The Women Behind Indonesia's Feminist Fest 'Lady Fast' Refuse To Be Intimidated

To call the first Lady Fast quick would be an understatement. The feminist music and activism festival was shut down last year after hardline Islamists, allegedly concerned that this group of tattooed women in bands might be "communists," got the place raided with the help of the local police. One of the event's organizers was briefly detained. The damning evidence? A book on LGBT rights.

It was a dark stain on the Yogyakarta's reputation as a city where arts and liberal thinking were supposed to thrive. But if the goal was to stop the group from attempting to organize and network with likeminded feminist organizations, then it failed.

Lady Fast, the work of Kolektif Betina, is back for another year this weekend. But the festival now has a new home, in Bandung, West Java's Spasial arts space. And this year, it's open to the public and includes performances by a dozen bands, as well as teaching sessions and art exhibitions.

VICE Indonesia's Yudhistira Agato spoke with organizer Hera Mary, of the hardcore band Oath, about the fest's latest iteration, the need for feminist-focused events, and what it feels like to be called "trash" and "bad girls."

VICE Indonesia: After facing so much opposition from the Islamist groups in Jogja during the first 'Lady Fast,' what made you want to come back with a second festival one year later?
Hera Mary: There will always be a Lady Fast. We want to keep in touch with our friends, the friends of Kolektif Betina. It would be a shame if people got too busy with their own lives. So Lady Fast is very important because it represents our ideas. Our ideas are documented and distributed to friends outside the collective.

Why is this one in Bandung?
The location of every Lady Fast is always tentative. We were thinking of holding it in Jakarta, Jambi, or in Bali, but the majority of the votes went to Bandung. And our friends in Bandung were down to help, so Bandung it is.

Are you worried at all that Lady Fast Vol. 2 will also be shut down?
Of course. We are worried that there will be disruptions of Lady Fast Vol. 2, so we have prepared ourselves so that if people come out protesting again, we will know how to defend ourselves. But really, we're throwing another Lady Fast so we can educate and entertain people. So we believe it will be fine. That's why we chose Spasial as the location. The people of Spasial have guaranteed us that they have the right permits.

So you chose Spasial, an actual venue and arts space, because it kills the whole 'you don't have a permit' argument? 
Yeah, so at Lady Fast Vol. 1, the owners of Survive Garage didn't have the right police permits, because, at the beginning, we thought it would just be a gathering for friends in Kolektif Betina. Lady Fast Vol. 2 is open to the public. And because of the incidents at Lady Fast Vol. 1, we realized that we need a place that is completely safe and away from disruption.

Why is this one open to the public?
OK, so the first Lady Fast was meant to be a gathering of friends in Kolektif Betina where we could all learn from each other. It's because we all lived so far from each other. This time around, we invited friends from other collectives to learn together Our tagline is still the same, 'Empowering Each Other,' and maybe we'll meet some new friends who want to learn how to build a collective or organize an event.

Or maybe they just want to know what Lady Fast really is. So we will try to answer all those questions because this is open to the public. The goal is really simple, we want to empower our fellow women because so-far there are only a few female-focused events and female performers.

Some people may wonder why Lady Fast is all about women. Why all the bands performing must have at-least one female member. Well, this event is for women. Of course, men and children can come too. We want everyone to blend together and mingle at Lady Fast Vol. 2, especially the women. Let's empower each other so we can all learn together.

What is Lady Fast all about?
There will be music performances, exhibitions, workshops, and live screen printing workshops. At Lady Fast Vol. 1, we learned about self-defense and women's bodies. Now we have more sessions like that to learn new things. We have a session on 'Tubuhku Otoritasku' ('My Body My Authority') from Kartika Djahja, and Syaldi Sahude from Laki-Laki Baru will be there to talk about masculinity. What's surprising is that there are so many male friends who applied for the sharing sessions. We're glad there are so many men who want to help us with flyers and documents. So Lady Fast is kind of a day to celebrate gender equality.

Is gender equality getting better in Indonesia?
I can only speak for myself and base my experience on what I and my friends live through, but I feel like empowerment is very important and it recently became a lot more real to me. Before, I didn't feel all that empowered. Back then when I joined Kolektif Betina, I learned a lot about empowerment. How do I say this? I became more open to having female friends [after joining the collective].

Before, I was hesitant to talk to people because I was shy or scared. So the support of my fellow female friends has really boosted my self-esteem. The impacts of women's empowerment have, so far, been huge. But I still have a lot to learn about empowerment and how to implement it in every day life.

What are some of the biggest obstacles to women's empowerment in Indonesia. Is it society's inherent patriarchal values? 
I personally think that a lot of it comes from women hating each other. And also envy. They are envious of each other. Perhaps it's because we are too accustomed to competing with each other. Back then, it was hard to admit that some of my female friends were cooler than me. The patriarchal system is what makes all women not feel all that proud of themselves.

Patriarchal and misogynist cultures have also stunted women's empowerment. And perhaps now there are many female friends who are sick of feeling like they had to suffer from the 'mistake' of being born a woman. As a part of this collective, all that hatred and envy I used to feel turned into support and admiration.

So how do you bring these ideas to a wider audience?
Honestly, I still don't know. But one thing is for sure, gender consciousness should start from one own's circle.