Colombijn examines the social changes in Indonesian cities during the process of decolonization. That process had major repercussions for urban society. These social changes are studied from the angle of urban space in general, and the provision of housing in particular. This provides fresh insight into how people experienced decolonization. Published in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute of War Documentation (NIOD). Originally published with imprint KITLV (ISBN 9789067182911)
One of the most visible and enduring vestiges of colonialism is its buildings. In this article I address the question of how current approving references to the colonial buildings in Indonesia should be explained, looking at one particular city, Surabaya. The cheerful, innovative adoption of colonial themes defies an analysis in terms of 'imperial debris'. I propose to borrow the term 'bricolage' from Claude Lévi-Strauss to describe this process in which people make new associations between selected colonial buildings and their own present lives. Bricolage is the selective conceptual appropriation of the colonial buildings for whatever objective the user finds convenient: objects to boost city marketing, a company advertisement, stops on a heritage tour, amusing backdrops for pictures and selfies, a counterpoint to a consumerist lifestyle in shopping malls. For colonial building enthusiasts, the love of colonial design and old urban quarters is more than a matter of the aesthetics of urban spaces, but also, indirectly, a critique of the transformation of modern cities by short-sighted real-estate developers and city administrators, who demolish irreplaceable buildings in acts of 'architectural suicide'.
Freek Colombijn Cet article retrace les grands traits de l'histoire du football indonésien pendant ce siècle. Le développement du football indonésien suit à un degré remarquable l'histoire récente de l'Indonésie. Les principaux points en sont : les intérêts financiers concernés, la rivalité entre associations de football nationalistes et hollandaises, les tentatives de modernisation du football par le gouvernement de l'Ordre Nouveau et les batailles rangées (entre camps adversaires qui changent selon les périodes).
Canberra, the capital of the Commonwealth of Australia, was built as a symbol of a new nation. The city's symbolism is dominated by an optic axis, provided by the masterplan of Walter Burley Griffin. The dominant message of the objects at the poles of this axis, the Parliament House and the War Memorial, is nationalism. The Parliament House brings the nation together at one point and the War Memorial specifies that the Australian national is tough, resourceful, and comradely. By its reference to heroic deeds in wartime, the War Memorial gives a belligerent message in an otherwise peaceful landscape. Women and spiritual religions are conspicuously absent from Canberra. There is a remarkable tolerance towards other nations leaving their symbolic footprint in Canberra.—Canberra, la capitale du Commonwealth d'Australie, fut construite comme symbole de la nation. Le symbolisme de la ville est dominé par un axe optique, d'après le plan d'ensemble détaillé de Walter Burley Griffin. Le message dominant des objets aux extrémités de cet axe, le Parlement et le monument aux morts, est le nationalisme. Le Parlement rassemble la nation à un point donné, et le monument aux morts spécifie que l'australien est tenace, ingénieux, et amical. Le monument aux morts rappelle des actes de guerre héroïıques et envoie un message belligérant dans un paysage autrement tranquille. Les femmes et les religions spirituelles sont très manifestement absentes de Canberra. Il y a une tolérance remarquable envers les autres nations qui ont laissé leur empreinte symbolique sur Canberra.
The experiment with administrative decentralization in Indonesia started with a new law that was enacted in 1903. The European civil servants believed that this law would protect their position, and they did not foresee two processes that were to gradually undercut this very position. First, the citizens in the municipal councils seized the opportunity to acquire a real degree of autonomy. Secondly, the council became a platform where the Indonesian members voiced their grievances from the 1920s onwards. After the Dutch colonial era, and in particular during the Japanese period and the years of Guided Democracy, the municipalities lost most of their leeway for formulating an autonomous policy and devising budgets to the central government. Now, starting with Law 5 issued in 1973, the New Order government of Indonesia has again embarked on the path of administrative decentralization.