Yogyakarta, 4/2/2025 – Prof. dr. Martijn Eickhoff gave a presentation on the extreme violence committed by the Dutch military during the Indonesian War of Independence in a discussion organized by the Universitas Gadjah Mada Department of History and several Dutch institutions on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 in Room 709 Soegondo Building, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada. The discussion was attended by 24 participants, including the Head of the History Department of Universitas Gadjah Mada, Dr. Abdul Wahid.

In his presentation, Prof. dr. Martijn Eickhoff outlined the key findings of the book “Beyond the Pale” which is the result of a comprehensive research involving 30 Dutch researchers, 11 Indonesian researchers, and 6 international researchers. The research began in September 2017 with the full support of the Dutch government without any intervention. “The official view of the Dutch government in 1969 that the armed forces as a whole behaved correctly in Indonesia and that there were only a few excesses is no longer tenable,” he says.

The research reveals that the Dutch military frequently and structurally used extreme violence, including torture, summary executions, rape, destruction of property and burning of villages. Political, military, civilian and legal officials at the time tolerated, promoted, covered up and took no action to punish perpetrators of violence.

Prof. dr. Martijn Eickhoff explains some of the factors that led to the extreme violence, including the underestimation of the strength of Indonesian nationalism that led to unrealistic political and military strategies, and the willingness to use extreme violence to destroy the Republic and take control of decolonization. This is in line with what he asserts, “The Dutch armed forces as an institution are responsible for this widespread and structural extreme violence. The Dutch government as a whole is responsible for what happened”.

In response to the results of this study, the Rutte Cabinet immediately offered support and apologies aimed primarily at Indonesian victims, the Indisch community, and veterans. However, some segments of the veteran and Indisch communities expressed disappointment and anger. Activist groups also criticized the study for ignoring centuries of colonial injustice.

In Indonesia, the positive response has mainly come from academics, while the reaction from the government and the public has been cool. This discussion is part of an effort to bridge the historical narratives between Indonesia and the Netherlands in the Indonesian War of Independence.

[Public Relation of Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Muhammad Ebid El Hakim]

On September 7 and 8, 2024, the Department of Anthropology UGM celebrated its 60th Anniversary. In its implementation, the Department of Anthropology collaborated with the Indonesian Anthropology Association (AAI) Yogyakarta region. Various activities ranging from ancestral pilgrimage, napak tilas to cooking parties are a series of the anniversary event.

To conclude the event, a wayang orang performance will be held in the hallway of the Margono building. This performance is named Wayang Orang Gagrag Anthropology with the title “Gatotkaca Wedding”. The script of this wayang performance was written by Agung Maulana Ibrahim and directed by Tunggal Wibowo who is an anthropology student class of 2022. This wayang orang performance is an attempt to revive a tradition that has been dead since 2016. In the past, the Anthropology Wayang performance was generally routinely carried out every two years and was last staged in 2016.

The puppet cast this year not only involves students but also involves several alumni, active lecturers and lecturers who have retired. The selection of players aims to show that the relationship between students and lecturers of the Department of Anthropology is not rigid. The rehearsal and preparation of the cast began on September 15, guided by the director and scriptwriter. The rehearsal starts from reading the script, deepening the character to blocking exercises so that the cast can explore the character being played.

On September 7, the cast held a dress rehearsal to finalize their roles. Unlike usual rehearsals, now the players must really memorize the script and explore the characters they play. The director and scriptwriter emphasized not to make mistakes and just follow the flow of the dialog when they enter the stage.

A few hours before the performance, the cast began to be dressed up by makeup artists who were also anthropology students. Starting from the makeup to the costumes, they worked deftly and in accordance with the puppetry rules. Once ready, the cast began to gather behind the stage to prepare supporting equipment such as mics and props. Although it was raining heavily and the performance was postponed for some time, the enthusiasm of the audience remained high.
In the story, Lesmana tries to get the heart of his idol Pregiwa who has been matched with Gatotkaca. With the help of his uncle Sengkuni’s incitement, Lesmana managed to persuade his father (Duryudana) to marry him to Pregiwa. Gatotkaca who did not agree with this finally chose to leave his house and wandered in a sad state and did not agree with his father’s decision. Lesmana’s wish caused a dispute between the Kurawa family and the Pandawa family. Fights between families were inevitable. In the end, Pregiwa still chose to marry Gatotkaca, the love of her life.

The performance, which does not carry the classical style of Yogyakarta or Surakarta, is packaged in a unique way that emphasizes comedy with a little sarcasm satirizing some of the hot topics at that time. The performers are required to improvise to create funny dialogue but still understandable to the audience. Laughter was inevitable when the cast made funny movements or when one of the actors told a joke.

The performance ended with the introduction of the cast. The parties involved hope that the Anthropology Puppet show can provide entertainment for the audience and hope that it will be continued in the following years. Thus ended the series of the 60th Anniversary of the Department of Anthropology.

[Public Relation Faculty of Cultural Science, Author: Nandito Jodi Syaifulloh, Translator: Sandya Kirani, Editor: Sandya Kirani]

Monday, May 20, 2024, UGM Vocational School together with UGM Innovation and Creativity Center (GIK) opened the INOVOKASIA 2024 Festival held from May 20, 2024 to June 1, 2024, at the UGM Vocational School. The increasing challenges of vocational needs in the future, this festival is present as a place to introduce the important role of Vocational education in the general public, including students, in the field of knowledge and skills to accelerate change and innovation in responding to technological developments. In its series of events, the INOVOKASIA 2024 Festival presents exhibition exhibitions, various competitions such as photography and poster design, workshops, talk shows, master classes, seminars, Talent Day, Movie Day, Sekip Walk, and music performances.

The festival was opened with remarks from the Dean of UGM Vocational School, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ir. Agus Maryono, IPM, ASEAN Eng, who said the role of information technology to accelerate all knowledge that can be distributed so that change can occur. He also emphasized that Vocational students are ready to fill innovations, manufacturing works, cultural works, economic works, health works by joining hands with all faculties related to GIK. The hope of the innovation is to make Vocational School a “lighthouse” for other vocational schools by applying the movement method that has been applied by UGM Vocational School, so that one change has an impact on other changes. This model has spread to all students and lecturers, to accelerate the pace of change starting from the pattern of thinking to become more responsive to change.

In the next moment, the speech was continued by Garin Nugroho, Chief Program Officer of Gelanggang Inovasi dan Kreativitas UGM, who emphasized the importance of vocational education for the future, especially for Generation Z to answer future challenges through increasing skill capacity for the Generation Z population which amounts to more than 60% of the total population in Indonesia. On the same occasion, Garin also said the INOVOKASIA 2024 Festival invited Vocational schools across Indonesia to map the ecosystem and challenges with the aim of preparing the next generation of Indonesia.

In line with Garin Nugroho, Aji Wartono, Head of Experience at Gelanggang Inovasi dan Kreativitas UGM, also supported the organization of this festival as a place to prepare students to be able to jump directly into professional industries with vast potential and future opportunities. Aji reminded that Indonesia still has 150 manufacturing companies, the number of existing manufacturing companies is still relatively small, so further opportunities for the development of the manufacturing industry are wide open.

The opening event of the INOVOKASIA 2024 Festival can be a reference for the Faculty of Humanities UGM. Improving the quality of education and expanding student experience to prepare for the world of work according to changing industry needs is one of the goals of the Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM to always respond to changes accurately and precisely through industry cooperation.

On Wednesday, May 22, 2024, the Archaeology Student Association (HIMA UGM), Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM, through the Community Service Division held the Archaeology Goes To School #1 work program, which is an introduction to archaeology by providing material exposure and games related to archaeology to students of SMP Negeri 2 Ngaglik, Sleman Regency, Yogyakarta Special Region Province. This activity also collaborates with Mandira Brick, as a maker of disassembly game products in the form of miniature temples as educational games for the general public, including students. The activity took place from 10:00 WIB – 12:00 WIB and was two-way interactive interspersed with question and answer sessions and game sessions that divided students in a class into six groups to develop a miniature temple disassembly game.

The activity began with an opening session in a classroom of SMP Negeri 2 Ngaglik with a warm welcome by HIMA UGM students to students. This was followed by a general introduction session about UGM Archaeology and information about the HIMA UGM organization. As for the session after the general introduction, it continued with the presentation of material about Classical Archaeology with the aim of introducing students to restoration and conservation in the treatment of cultural heritage.

“Since our audience is junior high school students, we provide quite basic material about restoration, conservation, the restoration process and how to care for cultural heritage buildings, especially temple buildings. So we provide materials, such as: “The definition of restoration and conservation followed by the process of restoration activities in stages, ending with how to care for the restored temple so that it remains sustainable,” said Arya Sena Prasetio, Chief Executive of Archaeology Goes To School # 1 from the Community Service Division of HIMA UGM, explaining the reason for the presentation of material on Classical Archaeology.

After the material presentation session and interactive question and answer session ended, the students were divided into six groups of five people each to play with the miniature Sukuh Temple and Ratu Boko Temple presented by the Mandira Brick team. Six sets of Mandira disassembly toys were assembled by each group, guided by HIMA UGM students in the process. The toys were then given to the school of SMP Negeri 2 Ngaglik as a continuation of temple restoration and conservation lessons as a means of further learning. The event then ended with a photo documentation session with the students and closing by HIMA UGM students and the Mandira Brick team accompanied by a symbolic plaque and Mandira toys.

“Hopefully with the implementation of Archaeology Goes To School, it can introduce archaeology to school children and provide broader insights into the importance of cultural heritage, as well as motivate students to study more diligently with the existence of new learning media through Mandira Brick,” said Sena about his expectations from the activity

Muhammad Khafifudin, who is familiarly called Khafif, is a student from the UGM Master of Middle Eastern Cultural Studies Program who was chosen to be a translator and personal assistant to one of the Professors of Canal Suez University Egypt, Prof. Dr. Hassan Youssef during his visit to Indonesia. The alumni of Al-Azhar University Egypt accompanied the professor to several events at various institutions, namely UIN Abdurrahman Wachid Pekalongan, Gadjah Mada University, Sebelas Maret University and UIN Raden Mas Said Surakarta. In his duties, he translates from Arabic to Indonesian, both oral and written.

Previously, Khafif had been selected as a translator for several other prominent figures from Egypt, namely Prof. Dr. Mohammed Imam Dawood from the Giza Qur’an Institute, Prof. Dr. Nahla Shabry As-Shoidy as Advisor to the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar University, and Dr. Nadzir Ayyad, as Secretary General of Majma’ Buhust Lugah al-Arabiyyah. From this experience, this outstanding student successfully translated speeches, material presentations and important documents. During his assignment, he also received positive responses and good appreciation from the figures he accompanied. Therefore, knowledge of spoken and written Arabic plays an important role in establishing communication and cooperation between countries.