[Sound Bite] Soekarno, Music, and Decolonization

By Citra Aryandari

After Indonesia’s independence, President Soekarno made several cultural policies that were considered quite interesting for further study. The desire to be completely free from colonialism in all fields formed the desire to be independent. Not only political and economic issues, even the issue of sound that can be heard by the people in Indonesia was also regulated by President Soekarno. At that time, the world was infatuated with rock and roll music with the intertwined pop music industry, forcing Soekarno to prohibit the music from entering the ears of all citizens. Radio Republic of Indonesia (RRI), the government radio, was prohibited from playing “Western Music”  and, as a substitute for Soekarno, offered Lenso rhythms from Maluku to be used as social music. Not only that, many regional songs began to be produced with Indonesian attributes, and bands that performed “Western” nuances were also imprisoned.

For further information:
http://www.citraaryandari.com/?page_id=361

To cite this page:
Citra Aryandari, “Soekarno, Music, and Decolonization”, Sonic Entanglements Website