Formerly known as the Dutch East Indies, Indonesia is a country with great cultural diversity. The south-east archipelago, consisting of about 17,000 islands, was once one of the significant ports for maritime trading because of its strategic geographic location. From the north, foreign merchants came to trade with locals. Merchants from India, Arab, Portugal, and China finally settled in Nusantara (the ancient term of the region, meaning in between or inter-islands). They had brought their religions and customs which later shaped the art and culture in the nation.

Local merchants were introduced to Hinduism and Buddhism in around 2nd to 4th Century when trading with India began. The religions further influenced many grand kingdoms such as Majapahit, Kutai, and Sriwijaya. Two of the surviving relics are Borobudur, with Buddhism’s influence, and Prambanan that absorbed Hinduism. Early Batik technique, supported with textile trading with India, was introduced to locals. Wayang, a venue to tell stories and to spread Hindu’s philosophy, also started to flourish locally, especially in the island of Java.

In the 14th Century, Islam started to emerge with local culture through merchants from the Arabs, resulting few other kingdoms to be born, with Mataram, Demak, and Banten being the greatest. These kingdoms slowly took the place of the ones before and Islam has been the major religion ever since. The art of Batik continued to evolve, despite its narrow spreading inside the wall of Kraton (The Court). Batik was meant to serve the interests of the Kings and Kraton’s employees only. Later, common people finally learned about Batik and it started to flourish outside the Kraton, supported by maritime trading with the Chinese in the 17th Century.

Christianity was brought by the Portugal as part of their missionary goal and spices trading in the 16th Century. The Dutch, which colonized Indonesia from 1602 to 1942, built several buildings and churches during this period, some of which still remains today. Cathedrals, inspired by European architectural style, are still used to hold masses today. Traditional houses still exist today, each with its unique characteristic showing not only the culture and value each region holds, but their functions also.

Other art forms, such as music, dance, literature, and martial arts have too absorbed foreign culture.

The most well-known traditional music in Indonesia is Gamelan, which grows rapidly in Java and Bali. Another one is Angklung, a set of bamboo instrument that is popular in West Java. Some children songs, which have been around for generations, have lyrics that clearly refer to Western culture. The song Aku Seorang Kapiten, or I’m A Captain, describes a marching European soldier. Evidently, these tunes were composed, or were carried, from Europe during the Dutch’s colony. Some of these songs even share same melodies with different lyrics. One of many examples is a famous German children song, Mein Hut, that was translated into Indonesian, Topi Saya Bundar, despite its slight different word-to-word translation. Another one is Små Grodorna, a Swedish game song about frogs. Små Grodorna, originally meaning The Little Frogs in Swedish, became one of Indonesian popular children songs, Kodok Ngorek, or The Singing Frogs. These are only two of several other songs that later pioneered popular music in Indonesia with their uses of Western instruments, harmonies and diatonic scale.

The style of Tari, or dance, differs from island to island, and each reflects the custom, belief, and religion of each community. For example, Tari Saman, which originated in the island of Sumatra, is also a venue to pray and to spread religious teaching of Islam. Other dances with influence from Islam are Tari Randai, Tari Perintang, Tari Ya Mukamal, and Tari Zapin Mak Inang. Balinese dances, many of which have absorbed Hindu’s culture, also have significant role in ceremonies in to worship the Gods. Some dances, like the Tari Kecak, plays an important part in story telling of a worldly known Hindu epic, Ramayana. Another dance that is regarded with high esteem in Bali is Tari Legong, a courtly dance usually performed by mature girls. Dances in Java also show influence from Hindu, such as Tari Srimpi or court dance in Javanese Kraton, Tari Gatotkaca Dadungawuk, etc. Beside dances with religious influence, people are also familiar with secular dances. Tari Lenso, a social dance in Central Maluku, is only one of them. Some of regions in Indonesia are not touched by Buddhism, Hinduism, or Islam. These remote islands, such as Irian Jaya and Sumba, have long treasured dances that are very close to nature, like Tari Berburu, or Hunting Dance, and Tari Kandingang, which is a ritual dance to prepare birth of a baby.

Literature in Indonesia evidently started back in the 16th Century. Historians name this early period Pujangga Lama, which originates in Malay Literature. Some of the genres of Pujangga Lama, which developed mainly in the island of Sumatera, are Gurindam, Hikayat, Karmina, Pantun, Seloka, Syair, and Talibun. They are short poetries and prose conveying various subjects, such as social and wisdom of life, romance, humor, and even cynicism. Similar to those in European countries during the Renaissance era, these writings were composed partly to glorify the reigning kings. These ancient Malay Literature continued to influence writing even until the 20th Century, the period when Indonesian poets started to write fiction novels and works to depict the socio-economic and political condition. The writing style in this century then intermingled with Western novel style and progressively evolved to other islands in response to the growth and development of Indonesian language as well as the public national consciousness.

Martial Arts in Indonesia, called Pencak Silat, has styles that varies in each major island (Kalimantan, Java, Sumatera). However, as in other forms of martial arts, most of them share similar main purposes: to train spirituality through meditation, to show culture through traditional clothes and music, and as a form of self-defense and sport through physical training. Keris, one of the traditional blades, plays a very important role in martial arts, especially in Java.

Though there are cultural traits shared by most people in Indonesia, regional diversity is still apparent. Obviously, the term “Indonesian style” cannot accurately describe the culture in the nation. However, the term “Indonesian art” is the one recognized by the United Nations when the UNESCO (United Nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural) inscribed some of these arts in The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.