Up and coming singer 'Raisa' on stage... cantik!

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Buskers on a packed Angkot

A very rickety looking bike!

What is this?? lucu banget!

How is he meant to see where he's going with a face full of balloons? wkwkwkw

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Very sweet local rubbish collectors in Pasar Minggu, I wish them a better life in the future

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The proceeds made from sales on a limited selection of photographs will be donated to a number of disaster victims and I highly recommend a visit Salihara Galeri to view this exhibition and help in any way that you can. The exhibition will run until 29th May 2012 at Jl.Salihara 16, South Jakarta 12520 and you can view further information at www.salihara.org.

'Aftermath' by Kemal Jufri

Aftermath from the Tsunami in Banda Aceh in 2005

Aftermath of the Tsunami in Banda Aceh, 2005

Aftermath of Mt Merapi Eruption, 2006

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Carlos from South America who played the wind pipes... amazing!!

My lazy photo from the back of the cafe... the music was mantap! So much energy..

Suiiiiit suiiiiit Enjoying the music

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The shrine infront of Borobudur Temple

Borobudur Temple lit up for prayers

Monks complete the first of three circles around the Temple

Monks pray as the prayers resonate around Borobudur - it was so special to witness this

Lanterns are released up the full moon looking magical

A group of friends pose before making their wishes and releasing their lantern

Preparing to send their lantern up to the sky

Lanterns taking off into the night sky

Monks release lanterns up to the sky

This was such an incredibly magical and beautiful ceremony

May all your wishes come true

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Macet banget as the procession begins

Carrying offerings to Borobudur

Monks on a float in the procession

A young girl watching the procession

A very happy looking monk in the parade

Female monks in the procession

A monk prays with his beads as he walks

There is something peaceful in watching monks walking together in such large numbers

Monks walking to Borobudur

Monks stop to pose during the procession

Beautiful tattoo on a monk

This monk told me he lives in Paradise and blessed me telling me to be happy always

A monk blesses the crowd with holy water

Young children watch the procession from the back of a van.. so gorgeous!

A young girl in the marching band - Playing "As The Saints Go Marching In"

Beautiful scenery and beautiful faces line the streets for the procession

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Heading to Mendut Temple from Borobudur on a horse and carriage

Monks praying at Mendut

Praying before the procession to Borobudur Temple

Thousands of people gathered around Mendut Temple for the festivities

A monk gets distracted during prayer time

Blowing bubbles beside Mendut Temple

Hat sellers taking a rest - it was an incredibly hot day before the rain started

A father and his daughter outside the Temple

Lucu banget!

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I had been looking forward to having the chance to celebrate this special day at Borobudur for months, and it exceeded all my expectations, even the lack of a sunrise after arriving so early in the morning and a fair bit of rain in the afternoon, couldn’t dampen our spirits.  It was magical to arrive in the morning before the sun rose and before hoards of people set upon Borobudur, so we had relative peace as we watched monks praying and circling the Temple and it was just the start of an an amazing day..

Watching the clouds rise around Borobudur Temple in the early morning

Buddhists pray as the sun rises

Posing at the top of the Temple

Monks begin their early morning prayers

Monks at Borobudur

Monks circle each level of the temple after praying

A monk touches the temple as he walks

Circling the second level as they pray

The prayers continue on a lower level

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Dikeroyak Wanita Band dancing around the stage (Image courtesy of Tri Saputro)

Treen and Tasha surrounded by confusion yet again.. wkwkw (Image courtesy of Tri Saputro)

Weird things are happening up on stage.. and we love it! (Image courtesy of Tri Saputro)

Zeke Khaseli, the masked vocalist

I love this band... absolute craziness with their mix of ambient/folk/psychedelic rock..

Going to see music in Jakarta is often a community event.  The musicians never seem to take with them the attitudes of rock stars, rather they tend to play for the people.  Any song requests are accepted and attempted, any budding musicians can join the band, or steal the microphone for a whole set, with barely the hint of an eye roll from the singer.  Certain things are guaranteed;  classic hits, some rock ballads and certainly an Iwan Fals song by the end where the whole crowd may stand and sway and sing-a-long together.  The nights are fun because the musicians are generally good, occasionally way too good to be singing other people’s songs and they are not afraid to attempt to sing even the most difficult song – and nail it.

Last week, we went out expecting more of this, and to our happiness another great band was playing – this time Smiths covers and the Cure covers, and our 1980s nostalgia was encircling us as we bopped in our seats and sang a long.  As the night progressed, and one band replaced another, things seemed to be taking on a strange vibe – and we thought it had peaked when four men stood on the stage in matching black tshirts and red shorts and proceeded to tune their instruments as the compere worked the room, bleating into the microphone and laughing at his own jokes in the Trans7 style.  We saw those in the crowd, unaware of what was happening, glance at each other, trying to work out what grown men were doing wearing short pants – it is the ultimate way to de-man a man in Indonesia – you graduate out of your short pants when you graduate from primary school.  But these guys weren’t afraid – and those short pants let us view the epilectic style dance moves of the lead singer as he tore from one end of the room to the other.  It was impossible to know how to react to this vision – like watching punk rockers play netball – there was something a little oxy-moronic about the whole situation and we could only sit with mouths agape.

Perhaps the distraction of the skinny legs kicking stopped us from noticing a whole new crowd who had entered – not just any crowd – they were adorned in giant wigs, panda suits, horse head masks, Obama masks – we didn’t pay them much attention thinking that maybe they were having a private party in their wacky gear.  Then they took the stage.

It was amazing – there was a man in a wrestling mask and ballerina tutu leaping and diving across the dance floor as the lead singer in his cat mask proceeded to belt out wild and carefree tunes – the girls bopped behind him with abandon as the violinist hit the high notes.  We stared at each other, willing the other to explain what on earth was going on in our once-predictable night, the boys in short pants forgotten as this vision grew before us.  “This is weird, “ mumbled my sweet man beside me, but we were too busy trying to understand what the hell was going on to comment.

I guess the strange thing was that this was the first time we had encountered this type of thing in Jakarta.  Of course we are constantly surprised or amused by what is going on in Jakarta, but perhaps never mesmerized in the same way.  As outsiders we laugh and enjoy things that are every day things for Jakartans – horses and carts running up busy roads, men with microphones strapped to their chests singing out the front of warungs – but it seems that we have been distracted by the amusement of daily life and have so far missed the growing artistic community gathering on the edges of this city.  Or so it seemed on Saturday night.  Maybe we just miss it because we can’t actually understand it with our terrible understanding of Bahasa Indonesia, Jawa and Betawi and we have to wait for the English translation 10 years later.

I may be very wrong but I guess it wasn’t so long ago that it wasn’t safe to be different in this city, a community based culture likes its people to fit the mould, and certainly past governments jailed great artists for thinking too much and too freely.  But you can’t keep a good artist down.  Pramoedya told his tales in prison and Iwan Fals wrote subversive lyrics which were too difficult for governments to decipher, but people understood the message of these men, and they remain Indonesian heroes.

With only the evidence of the band leaping across the stage on Saturday night to inspire my thoughts, I feel full of hope that there is a whole buzzing excitement lurking beneath the daily chaos of Jakarta – a time where artists are more free now than ever before to bust out their tutus, and to re-frame what it means to be Jakartan, or Indonesian.  As an outsider to this country, it always seems more that life is imitating art, but it’s a pocket of joy when art comes and smacks you in the face and says, “Didn’t expect that, did ya, dummy?”

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