Art's Role in Politics and Peace
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Kathleen Adams, PhD |
It was the late 1970s, and a young Adams was on a train from France to Belgium. Across from her sat a family from Indonesia. Adams began talking with her seatmates, and soon the family had pulled their suitcases out to show her sarongs, photos, and pieces of artwork from their homeland. Adams was hooked on Indonesian cultural anthropology for life.
During her graduate studies, Adams received a Fulbright award to travel to Sulawesi, Indonesia, and study the Sa’dan Toraja, a Christian minority group living among Muslims.
Present during a time of change among the Torajas, Adams watched as tourism began to flourish. She saw the younger generation become more interested in its culture and origins, and witnessed old hierarchies challenged as new jobs—and, subsequently, new wealth—became available to the poorer classes.
Now, as the world struggles with finding ways for Muslims and Christians to coexist, Adams is sharing the ways that Torajas use their art to call for all communities to live in peace with
“In these times, we need to see some positive models for peace-building.”KATHLEEN ADAMS, PHD |
“I really felt that I owed this to the Toraja people I had lived with, who taught me so much about their culture,” Adams says. “I felt it was important to spotlight the things happening in Indonesia at a time when there is not only interest in but also a fear of predominantly Muslim societies. In these times, we need to see some positive models for peace-building.”
APRIL SPECHT