Beyond the Future: Papers from the Third Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

laugh, to release their frustrations. The alternative is madness on a national scale as the anger turns slowly inwards. What is now emerging in the production of Indonesian art is the refreshing, liberating and exhilarating ability to create parody, to mock, and to ridicule 'the system'. The elite, the power holders, the authorities , the vested interests, the special lobby groups, the crony capitalists and the military are powerless, even impotent, to deprive the Indonesian people of their special 'magic'. Is this new? We can ask, is not parody, mocking and so on already part of the folk art and performing art landscape of Indonesia? Yes, it is. However this particular attitude in contemporary art has become fashionable. It has become the province of the young and the eager and the impatient. And it is rapidly developing , and becoming bold and brave as well as sophisticated . Indonesian contemporary art is adopting new and evolving forms of public parody, of teasing, mocking, and ridicule. And these are actively shaping the Indonesian art world in a way that could not have been imagined before May 1 998. The following sl ides represent the 'tip of the iceberg' - samples to illustrate this recent reality in the I ndonesian art world and its wider meaning . (My appreciation to my colleague, Rob Goodfellow, for reading and ed iting this article) 65