Six Steps to Broadening Indonesia-Australia Relations

Six events taking place over the next week are set to broaden relations between Indonesia and Australia thanks to the efforts of people from very different walks of life.

The events will mark a further deepening in links between the people of both countries.

Saturday 1 October: opening of Stories from Our Kampoeng, a premier photographic exhibition at Alun-Alun in Grand Indonesia Shopping Town, featuring photographic stories of life from Indonesia and Australia. www.australiacalling.org/

Wednesday 5 October: the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Greg Moriarty, will host a book launch about the life of Herb Feith, an Australian who was an internationally renowned and passionate scholar of Indonesia.

Thursday 6 October: the inaugural Indonesia-Australia Dialogue, an exchange of ideas about the future of relations between citizens from both countries, will hold a public forum in Jakarta open to the media at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 October: many of the best and brightest Australian and global writers will come together to debate the issues that nurture us, feed us and inspire us, in a celebration of stories and voices at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival in Bali. This year’s theme is “Nandurin Karang Awak – Cultivate the Land Within”.

Sunday 9 October: a puppetry company from Melbourne and artists from Yogyakarta will perform a collaborative show in Jakarta billed as a “cross cultural extravaganza”, Wedhus Gembel, an extraordinary visual and theatrical spectacle about the tensions in traditional and contemporary Indonesian life. http://www.snuffpuppets.com/

Sunday 9 October: the Indonesian National Orchestra will finish their Australian tour at City Recital Hall in Sydney, following performances in Melbourne and Canberra featuring a repertoire of traditional and contemporary Indonesian music.

These events taking place as part of “Six Steps” are being supported by the Australian Government, including through the Australia-Indonesia Institute and the Australia International Cultural Council.

Media Enquiries:
Sanchi Davis, Cultural Attaché tel. (021) 2550 5260 HP: 0811936302