I can’t believe it’s the last weekend of Ramadan already. How did the whole month just pass me by like that? I swear it’d only just started yesterday. Well, never mind, today let us go back in time a little bit to three weekends ago when Agung and I shared our first iftar together. That first Ramadan weekend coincided with the opening of TEMPA‘s solo exhibition—which is our favourite artist duo who we discovered at Artjog a couple years ago. So, without a second thought, away we went.
The exhibition, titled SARI-SARI, is held at Rachel Gallery (inside Wisma Geha building in Menteng) from March 16th to April 28th. Excited to see TEMPA’s works showcased independently in Jakarta, we dropped by on March 17th—the first open-for-public day of the exhibition. We paid our visit in the afternoon and proceeded to have our iftar at Jalan Sabang, a famous culinary street in Jakarta filled with all sorts of street and traditional food. Needless to say, it was a quaint and lovely ngabuburit.
I can’t believe it’s the last weekend of Ramadan already. How did the whole month just pass me by like that? I swear it’d only just started yesterday. Well, never mind, today let us go back in time a little bit to three weekends ago when Agung and I shared our first iftar together. That first Ramadan weekend coincided with the opening of TEMPA‘s solo exhibition—which is our favourite artist duo who we discovered at Artjog a couple years ago. So, without a second thought, away we went.
The exhibition, titled SARI-SARI, is held at Rachel Gallery (inside Wisma Geha building in Menteng) from March 16th to April 28th. Excited to see TEMPA’s works showcased independently in Jakarta, we dropped by on March 17th—the first open-for-public day of the exhibition. We paid our visit in the afternoon and proceeded to have our iftar at Jalan Sabang, a famous culinary street in Jakarta filled with all sorts of street and traditional food. Needless to say, it was a quaint and lovely ngabuburit.
📷 Fujifilm X-T100 with Fujinon Aspherical Superb EBC XC 15-45mm lens
Pieces Falling Into Place
Okay, first, let me tell you a little bit about TEMPA—as much as I know anyhow. TEMPA is an artist collective comprised of husband Putud Utama and wife Rara Kuastra, who are based in Yogyakarta. Previously, they had been creating works individually for years until they started collaborating in 2014. Initially, their collaboration came in the form of stationery design and merchandise. It was only in 2015 did they start to form TEMPA as a collective. As TEMPA, their work tends to take hyperlocal elements from Indonesian vernaculars, as well as the human anatomy, translated into a hodgepodge of collage paintings or modular 3D art—see photos below.
As I’ve mentioned above, Agung and I first saw TEMPA’s work at Artjog 2022. There they mostly showcased their modular 3D art and even had a little interactive corner where anyone can assemble their own version of the modular 3D art in miniature size. It was a lot of fun! We fell in love with their bold colours, vernacular objects and peculiar compositions. It wasn’t long before we stumbled upon their work again—at the Museum De Tjolomadoe. There they created an installation called Taman Magis Wara that uses light play to really tease your sense of vision. Since then on, I became positively obsessed.
Okay, first, let me tell you a little bit about TEMPA—as much as I know anyhow. TEMPA is an artist collective comprised of husband Putud Utama and wife Rara Kuastra, who are based in Yogyakarta. Previously, they had been creating works individually for years until they started collaborating in 2014. Initially, their collaboration came in the form of stationery design and merchandise. It was only in 2015 did they start to form TEMPA as a collective. As TEMPA, their work tends to take hyperlocal elements from Indonesian vernaculars, as well as the human anatomy, translated into a hodgepodge of collage paintings or modular 3D art—see photos below.
As I’ve mentioned above, Agung and I first saw TEMPA’s work at Artjog 2022. There they mostly showcased their modular 3D art and even had a little interactive corner where anyone can assemble their own version of the modular 3D art in miniature size. It was a lot of fun! We fell in love with their bold colours, vernacular objects and peculiar compositions. It wasn’t long before we stumbled upon their work again—at the Museum De Tjolomadoe. There they created an installation called Taman Magis Wara that uses light play to really tease your sense of vision. Since then on, I became positively obsessed.
Unlike their earlier showcase that we saw, for this solo exhibition, TEMPA brought out more of their collage paintings. Honestly, I wished there were more modular 3D art, but I really love the ones they displayed—of course. Since the gallery itself is rather small, there are only a total of 5 series of works—one of which is comprised by as many as 9 paintings (as pictured below) and two of which are comprised of modular 3D art of varying sizes. Agung and I spent a long time looking at the details of each element, trying to analyse the technique and decipher the meaning. My favourite element is the blue anatomy man (pictured above, right).
Every time we see their works, I always feel like bringing some of the elements home—case in point: that blue anatomy man mentioned earlier, or the rug under their modular 3D art. I swear if they ever make a merchandise of these things, I will consider buying them—if nothing else, at least the rug. I feel like it’d be really nice to have one of their works at home, you know.
Thrifted shirt + dress // Roti Eneng tote bag // ANDiE earrings // VOTED socks // old boots
photos of me by Agung
Unlike their earlier showcase that we saw, for this solo exhibition, TEMPA brought out more of their collage paintings. Honestly, I wished there were more modular 3D art, but I really love the ones they displayed—of course. Since the gallery itself is rather small, there are only a total of 5 series of works—one of which is comprised by as many as 9 paintings (as pictured below) and two of which are comprised of modular 3D art of varying sizes. Agung and I spent a long time looking at the details of each element, trying to analyse the technique and decipher the meaning. My favourite element is the blue anatomy man (pictured above, right).
Every time we see their works, I always feel like bringing some of the elements home—case in point: that blue anatomy man mentioned earlier, or the rug under their modular 3D art. I swear if they ever make a merchandise of these things, I will consider buying them—if nothing else, at least the rug. I feel like it’d be really nice to have one of their works at home, you know.
Thrifted shirt + dress // Roti Eneng tote bag // ANDiE earrings // VOTED socks // old boots
photos of me by Agung
Such a Perfect Fit
After we saw enough of the exhibition, it was time to get ready for iftar war. We made our way to Jalan Sabang, which is located not too far away from the gallery. It was only around 4 PM by the time we made our trip, but we were worried of not getting any parking or a place to eat if we didn’t get there early. It turns out we got there too early (lol). To pass the time, we decided to just walk up and down the street, while also deciding where to eat later. At this time, it was almost golden hour and most of the food stalls are only getting ready to open. For context, the sun sets at around 6 PM, so we still had 2 hours ahead of us by this point. We were so clueless of what to do that we started touring supermarkets in the area—hey, but we love groceries, so it was a normal pastime for us, really.
Around 5 PM, without much else to do, we decided to settle into Toko Kopi Tuku—yes, they also have an outlet here, which is interestingly located above a supermarket, right next to a dentist. We waited for the sunset—or, in Islamic prayer time, Maghrib—and scheduled our orders. I chose Tuku’s signature Es Kopi Susu Tetangga, while Agung opted for their Es Teh Remon. When the adzan was heard, Agung and I broke our fast with our pre-ordered drinks, the fried food we got from a stall outside and some nice takjils (finger foods or mocktails for iftar) made by Agung’s Mum. It was such a quaint iftar date.
For dinner, after careful consideration, we decided to try Warung Soto Ceker & Ranjau Pak Gendut. Like many food vendors on this street, this is actually a food tent located across the street from our coffee shop. It was one of the food stalls that we saw recommended on a food blog somewhere, so we thought why not. Okay, so there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the chicken feet (ceker) is actually very soft and delicious. The bad news is…well, nothing else is—much to Agung’s dismay. Well, at least we tried, right?
This is actually our second time spending our date at Jalan Sabang
Hopefully, next time we will be able to try more favourable food and take more gorgeous photos!
After we saw enough of the exhibition, it was time to get ready for iftar war. We made our way to Jalan Sabang, which is located not too far away from the gallery. It was only around 4 PM by the time we made our trip, but we were worried of not getting any parking or a place to eat if we didn’t get there early. It turns out we got there too early (lol). To pass the time, we decided to just walk up and down the street, while also deciding where to eat later. At this time, it was almost golden hour and most of the food stalls are only getting ready to open. For context, the sun sets at around 6 PM, so we still had 2 hours ahead of us by this point. We were so clueless of what to do that we started touring supermarkets in the area—hey, but we love groceries, so it was a normal pastime for us, really.
Around 5 PM, without much else to do, we decided to settle into Toko Kopi Tuku—yes, they also have an outlet here, which is interestingly located above a supermarket, right next to a dentist. We waited for the sunset—or, in Islamic prayer time, Maghrib—and scheduled our orders. I chose Tuku’s signature Es Kopi Susu Tetangga, while Agung opted for their Es Teh Remon. When the adzan was heard, Agung and I broke our fast with our pre-ordered drinks, the fried food we got from a stall outside and some nice takjils (finger foods or mocktails for iftar) made by Agung’s Mum. It was such a quaint iftar date.
For dinner, after careful consideration, we decided to try Warung Soto Ceker & Ranjau Pak Gendut. Like many food vendors on this street, this is actually a food tent located across the street from our coffee shop. It was one of the food stalls that we saw recommended on a food blog somewhere, so we thought why not. Okay, so there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that the chicken feet (ceker) is actually very soft and delicious. The bad news is…well, nothing else is—much to Agung’s dismay. Well, at least we tried, right?
This is actually our second time spending our date at Jalan Sabang
Hopefully, next time we will be able to try more favourable food and take more gorgeous photos!