Indonesians turn to eco-art as haze sparks anger and diplomatic tension

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗
Cite

SCMP’s Asia desk. (2026, October 22). Indonesians turn to eco-art as haze sparks anger and diplomatic tension. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3371773/indonesians-turn-eco-art-haze-sparks-anger-and-diplomatic-tension

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-10-22 · by SCMP’s Asia desk

Quick Summary

Indonesians are turning to eco-art to highlight the issue of toxic haze caused by wildfires, which is causing anger and diplomatic tension. In South Sumatra, an art collective called Jaga Api created a performance project named "Tarian Kehancuran Budaya" (the Dance of Cultural Destruction), featuring a dancer in traditional attire performing amidst a scorched forest near Palembang. The video has garnered over 3,500 likes and 820 re-shares on social media, drawing attention to the environmental impact of the fires through cultural expression.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-22, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

In South Sumatra, local art collective Jaga Api recently launched a project titled Tarian Kehancuran Budaya (the Dance of Cultural Destruction) to highlight the impact of wildfires through traditional performances. The initiative, reported by The Straits Times, features dancers wearing gas masks and ceremonial attire in scorched forests outside Palembang. One viral video showing a dancer performing the tari tanggai dance has garnered over 3,500 likes and 820 re-shares on social media. This eco-art project aims to draw attention to the human and environmental toll of the fires as frustration grows due to toxic haze across borders.

Written for “Haze Sparks Diplomatic Tension In Indonesia” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 98521 · logged 2026-10-22

Story

📰 Haze Sparks Diplomatic Tension In Indonesia
Environment · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Calls to sue Indonesia over haze; Pinduoduo craze sweeps Malaysia: 7 Asia highlights different event · 90%
South China Morning Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 64
“The articles describe different aspects of the haze issue in Indonesia, with Article A focusing on calls for legal action from foreign countries and Article B detailing an eco-art response by Indonesians.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
5
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 5 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Environment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 2844 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
2026-10-16
Nobel Peace Prize: the message behind Navi Pillay’s win
2026-10-16
Indonesian governor’s Singapore trip adds fury to forest fire, haze crisis
2026-10-04
Flight to Okinawa diverts back to Hong Kong after suspected landing gear fault
2026-10-04
Tennessee prisons chief resigning after botched execution of Christa Pike
2026-09-29
Indonesian prison chief suspended over secret VIP compound for inmates
2026-09-28
Trump ‘arms offer’ to China jolts Washington into moves to contain the fallout

Who wrote this

SCMP’s Asia desk
18 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 “We will run the remaining 500 metres for you.
2026-10-21 · assertive framing · ‘Mourning run’ or clout chase? South Korea divided over runner’s death tributes
🔮 Fiji’s justice minister resigns after intimate video goes viral online Siromi Turaga will continue as an MP and a member of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s People’s Alliance party Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who previously sought credible “proof” before taking action against Turaga, said he accepted his colleague’s resignation.
2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Fiji’s justice minister resigns after intimate video goes viral online
🔮 “Just flew with Singapore Airlines, couldn’t get AirAsia, service was great, internet amazing, food was poor, Santan is far far better and crew admitted.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · AirAsia chief mocks Singapore Airlines’ food – and social media hits back
🔮 Indian pride swells as flydubai pilot who saved 174 lives hailed as ‘absolute hero’ Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Smit Machchhar for unlocking the cockpit door to avert a crash after his co-pilot’s attack Captain Smit Machchhar was critically injured after taking the brunt of a knife attack on Wednesday, but managed to open the cockpit door so crew and passengers could overpower the attacker.
2026-10-01 · mixed framing · Indian pride swells as flydubai pilot who saved 174 lives hailed as ‘absolute hero’
🔮 She would have held him all day if she could.
2026-09-29 · assertive framing · Mahathir ‘lonely’ as family and Malaysia mourn Siti Hasmah
🔮 The Korea Coast Guard initially spent about six hours on Friday trying to guide the shark towards the open sea, deploying specialist personnel and patrol vessels, but stopped the operation after fisheries officials warned that forcing the animal through the narrow channel could provoke aggressive behaviour or injure it.
2026-09-21 · mixed framing · South Korea gets a new internet star as Busan shark sighting goes viral
Wire or desk byline, not an individual reporter.
Also by SCMP’s Asia desk
Malaysian teen arrested after live-streaming axe attack on teacher in class
2026-10-22 · South China Morning Post
‘Mourning run’ or clout chase? South Korea divided over runner’s death tributes
2026-10-21 · South China Morning Post
In Malaysia, viral air purifier test fans flames of anger over haze
2026-10-20 · South China Morning Post
Indonesian governor’s Singapore trip adds fury to forest fire, haze crisis
2026-10-16 · South China Morning Post
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 18 articles by SCMP’s Asia desk →

Topics

Indonesians Jaga Api Palembang South Sumatra The Straits Times

Subjects

Indonesians NORP · 2× Aesan Paksangko PERSON · 1× Jaga Api ORG · 1× Palembang GPE · 1× South Sumatra GPE · 1× South Sumatra’s GPE · 1× The Straits Times ORG · 1×

Narrative

In South Sumatra, local art collective Jaga Api recently launched a project titled Tarian Kehancuran Budaya (the Dance of Cultural Destruction), using traditional performance to convey the human and environmental toll of the fires, as reported by The Straits Times.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-22
2026-10-22 · South China Morning Post
Indonesians turn to eco-art as haze sparks anger and diplomatic tension · assertive framing

Claims (5 extracted, 0 hedged)

Indonesians turn to eco-art as haze sparks anger and diplomatic tension Frustrated by toxic haze, Indonesians are using performance art to draw attention to the wildfires as anger grows across borders asserted
anger → turn → borders
In South Sumatra, local art collective Jaga Api recently launched a project titled Tarian Kehancuran Budaya (the Dance of Cultural Destruction), using traditional performance to convey the human and environmental toll of the fires, as reported by The Straits Times. asserted
collective → launch → Times
Filmed in a scorched forest outside the provincial capital of Palembang, one viral video shows a dancer wearing a gas mask and Aesan Paksangko – South Sumatra’s ceremonial bridal attire. asserted
video → film → mask
Against a backdrop of burnt trees and ash, she performs the tari tanggai, a traditional welcome dance whose usual celebratory symbolism takes on a more sombre meaning amid the destruction. asserted
symbolism → perform → destruction
The video has over 3,500 likes and 820 re-shares on social media, reflecting the attention the performance has received online. asserted
performance → have → attention
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support
Terms · Privacy · beta v2.0.0
Articles to 22 Oct 2026