During the Reformation period, which started after president Suharto resigned from his 32-year reign and brought a new-found freedom of press and expression, many people started to point fingers at each other. “You are right,” “You are wrong,” “You are corrupt,” etc. At the same time, pointing your finger at someone is considered to be very impolite. In 2000, there were many riots and outbreaks of violence between the Indonesian military and Muslim and Christian communities in the Moluccan islands, as well as ethnic tensions in Kalimantan.
A new term appeared in the newspapers, connecting these tensions: “SARA”, an abbreviation of the words Suku (Tribe), Agama (Religion), Ras (Race), Antar-golongan (Inter-group). For the title of this work, I connected SARA with Saraswati. Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge. In Javanese traditional dance performances, Saraswati fights against the powerful warrior princess Srikandhi.