COLLABORATIONs
.WITH DIALITA 

After the 1965 anti-communist massacre, Indonesia lost a generation of intellectuals. Yet in detention and exile, many artists continued to create, surviving together through their collective work. Dialita is a choir group consisting of ex-political prisoners who were kidnapped and arrested by the New Order regime in mid to late 1960s without trial. Many of them spent their youth and most productive years in prisons and remote islands. Creating music was one of the silent acts of resistance at the time. The process of composing was never formally recorded, as prisoners were forbidden to keep any form of stationery, songs could only be passed down orally, from person to person, during rare moments of free time.

Memorising and singing these songs became their way to preserve sanity. Many pieces served as encouragement to stay alive, as expressions of longing for family and loved ones, and as markers of small, intimate moments—such as love in prison or birthday celebrations. After their release, Dialita members worked to recollect these songs, reconstructing lyrics and musical structures with the help of other political prisoners who had survived. Each prison had its own collective repertoire, and Dialita continues to present these songs today.