https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0745-6516
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Abstract
In this paper I reflect on the general nation-building project entailed in one of the most compelling and better-studied cases of political imagineering: Jakarta's ‘Beautiful Indonesia’ Miniature Park (Taman Mini ‘Indonesia Indah’). Conceived and driven by Indonesia's second president, Suharto, and his wife Ibu Tien in the early 1970s, this park was meant to visualise and construct the then-emerging Indonesian cultural and moral ethos in an ambiguous opposition to Soviet monumental Jakarta. By contrasting these two political spaces and exploring the vernacular concepts of beauty (keindahan) and harmony (kerukunan), I focus on the park's aesthetic dimensions and on the ways in which these dimensions articulate with the projection of a particular kind of moral nation. The account of my first visit to the park—and the country—as a graduate student and a participant of an Indonesian governmental programme of ‘cultural diplomacy’ provides first-hand material to set the stage for my analysis of the park in the post-Suharto era.
Acknowledgements
I thank Greg Acciaioli, Kathleen Adams, Chris Houston, Jaap Timmer and the two anonymous peer reviewers for their generous and insightful comments. I am indebted to TAPJA's executive editor Diana Glazebrook for her invaluable input and assistance.
Notes
1 All non-English terms in this article are Indonesian unless otherwise specified.
2 Suharto was an army general officer and the president of Indonesia from 1967 to 1998. He succeeded Sukarno—Indonesia's first president and national hero of the Indonesian independence movement—after internal political maneuvering that cornered the latter and allowed Suharto to seize power. Originally spelled Soeharto/Soekarno, throughout the paper I use the contemporary orthography (Suharto/Sukarno).
3 At that time, it was known as Canberra Anthropology.
4 Initially referring to local customary law and source for cosmological order, adat has undergone a process of aestheticisation by the state wherein the term has become synonymous with art and culture, often displayed or performed (see Acciaioli Citation1985, 158). Adat can, therefore, be roughly translated as ‘tradition’, ‘custom’.
5 From its inauguration, the park has recorded on average 5 million visitors per year (Kitamura Citation2007; BPS Citation2017; Jakarta Citation2020). By far, the vast majority of visitors are Indonesian. For example, in 2017, out of a total of 5.7 million visitors, only around 50,000 (less than 1 per cent) were internationals (wisman), i.e., around 2 per cent of foreign tourists of the Jakarta region (Poerwanto Citation2018). This percentage does not differ excessively from the statistics of 1986 when international visitors were 3 per cent of the total (see Bruner Citation2005, 213).
6 ‘Reformasi’ (Reformation) identifies the political era that immediately followed Suharto's fall (1998). It was characterised by stronger attention to civil rights and democracy as well as a process of increasing political decentralisation. The current political era is generally termed ‘post-Reformasi’, although the formalisation of this label is still debated (Lindsey Citation2018).
7 Despite the adoption of New Order cultural markers in the cyber sphere, it is important to remember that ‘the Internet boom in Indonesia during 1995–1998 significantly contributed to the fall of Soeharto's New Order’ (Gani Citation2018, 179).
8 Marhaenism is a term coined by Indonesia's first president, Sukarno, that identifies his adaptation of Marxism within the Indonesian context. The term stems from Marhaen, the name of a peasant in the Sunda region who Sukarno allegedly met in the first years of his political activity. Marhaen was portrayed as representing the multitude of poor peasants (and workers) exploited by colonialism and subsisting on their plot of land (see Mintz Citation1965, 57).
9 This concept refers to the use of culture, in its concrete and performative acceptation, to foster diplomatic relations with other countries. A key element is the inclusion of state ideology in the various activities involving international participants (see Rezki and Imron Citation2019).
10 The programme, Beasiswa Seni dan Budaya Indonesia (Indonesian Arts and Culture Scholarship), is still in place.
11 The political system led by Sukarno from 1957 to 1965.
12 Between 1965 and 1966, a massacre of more than 500,000 left-wing members and supporters was perpetrated by Suharto and the Indonesian army.
13 The official philosophical creed of the Indonesian state is based on five principles: belief in one God; humanism; Indonesian nationalism; democracy; social justice.
14 Such as the 1957 Archipelagic Concept (Wawasan Nusantara —see Taylor Citation1994, 71–90; Acciaioli Citation2001) and the 1968 National Resilience Concept (Konsepsi Ketahanan Nasional).
15 Harapan Kita Foundation continues to manage the park and is currently led by Suharto's daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.
16 The sacredness and magical power of Indonesian public spaces have been analysed by Lindsey (Citation1993). The park is not a mere amusement park but tangible proof of New Order ideals and past reproductions, and is characterised by a Javanese-like mysticism similar to other New Order's monuments, such as the Astana Giribangun (the Suhartos’ mausoleum).
17 To give a rough idea, in 1970 the cost of rice per kilogram was between Rp. 13,20 and 50 (for high-quality rice) (see n.n. Citation1972, 151).
18 Corruption scandals at the time were reported in the Indonesian media, and the particular case of mismanagement and corruption of Pertamina, the National Oil and Gas Company, shook public confidence in the government. Since that case, public opinion has remained alert to corruption issues, and generations of students have played the role of sentinels, longing for a moral reordering of the state (see Nababan Citation2007, 81–82).
19 The entrance fee in 2019 was Rp. 20,000 (around US$ 1.40); museums and certain recreational landmark require additional entrance fees ranging from Rp. 10,000 to 35,000.
20 Among the political leaders who have visited the park: Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi, Emperor Akihito, George H.W. Bush, Ferdinand Marcos, Mu’ammar Gaddafi, Nicolae Ceaușescu (see Taman Mini ‘Indonesia Indah’ Citation1996, 219–225).
21 ‘Recreational park’, ‘happiness park’
22 Ancol Taman Impian, or simply Ancol, is a tourist resort built by Sukarno in 1966 on the coastal side of Jakarta. It includes several attractions, such as beaches, golf courses, a water park and a theme park (Dunia Fantasi or Dufan—Fantasy World).
23 ‘Cultural school’, ‘reading school'/‘heirloom', ‘school of heroes’
24 That is the case of the audio-animatronic of Abraham Lincoln placed in the middle of the park that delivers the words of the Gettysburg address (see Krasniewicz Citation2010, 134–135).
25 As reported by Acciaioli (Citation1996, 40–41), the head of Public Relations at Taman Mini revealed to him that ‘only Timland was the model for Taman Mini Indonesia Indah’. However, this seems to contradict Suharto's statements on the origin of the park (see T. Soeharto Citation1971, 3) and evident resemblances, such as the Palace of Indonesian children (see ).
26 Among the futuristic vehicles, the skylift cable car offers the most complete panorama of the miniature archipelago, while the aeromovel gliding car (called Titihan Samirono) is a carriage without engine moved by wind power.
27 A formulaic expression that refers to the dimension of Indonesia: from the farthest west (the city of Sabang, Aceh) to the farthest east (the city of Merauke, Papua).
28 I observed one night, at around 8pm, cultural activities underway in several pavilions. All around the illuminated customary houses were the tremulous lights of gerobak (food-cart vendors) and gojek running up and down looking for passengers. See Bruner (Citation2005) on Toba Batak migrants using their pavilion for daily activities.
29 The Majapahit Kingdom (1293–1520) was a glorious Javanese kingdom that ruled and exerted influence over a large part of current Indonesia and Malaysia, and is usually referred to as the main predecessor of the modern Indonesian nation-state.
30 ‘Tata tentrem kerta raharja’. This is a traditional Javanese saying.
31 By speculating on the aestheticisation of politics of his times, Benjamin refers to the totalitarian regimes of Fascism and Nazism and their veneration of war, which is the aesthetic culmination of these political orders and the means to catalyse masses’ attention while maintaining traditional social hierarchies.
32 Open-air national parks similar to Taman Mini tend to bear the name of the country without further qualification (e.g., Minimundus, Mini Europe, the previously mentioned Italia in Miniatura, Miniatürk, Mini Siam). The Splendid China Folk Village of Shenzhen or the National Races Village in Yangon (Myanmar) are among the exceptions.