Queerness, Spirituality and Decoloniality in the Indonesian Archipelago

The Great Indonesia Exhibition

The Great Indonesia Exhibition takes us on a historical and cultural journey through the Indonesian archipelago. The exhibition not only covers the archipelago during the colonial period but also offers a pre-colonial story about the ancient kingdoms and reflects on the archipelago in contemporary times. In the exhibition, two videos address contemporary intolerance towards the queer community in the archipelago.

To illustrate, in 2022, provisions were added to Indonesia's criminal code that violates the rights of minority groups, including queer people. In the Indonesian archipelago, same-sex marriage is not recognized by law; a provision banning cohabitation and sex before marriage effectively makes homosexual behaviour illegal. This contemporary intolerance towards queer people goes back to colonialism: the Indonesian archipelago adopted social and political structures from Dutch colonial rule in shaping its postcolonial identity. Both colonial and contemporary perceptions of queerness in the Indonesian archipelago are thus rooted in a Western style of identity politics.

A common concept in current cultural and academic discourse is decolonization. In the Indonesian archipelago, both colonial and contemporary perceptions of queerness are rooted in a Western style of identity politics. How can decolonization be applied to this perspective? Interestingly, in pre-colonial times, queer identities were highly valued among various ethnic groups in the Indonesian archipelago and were often linked to spirituality, such as in the Lengger dance and the Bissu. Could this pre-colonial perspective offer a way to expand or replace this colonial/Western perspective on queerness in the archipelago?