Punk and the city: A history of punk in Bandung

Abstract

Punk in Indonesia has often been described as a spectacular performance of disorder and resistance, a youthful style that posed a disruptive challenge to the authoritarian hierarchy and discipline of the New Order regime. The punk scene in Bandung has developed in the context of what is often referred to as 'post-authoritarian' Indonesia. Punk gives another historical narrative of the development of urban communities, and, while remaining a minority, is highly visible among urban Indonesian youth lifestyles. This article describes the history of punk's growth and development in Bandung, traced through its relationship to space and place, and through the variety of artefacts it produces such as zines, cassettes and posters. This production and consumption is informed by punk's traditional DIY ethos, and forms the basis for transnational cultural and political relationships. introduction Bandung is the capital of the West Java Province and is located about 140km from the country's capital, Jakarta. As Martin-Iverson argues, Bandung's 'historical orientation to global modernity and cosmopolitan culture is an important aspect' of the city's colonial legacy (2014: 534). As a postcolonial city, Bandung must be considered both in terms of local histories of urbanism and as part of larger, global processes (Kusno 2000). Featherstone (1991) views postmodern cities as centres of cultural consumption rather than industrial production, but in the case of Bandung these roles are tightly connected. Keywords punk youth subculture cultural production DIY Bandung Indonesia contriButor details Frans Ari Prasetyo works as an independent researcher with an interest in ethnography and the evolution of the socio-political implications of arts, visual, urban culture, and sub-cultures such as punks, artists, underground activists, indigenous people, towards citizen participation and social change.

Punk Activism and Its Repression in China and Indonesia: Decolonizing "Global Punk"

“…As Sean Martin-Iverson writes, "Underground music gained in popularity during the 1990s, in the context of increased access to global media and the decline of the authoritarian New Order regime's cultural and political hegemony" (2012,383). The broadcasts of MTV Indonesia from 1995 were a key point of exposure for the early Indonesian punk scene, in addition to "leaked" radio signals from Australia (Prasetyo 2017). Punk emerged in China in a comparable social context.…”

A genealogy of komunitas: Varieties of social formation and their signification in Bandung, Indonesia

“…In late 2018, Frans Prasetyo, a local activist and independent researcher of Bandung's underground scene (Prasetyo, 2017), took me to Bandung's Zine Festival which, that year, took place in an old warehouse owned by the military not far from the city centre. 7 He led me through the stalls pointing at photocopies of old materials-some dating back to 1994 and comprised of cropped letters from newspapers, sketches, and handwritings, all put together in a booklet format and multiplied through cheap photocopy services.…”

“…While zines have been described as 'highly personal individual projects', their production cannot be separated from the context of and contribution to the activist community (Prasetyo, 2017, p. 206). In 1997, Riotic were the first in Bandung, and maybe even Indonesia, to produce their own zine and explicitly link music with politics (Prasetyo, 2017). Only a year before, this group of punks, who used to hang out at the bustling rear street of Bandung Istana Plaza, a famous shopping mall, established the first distro in Bandung to serve as an 'independent economic base' for their riotous movement (Prasetyo, 2017, p. 202).…”

“…Thus, from its inception, komunitas was inherently linked to the industrious enterprise of young people and the material production and display of symbols of belonging, as well as to the sites where such production took place (Prasetyo, 2017). Irfan grinned while recalling how he designed the logo of his komunitas called Peace Generation (Amalee, 2018), 10 Bandung's kids were distro kids.…”

On the relationship between Catholicism and Marxism

“…9 The Historical Materialism and Alienation Theories apply here as well. Research has documented thriving Indonesian underground punk music (Baulch, 2003(Baulch, , 2007Prasetyo, 2017;Saefullah, 2017) and Heavy Metal music scenes (Baulch, 2003(Baulch, , 2007Walsh, 2015, 2018;Saefullah, 2017;Wallach, 2008Wallach, , 2011 but even these fall victim to entrepreneurialism and the marketing perspective. Islamic religious belief is mixed with punk and Heavy Metal in a bid to rescue Indonesian life from oppressive modernity and the corrupting influences of capitalism and consumerism (James and Walsh, 2018;Saefullah, 2017).…”