Jemma Purdey

Australia

Publications Editor and Book Review Editor at Inside Indonesia

Talking Indonesia podcast host, Inside Indonesia editor + ReelOzInd! festival director

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Articles

Talking Indonesia: a growing protest movement

3 weeks ago | indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au | Jemma Purdey

On 28 March 2025, in downtime Jakarta across from the Sarinah department store, an unlikely group of protesters gathered holding signs and making speeches. The crowd largely consisted of middleclass women of various ages, gathered under the name ‘Suara Ibu Indonesia’ (Voices of Indonesian Mothers).
A dynastic dream comes true

1 month ago | insideindonesia.org | Jemma Purdey

The Djojohadikusumo family has claimed the ultimate prize, and its next generation are going to make the most of it Jemma Purdey Dressed in celebratory batik, the family gathered in the nondescript hotel ballroom resembles any other coming together for an anniversary or reunion. But this was no ordinary family. And the celebration was marking something altogether extraordinary. The Djojohadikusmo family had finally reached its zenith.
Indonesia’s election year: looking back

1 month ago | insideindonesia.org | Yatun Sastramidjaja |Jemma Purdey

The legislative, presidential and regional head elections in 2024 revealed old patterns and new trends in ongoing challenges to Indonesia’s democracy Yatun Sastramidjaja Indonesia’s election year – with legislative and presidential elections held on 14 February 2024, and regional head elections on 28 November 2024 – was a critical test case for Indonesia’s democracy, and according to many the outcome did not bode well.
Queer Muslims and their allies

2 months ago | indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au | Jemma Purdey

Amid Indonesia’s conservative turn, the moral panics of the 2010s and the introduction of the draconian Criminal Code in 2022, LGBTQI+ people are as vulnerable as at any time in the country’s modern history. In a nation with the world’s largest Muslim population and where religion plays a central role in defining belonging and nationalism, the identities of queer Indonesian Muslims provide valuable insight into how these subjectivities are negotiated in everyday life.
art, activism and a canceled show

Jan 15, 2025 | indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au | Jemma Purdey

Late last year news media splashed the image of an elderly artist standing before a locked door at the National Gallery of Indonesia. The sign behind him displayed his name – Yos Suprapto – and the title of his solo exhibition ‘Kebangkitan: Tanah Untuk Kedaulatan Pangan’ (Revival: Land for Food Sovereignty), due to have opened on 19 December. The headlines explained that the gallery had cancelled the show with little notice.
East Timor's Great Famine, 1977-1979

Dec 4, 2024 | indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au | Jemma Purdey

Following Indonesia’s annexation of East Timor in December 1975, the forced displacement and mass starvation of its people resulted in what is known as the Great East Timor Famine, 1977-1979. As Indonesian forces moved into the province thousands of people were forced to flee their villages and farms into the mountains and bush, where food sources were scarce. It is estimated that over fifty percent of East Timor’s population of 600,000 was displaced.
Talking Indonesia: the papal visit

Oct 23, 2024 | indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au | Jemma Purdey

In early September, Pope Francis visited Indonesia as part of a tour of the region. It was the third papal visit to the country after tours by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and Pope John Paul II in 1989. This trip included Indonesia, Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and Singapore. The theme of this visit to the world’s largest Muslim nation was ‘Faith, Fraternity and Compassion’ and appeared to build on an earlier visit to the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
Talking Indonesia: Digital populism

Aug 28, 2024 | indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au | Jemma Purdey

A week ago, just as this podcast was being recorded, the hashtag #daruratdemokrasi (democratic emergency) went viral across Indonesian social media. It was prompted by the latest example of Indonesia’s national legislature (DPR) attempting to override or block a Constitutional Court ruling, in this case one related to the eligibility of candidates to run in regional elections.
Talking Indonesia: refugees growing up in limbo

Jul 17, 2024 | indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au | Jemma Purdey

Indonesia is currently home to over 13,000 refugees and asylum seekers, a majority of them young people who are stuck in limbo waiting for their futures to be determined. For most, it takes years, sometimes more than a decade, for resettlement to become an option.
Talking Indonesia: Dirty Vote

Jun 19, 2024 | indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au | Jemma Purdey

The frenzied final weeks of campaigning leading up to the presidential election on 14 February were high octane and packed with promises, symbols, celebrity and cash. When the dance literally stopped, in the traditional cooling off period a few days ahead of the polls opening, a documentary film called Dirty Vote dropped on YouTube. The work of activist filmmaker, Dandhy Laksono, the film has a lecture-style format featuring three constitutional law experts as its cast.