Redefining Environmental Activism in Indonesia through Progressive Rock
This blog by Eva Wishanti explores themes of political expression in Indonesia through an emerging unconventional art form, progressive rock. This acts as a counter to mainstream culture, allowing the community to convey under-represented political messages and navigate accusations by the oppressing authorities of being 'subversive'. Progressive rock is used as a political tool to increase engagement and address environmental issues.
It is stimulating to look at Bali, a province home to a concentrated Hindu population amongst Moslem-majority Indonesia, and the popularity of progressive rock labelled by conservative Indonesians as ‘rebellious’ music. It becomes more intriguing when the progressive rock conveys a mission of spreading environmental awareness among Indonesians. How could rock, Balinese, and ecological campaigns come together to overcome their boundaries? How could an unpopular music genre promote even unpopular environmental issues?
In early 2023, I visited Antida Studio Bali, Indonesia. It is where Robi, the vocalist and frontman of Navicula, often welcomes his colleagues. I decided to interview him informally. Navicula has been consistently known as a band that expresses Balinese environmental concerns in their music. Later, they stepped up their art content to highlight systemic challenges in ecological issues, even on international stages. While discussing technological and policy approaches in scientific narratives is essential, academics must disseminate awareness to different societal groups.
Western pop music, Indian elements, and Malay features dominate Indonesian musical tastes, with the addition of Korean waves since the dawn of the 21st century. Progressive rock, or ‘prog’ triumphed in Indonesia during the 70s and 80s, with the influences of British bands such as Yes, Genesis, and Pink Floyd. Indonesian legendary music groups and ensembles such as Guruh Gypsy and God Bless indistinctly insert musical elements of those bands. However, the Indonesian rock bands were heavily stigmatised by the authoritarian New Order government (1966-1998) as defiant, branding them immoral for having long hair on men, loud music, and tattoos. However, rock music continues to thrive during and following the democratic transition in 1998. Interestingly, Chinese businesses and armed forces have been supporting the rock music industries in Indonesia for sponsorship and security means (Kim, 2021).
Navicula rides the wave of progressive rock and democratic transition by bringing environmental focus as their core value of activism. Robi, the frontman of Navicula, admits that his personal engagement with ecological issues started when he was a teenager. Those topics were exclusive and discussed only among people with proper grades of consciousness. Nevertheless, his core passion is music, so he thought he could blend environmental issues and the artistry in Navicula’s music. He reckoned that this way, the problems could surface out of exclusivity into a stage of larger audiences. Roughly 60% of Navicula’s music conveys concerns of natural and climate degradation.
Navicula’s contract with a well-known recording label ended due to the market's low esteem related to their message in the music. But they persisted with their ideal foothold and found another label.
The journalists were also awkwardly agitated by Navicula’s campaigns in the music in the early 2000s. Robi confronted them by saying that the ‘green’ issues will be focal points anywhere within 10 years. Robi was inspired when Al Gore discussed it in a documentary. Recently, environmental awareness has been evolving into local politics when the Balinese government launched green campaigns by banning plastic bags and promoting so-called ‘go-green’ items. Navicula is also aware that sometimes the green campaigns turn into an abusive policy. On the contrary, it has become a trend. When it becomes a public concern, their relevance as a band is also elevated and not too segmented anymore.
Navicula expands their musical projects into documentary films, concerning on Indonesian ecology and the state of civil democracy. They collaborated in producing a documentary film entitled ‘Pulau Plastik’ (Plastic Island), which addresses the problem of Indonesia being the second largest producer of plastic pollutants globally. They captured the plastic waste imports to Indonesia due to the incapacity of developed countries to manage their plastic waste. They collaborate with local cultural actors and other social elements in Bali to insert the Balinese values as their cultural origin. Another documentary film, Segara Kertih, portrays the Balinese’s struggle with plastic waste on the shore.
Despite their relentless efforts to promote environmental activism, Navicula also receives undesirable responses, such as people tagging them as social justice warriors (SJW), as a derogatory term for people engaging in activism. It gets more intense after Robi’s involvement with a skincare brand which promotes natural substance and product recycling, where he got accused of being a promotional salesman. However, Robi accepted that his actions with his bandmates could not satisfy everyone. He then stated that Navicula is not just an irritable rock band. Navicula continuously backs up their musical components with data and research from an NGO based in Bali.
Robi is culturally aware that Balinese society's significant characteristics are pretty distinctive. They highly respect the priests and local customary laws (awig-awig). They are reluctant to be public enemies by expressing dissenting opinions unless they come from influential figures. If the village councils or priests encourage worshippers not to insert plastic elements into their religious offerings, their guidelines will bear more authority. For illustration, the councils can state that plastic parts will stain the physical holiness of the temples or the sea. Eventually, it would better use context to construct and deconstruct traditional values and practices to conform to environmental concerns.
The experience of Navicula explores how participatory arts can enhance political literacy and foster engaged citizenship by offering more democratised instruments and opportunities. This relationship between art and politics encompasses various approaches, acknowledging that art has long served as a politicized medium of expression throughout human history. Music, as a form of political expression, exemplifies this phenomenon, as evidenced by iconic songs like 'We Shall Overcome,' which have become anthems for civil rights movements (Eyerman, 2002). Cultural expression extends beyond opposition to 'elites' or 'oppressors' to confront societal challenges, exemplified by protest music addressing stereotypical adversity (Sadler, 2022).
Dewa Ayu Putu Eva Wishanti is a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds. Her interests include political ecology, the political economy of foreign aid, and development.