ART & CULTURE

First-ever JIPFest captures struggle for identity
JOSA LUKMAN
THE JAKARTA POSTJakarta / Tue, July 2, 2019 / 05:48 pm

Who am I?: Visual artist Agan Harahap created a series of ﬁctive portraits
titled 'Mardijker Photo Studio' as his response to the rise of identity
politics in many parts of the world, including Indonesia. (JIPFest/-)The inaugural Jakarta International Photo Festival (JIPFest) brings to the fore people’sstruggle with and for identity.
Walk into the Rubanah art space in Menteng, Central Jakarta, one of these days and you’ll
find a series of portraits of Mardijker people. Mardijker, taken from the Sanskrit mahardika,means freedom. During Dutch rule in the 17th century, the term was used to describe
Catholic descendants of freed slaves of Portuguese colonizers who settled in Batavia (nowJakarta).
The collection titled Mardijker Photo Studio is of the creations of noted visual artist AganHarahap.
Agan says he created the fictive portraits in 2014 after being intrigued by the ambiguity ofMardijker identity, a people who were accepted neither by the Dutch nor indigenous
Indonesians, then known as pribumi.
Josa Lukman, First-ever JIPFest captures struggle for identity, The Jakarta Post, ( Accessed date 5 July 2019 )https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2019/07/02/first-ever-jipfest-captures-struggle-for-identity.html

“I created fiction from the Mardijker while highlighting the state of our nation these days,
where politics has turned some into a sort of xenophobic super-nationalism espousing of
the pribumi race,” Agan told The Jakarta Post over the phone.
“Our nation these days is no different from the Mardijker, who were confused about theiridentity.”
Mardijker Photo Studio is part of an exhibition titled “Identity in Contemporary
Photography”, displayed alongside the works of other photographers such as Christina
Phan, Jordy Ramadhan and Ve Dhanito.
The exhibition is part of the Jakarta International Photo Festival (JIPFest).
Running from June 25 to July 9, JIPFest brings together more than 50 experts in the field toparticipate in various activities, ranging from photo exhibitions and panel discussions tourban photo tours. Festival director Cristian Rahadiansyah told thePost that the festival was born from a conversation he had with photographer Ng Swan Ti of
the Pannafoto Institute at the end of June last year.
“The background behind JIPFest was quite diverse, but there were three main objectives,
the first was to create a space for photographers and the pub
lic to meet, share and collaborate. The second was more commercial, to create a sort ofmarketplace for photographers to sell their works and services as well as to expand theirnetwork.”“The third was a bit subjective and ambitious, as a way of promoting Indonesia in theinternational photography scene. This is why we inviteda number of influential foreign experts, in the hope thatthey will notice our own talent,” he said.
“Identity” is chosen as the festival’s central theme toreflect Indonesia’s diverse cultures and ethnicities.
“[The theme is also] relevant in a contemporary context,”
Cristian said. “In many countries, including Indonesia,
identity politics is on the rise, as seen from the rise ofright wing groups. JIPFest wants to respond to thatthrough the photographers’ works and public dialogue.”
While the main venue of JIPFest is located in Taman
Ismail Marzuki in Central Jakarta, many of the events arealso held in dozens of public venues across the city.
“There are many excellent works that do not reach thepublic. By exhibiting in different venues, it means that
there are many channels to reach a larger audience. The
idea is simple, we don’t want the public to come to theworks, but rather the works reach out to the public,”
Cristian explained.
Along with JIPFest’s main events and exhibitions, thefestival will also host several “fringe” events, which arerun by local photographic communities from Yogyakarta; Jombang, East Java; and Kupang
in East Nusa Tenggara, among other places.
The “fringe” events, which do not necessarily have the same theme as JIPFest, range fromworkshops on selflove through portraits to discussions on photo archiving.
“JIPFest strives to be a communal platform for all. There are a lot of communities andorganizations across the country, and we want JIPFest to be a space to promote, exhibit andhold events,” Cristian said, adding that the events were free of charge.
“I hope that once they return from Jakarta, they will be inspired to create breakthroughs intheir hometowns, including photography festivals. This is why in the beginning I chose thename ‘Jakarta International Photo Festival’ instead of ‘Indonesia International PhotoFestival’, along with the fact that the latter is unwieldy when shortened.”