Lekra Anatomy of a Concept
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Five years after the 1945 Vietnamese Revolution, Indonesian artists and politicians formed the People's Culture Institute, or Lekra. The organization was born out of concerns that Indonesia had not yet fully freed itself from colonization. Through the concept of 'art for the people', Lekra called on cultural workers to dedicate their lives to the revolution in Indonesia. Drawing a line between 'us and them', the idea of art for the people quickly spawned an open conflict. Those who did not adhere to Lekra's vision were attacked. But when times changed, Lekra was targeted. This is a story about aspirations, polemic, betrayal, bloodshed and death.
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A YEAR after Suharto's downfall, Agam Wispi arrived in Jakarta. For decades the poet had wandered the globe in political exile. Now he was 76 years old, and he seemed frail. Agam had been a member of the People's Culture Institute (Lekra), a literary and social movement associated with the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI); he was the only Indonesian exile to experience life under three separate communist regimes (China, Russia and East Germany). He
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