 13, 1948. He
is married with five children and continues to live with his family in the
Banyumas area. He is one Indonesia? preeminent writers and has published
seven novels, three anthologies of political and religious essays, two
collection of short stories, and numerous individual short stories and
essays. His celebrated trilogy (Ronggeng Dukuh Paruk [A Dancing Girl of
Paruk Village], Lintang Kemukus Dini Hari [A Shooting Star at Dawn], and
Jantera Bianglala [The Rainbow's Arc]) have already been translated and
published into Dutch, German, Japanese, and Chinese. He is presently
completing an English translation with Ren·T.A. Lysloff (UCR) to be
published through the Lontar Foundation of Jakarta and distributed through
the University of Hawaii Press in 2001. Almost all of his novels and short
stories reflect a deep and abiding commitment toward rural Javanese
culture, ecology, and social justice. Indeed, Mr. Tohari is one of only a
few Indonesian writers who have written stories set against the background
of the 1965 Communist uprising and resultant mass killings.
Mr Tohari has received several national and international awards for
his work, including the Southeast Asian Writers Award and a Fellowship
through the International Writers Program in Iowa City. He writes
regularly for the Indonesian national newspaper, Suara Merdeka, and the
renowned newsmagazine, Tempo. He was staff editor for the Jakarta
newspaper, Merdeka (1979-1981), and General Editor for the Indonesian
national religious and political magazine, Amanah (1986-1993). In addition
to being a writer and political commentator, Mr. Tohari (along with his
family) runs an Islamic school (pesantren). He is a highly regarded
religious leader and has the title of haj after making the pilgrimage to
Mecca. Finally, Mr. Tohari is a well known expert of Javanese folk arts
and a consultant for the regional office of the Indonesian Ministry of
Culture and Education.
Sponsored by the UCLA Center for Southeast Asian Studies.
For more information please contact (310)206-9163.
Where to send announcements:
Please send announcements of East Asia-related events, performances, and exhibitions to
Clayton
Dube
UCLA Center for East Asian Studies
11266 Bunche Hall, UCLA
Los Angeles, California 90095-1487
email: <cdube@isop.ucla.edu>
fax: (310) 206-3555
