An awareness of the inequalities in the production and dissemination of knowledge between the Global North and the Global South forms the basis for the development of the discourse on decoloniality within both academic and artistic spheres. This new awareness that reality is not universal but rather pluriverse has prompted academics and art practitioners to re-examine everyday life to develop a sensitivity to the roots of power imbalances that may otherwise go unnoticed. The latest issue of Lembaran Antropologi vol. 4 no. 2 explores the theme “Anthropology and Decolonialisation in Performance Studies and Art Criticism” and features Rachmi Diyah Larasati from the Interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Global Change, University of Minnesota, as editor, inviting readers to engage and gain a deeper understanding of how art and performance now reflect anthropological critique in artistic practice.

This edition discusses artistic practice not merely from an artistic perspective, but also in terms of efforts to convey concerns and social critique regarding everyday social phenomena. Issues concerning narratives of governance, expression, and living spaces form the core of the contributions in this edition. Moving beyond artistic practice based on established standards or conventions, attention is also drawn to the figures who determine these standards. Articles by Chaterji & Loravianti and Pangastuti re-examine the conventions or standards of artistic practice in the MTQ competition and the trans-cultural experiment of ‘Swan Lake’ using gamelan instruments. The presence of standards or conventions as criteria for artistic evaluation must be re-examined: which narratives or values predominantly influence artistic judgement?

Turning to the aspect of dance as a symbolic embodiment that takes root in the human body, rich in meaning and social messages. The article by Sekar Sari and Listyorini demonstrates that dance or choreography conveys messages and expressions to highlight issues regarding care work and forms of resistance against the narrative of global capitalism embedded in daily life. The final topic in this edition discusses the living spaces of folk arts such as Reog Ponorogo (Nurdiyanto, Amrullah, Mahadewa) and Horeg (Nursilah, Gietty, Setyani, Yoesoef). Both forms of folk art, which were originally performed in daily life through communal spaces, are now increasingly being featured in festivals, indicating the commodification of folk art as part of the tourism industry. Does this shift from communal activity to institutionalised practice create a space for negotiation between artists and audiences? To explore this discourse further, please access this edition via the following link: https://journal.ugm.ac.id/v3/LA/issue/view/916

[Okky Chandra Baskoro]

The third day of the Sibuya Program went smoothly. This program, which has become a regular feature of every semester, reflects the faculty’s commitment to ensuring that students can take their exams with focus and energy, as well as in good physical condition. Through the Sibuya Program, students receive a free breakfast to enjoy before taking their exams.

The Sibuya event received support from various food vendors at the Kantin Sastra (cafetaria) FIB UGM, who helped prepare services for the students. One of the vendors, Bakso dan Mie Ayam, said they had begun preparations early in the morning to ensure that the students’ needs were well met.

“I start getting ready at 6 a.m. By 6 a.m., everything is all set. It makes me happy and gives me a sense of fulfillment to see the students eating. I hope they’re happy and satisfied with our service,” said the tenant manager.

A similar sentiment was expressed by the manager of Nieta Kitchen, who adjusted production plans to ensure the smooth running of the Sibuya program.

“Start preparing earlier, arrive earlier, and cook more,” he said. He also offered words of encouragement to the students taking their final exams. “Those taking their finals today must succeed.”

The students’ enthusiasm for the Sibuya program demonstrates that a simple gesture of support such as providing breakfast can have a positive impact on students’ readiness for exams. This program not only helps maintain students’ health and concentration but also reflects the spirit of care that continues to be fostered within the FIB UGM community.

The Associate Dean for Finance, Assets, and Human Resources at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences (FIB) UGM, Suray Agung Nugroho, S.S., M.A., Ph.D., emphasized that this program is one of the faculty’s efforts to provide moral support to students throughout their academic journey.

“Whatever the form, this is an effort by the Faculty of Cultural Sciences to encourage students. Hopefully, next year more parties will help make Sibuya a success. This is a small contribution from the faculty to embrace students as part of the larger Faculty of Cultural Sciences family. Enjoy Sibuya, and may everyone continue to support this event,” he concluded.

[Humas FIB, Putry Salsabila Septivanny]

Yogyakarta, June, 8 2025 – Students of the Arabic Literature Study Program at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Class of 2023, successfully conducted their Thesis Proposal Seminar from 8 to 10 June 2026. The three-day academic event marked an important milestone as students presented their research proposals before proceeding to the next stage of their undergraduate thesis projects.

This year’s seminar showcased a wide range of research topics, reflecting the growing diversity of contemporary Arabic language and literature studies. Beyond traditional scholarly approaches, students explored issues related to artificial intelligence, digital media, social dynamics, and global geopolitical developments, demonstrating the relevance of Arabic studies in addressing contemporary challenges.

A significant number of research projects focused on translation studies, examining translation strategies and translation quality in novels, poetry, films, classical Islamic texts, and social media content. Notably, several students investigated the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in translation, including studies on the translation quality produced by ChatGPT. These topics illustrate how technological advancements are increasingly becoming an integral part of academic inquiry within the Arabic Literature Program at UGM.

In the field of literary studies, students analyzed various humanitarian and social issues represented in modern Arabic literary works. Topics such as war trauma, power relations, feminism, diaspora identity, family conflicts, and the struggles of the Palestinian people emerged as prominent themes. These studies highlight literature not only as an artistic expression but also as a reflection of complex social realities and human experiences.

Meanwhile, linguistic research offered equally compelling perspectives. Students examined topics including code-switching, code-mixing, pragmatics, discourse analysis, media framing, and the use of Arabic in digital spaces. These studies demonstrate how language continues to evolve and interact with various aspects of contemporary society.

Throughout the seminar, students presented their research backgrounds, research questions, and proposed methodologies. Supervisors and examiners provided constructive academic feedback to help refine and strengthen the proposed studies. The active discussions created a valuable learning environment that encouraged critical thinking, analytical skills, and academic argumentation.

The Thesis Proposal Seminar serves as an important academic milestone for the Class of 2023 as they prepare for the next phase of their research journey. Through the diverse range of topics presented, Arabic Literature UGM students continue to contribute to the development of Arabic language, literature, translation, and media studies while engaging with issues of global significance.

Author: Indana Zulfa Maulida

Students of the Dialectology class from the Master’s Program in Linguistics, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada conducted a fieldwork program in Ngablak District, Magelang Regency, Central Java, as part of strengthening their linguistic research competencies. The activity focused on the study of Javanese dialect variations based on the geographical and social aspects of its speech communities.

Javanese is one of the regional languages with the largest number of speakers in Indonesia and is widely spoken across various parts of the archipelago. Through this fieldwork program, the students carried out dialectological research to observe the phonological, lexical, and semantic variations of Javanese used by communities in five villages in Ngablak District, namely Ngablak, Seloprojo, Genikan, Kanigoro, and Tejosari. These areas were selected due to their highland geographical characteristics, where vegetable farming serves as the primary economic activity of the local communities.

The social and geographical characteristics of the Ngablak community are considered to have a strong influence on the development of language variation. The communication patterns of agrarian communities, differences in altitude, and the geographical conditions of mountainous areas potentially contribute to the emergence of distinctive lexical variations, particularly those related to agricultural terminology and local wisdom.

The research was conducted through direct interviews with local residents using a 200-word Swadesh list as the research instrument. Conversations between the students and informants were recorded with the consent of the participants as part of the linguistic data documentation process. The recorded data were then transcribed phonetically to identify lexical variations found in each research location.

Furthermore, the collected linguistic data will be analyzed using dialectometric methods to map the levels of similarity and difference among dialects across villages. Through this activity, students not only gained direct experience in field-based linguistic research but also contributed to the documentation and mapping of regional language diversity in Indonesia.

This Dialectology fieldwork program reflects the commitment of the UGM Master’s Program in Linguistics to developing research-based learning while strengthening linguistic studies oriented toward the preservation of local languages and cultures.

Yogyakarta, June, 4 2026 — A public lecture featuring Min Seong Kim was held on Thursday, June 4, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Room 205 of the Poerbatjaraka Building. On this occasion, Kim delivered a presentation entitled “Trembling Grounds of the Archipelago: Pluriversal Ontopolitics and More-than-Human Antagonism,” a study that reexamines the foundational assumptions of pluriversal politics through ecological and political experiences emerging across the Indonesian archipelago.

In his presentation, Kim addressed ongoing debates surrounding pluriversal politics that have recently gained prominence within environmental studies, decolonial thought, and posthumanist scholarship. As articulated by a number of contemporary thinkers, pluriversal politics seeks to challenge the modern worldview that separates humans from nature and treats the world as an object to be mastered and controlled. Instead, this perspective emphasizes that life is constituted through networks of interdependent relations among humans and a wide range of nonhuman entities, including animals, plants, landscapes, and the material forces of the earth.

According to Kim, pluriversal politics is generally grounded in the assumption that relationality constitutes the ontological basis of life. From this perspective, politics is understood as the effort to establish and sustain relationships that enable diverse forms of existence to coexist. However, Kim questioned whether relationality can truly serve as an adequate foundation for understanding political dynamics, particularly when confronted with conflict, tension, and division that cannot always be resolved through reconciliation and relational repair.

To develop this critique, Kim drew on the works of Adam Bobbette and Sophie Chao, whose research explores various forms of human–nonhuman relations in Indonesia. The cases they examine demonstrate that interconnectedness among beings does not necessarily produce harmony. Rather, such relations are often marked by frictions, competing interests, and forms of instability that reveal the political dimensions of the more-than-human world. The presence of nonhuman actors in politics, therefore, not only creates possibilities for collaboration and relationality but also gives rise to antagonisms that shape social and ecological fields.

Building on this reading, Kim connected the question of more-than-human politics to the tradition of post-foundational political thought, particularly the concept of antagonism developed by Ernesto Laclau. Within this framework, antagonism refers to the condition that no social order can ever be fully complete, final, or free from conflict. Every attempt to establish order inevitably encounters something that cannot be fully integrated into the existing system. Politics, therefore, is never simply a matter of creating relationships; it must also contend with the limits, tensions, and forms of negativity that accompany every mode of collective existence.

Through this analysis, Kim proposed that conflict and negativity should occupy a more central place in discussions of pluriversalism. Rather than treating relationality as a pre-given foundation, he argued that collective life—whether among humans or between humans and nonhumans—is always shaped through processes of negotiation, struggle, and antagonism that can never be entirely eliminated.

The public lecture offered a critical perspective on contemporary developments in political theory and ecological thought while opening a space for reflection on how societies understand their relationship with a world that extends beyond the human. At a time of growing concern over ecological crises and interspecies relations, Kim’s presentation provided a compelling framework for understanding conflict, tension, and uncertainty as inseparable dimensions of political life itself.

Author: Khotibul Umam