It has been so long since the last time Agung and I went to an art exhibition! The last time we went to one was to Seek-A-Seek in 2019. How crazy is that? Due to the pandemic, we just didn’t have a chance until now. Thankfully, there is currently a pretty big project going on called Kemang 12730, which is ICAD‘s annual exhibition. It is a string of events spanning the entire Kemang area in South Jakarta, encompassing pretty much all things art and design—starting from gallery shows, product design, fashion design, culinary arts, to film. It’s pretty exciting!
We bumped into one of my work friends, Uta, and her boyfriend
The main event is actually their art and design exhibition at the Grandkemang Hotel, where various artists and designers showcase their works on all sorts of topics. As I understand it, there is no specific theme or objective to this show, except as a celebration for Indonesian contemporary art and design. Not only do we get to see how Indonesian artists and designers thrive just as much as their peers abroad, a lot of these works also awaken the awareness for our environment as well as social issues from across the nation.
My favourite exhibit: Daur Subur by Gubuak Kopi (CMIIW)
There are a lot of very different works being displayed at the moment. Some of my favourites include those that touch on the environment, human rights and culture. I really love this exhibit pictured above! It’s practically an experiment to maximise organic waste and reduce plastic consumption. There’s also a great AV work called The Undertow of Sorrow, which shows the remnants of a dead island called Pulau Ubi—it was truly heartbreaking. The more popular exhibits, however, are the wall of post-its with writings that describe the year 2020 on it—called Catatan 2020 azer—and the gadget contraptions for taking selfies—called Hello Goodbye. That should perfectly describes the crowd in Jakarta, eh?
Herheine dress // thrifted top // Noesa hairband // Mount Island mask // Roti Eneng tote bag // photos by Agung
While I’m glad that art is getting more recognition in this country, I cannot help but to cringe at the crowd who comes to art exhibitions these days. You can clearly tell, they see this whole event as a collection of backdrops. Handing their phone to their Instagram sidekicks, they pose by the artwork, not trying to understand it one bit. So much so, that they cannot even tell which ones are part of the exhibition and which ones are interior decor of the hotel. Thankfully, I don’t think anyone damaged anything, so I guess there’s that. Then again, with all these photos of myself in the show, who am I to judge, right?
It has been so long since the last time Agung and I went to an art exhibition! The last time we went to one was to Seek-A-Seek in 2019. How crazy is that? Due to the pandemic, we just didn’t have a chance until now. Thankfully, there is currently a pretty big project going on called Kemang 12730, which is ICAD‘s annual exhibition. It is a string of events spanning the entire Kemang area in South Jakarta, encompassing pretty much all things art and design—starting from gallery shows, product design, fashion design, culinary arts, to film. It’s pretty exciting!
We bumped into one of my work friends, Uta, and her boyfriend
The main event is actually their art and design exhibition at the Grandkemang Hotel, where various artists and designers showcase their works on all sorts of topics. As I understand it, there is no specific theme or objective to this show, except as a celebration for Indonesian contemporary art and design. Not only do we get to see how Indonesian artists and designers thrive just as much as their peers abroad, a lot of these works also awaken the awareness for our environment as well as social issues from across the nation.
My favourite exhibit: Daur Subur by Gubuak Kopi (CMIIW)
There are a lot of very different works being displayed at the moment. Some of my favourites include those that touch on the environment, human rights and culture. I really love this exhibit pictured above! It’s practically an experiment to maximise organic waste and reduce plastic consumption. There’s also a great AV work called The Undertow of Sorrow, which shows the remnants of a dead island called Pulau Ubi—it was truly heartbreaking. The more popular exhibits, however, are the wall of post-its with writings that describe the year 2020 on it—called Catatan 2020 azer—and the gadget contraptions for taking selfies—called Hello Goodbye. That should perfectly describes the crowd in Jakarta, eh?
Herheine dress // thrifted top // Noesa hairband // Mount Island mask // Roti Eneng tote bag // photos by Agung
While I’m glad that art is getting more recognition in this country, I cannot help but to cringe at the crowd who comes to art exhibitions these days. You can clearly tell, they see this whole event as a collection of backdrops. Handing their phone to their Instagram sidekicks, they pose by the artwork, not trying to understand it one bit. So much so, that they cannot even tell which ones are part of the exhibition and which ones are interior decor of the hotel. Thankfully, I don’t think anyone damaged anything, so I guess there’s that. Then again, with all these photos of myself in the show, who am I to judge, right?