”Hybridity”, From Photobook to Documentary Film: A Presentation of Visual Works that Explore Environmental Issues through Various Landscapes of Sense
By: Meigitaria Sanita
Exhibition Coordinator and Co-Curator: Zaki Habibi, zaki.habibi@uii.ac.id, IG: @habibizaki
A collective presentation of seventeen visual works was held from November 15th to 17th, 2023 at Cafe Sirkel de Koffie Yogyakarta. The presentation took place in the Retno Winahyu Room, located on the cafe’s second floor, which also serves as a youth and environmental hub. The mini-exhibition was focused on environmental topics and explored through various artistic and thematic approaches.
All the works on display result from production within the last year by staff and several lecturers at the Department of Communications, Universitas Islam Indonesia(UII). After going through various processes, including participation in several local, national, and international scale workshops in Yogyakarta, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, finally, these works could be enjoyed by the wider public in Yogyakarta in mid-November. This presentation entitled “Hybridity” is a form of collaborative work that has been carried out at the Department of Communications, UII Yogyakarta involving lecturers, staff and community activists in various regions in Indonesia.
The “Hybridity” exhibition features various visual works such as photobooks, stage photography, and short documentary films. The exhibition was conducted for three consecutive days, from November 15th to November 17th, 2023, and opened to the public from 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM WIB. It was held at the Retno Winayu Room, located on the 2nd floor of Cafe Sirkel de Koffie, Jalan Jati Ngali No. 138A, Kutu Dukuh, Sinduadi, Mlati, Sleman.
The exhibition’s curatorial theme is “Hybridity,” and it is based on three main premises that underline all the selected works. The first premise is technological hybridity, which refers to the combination of analogue-digital and online-offline technologies. The second premise is value hybridity in everyday life, where private-public and arrogance-tolerance are intertwined. The third premise is modality hybridity, which features visual, sensory, performance, and staging elements. These three premises have become an inseparable part of urban dwellers’ daily lives worldwide. The interweaving of these premises ultimately influences how our lives are shaped through a variety of emotional landscapes and hopes. The Department of Communications at UII Yogyakarta initiated and managed this work presentation with the support of CIRCLE Indonesia, Café Sirkel de Koffie, and Gueari Galeri Jakarta.
List of Works Presented:
- Photobook “Dokumentasi Visual Ekspresi Warga 2019” – creator: Pusat Dokumentasi Media Alternatif (PSDMA) Nadim
- Photobook “Dokumentasi Visual Ekspresi Warga 2020” – PSDMA Nadim
- Photobook “Dokumentasi Visual Ekspresi Warga 2021” – PSDMA Nadim
- Photobook “Main di Alam dan Iman: a homeschooling life” – Sulistiyawati & A Pambudi W
- Photobook “mBrebeki” – Desyatri Parawahyu Mayangsari
- Photobook “Ikan Bilih, Danau Singkarak, dan Masyarakat di Pinggirannya” – Risky Wahyudi
- Photobook “Inside” – Iven Sumardiyantoro
- Photobook “Subtle Encounter” – Zaki Habibi dan Hayu Hamemayu
- Photobook “Abandoned and Beyond” – Zaki Habibi
- Photobook “Sebutlah Nama Tuhanmu Sebelum Tidur” – curator: A Pambudi W, Risky Wahyudi, M.I.T. Gunawan
- Photobook “Messages in Silence” – M.I.T. Gunawan
- “Stage Photography” – Rizka Aulia Ramadhani
- Documentary Film #1 “Panglima Laot” – Directed by: Muzayin Nazaruddin
- Documentary Film #2 “Sweat Dripping in the Ripples of the Rivers” – Directed by: Puji Hariyanti
- Documentary Film #3 “The Man of The Lake” – Directed by: M.I.T. Gunawan
- Documentary Film #4 “Songket” – Directed by: Herman Felani Tanjung
- Documentary Film #5 “The Independence Day, Between Tears and Laughter” – Directed by: M.I.T. Gunawan
The documentary film, “The Independence Day, Between Tears and Laughter,” tells the story of fishing women and the threat of climate change on the coast of Demak. It was successfully nominated for the Best Short Documentary Film at the Indonesian Film Festival 2023.
“The idea for creating the book series “Visual Documentation of Citizens’ Expressions” originated from the desire of friends within the UII Communication Science Study Program to archive the diverse ways that residents express themselves, which extend beyond verbal communication. We have come to recognize these expressions as an important form of communication, and as a way to capture the deepest aspirations of residents in public spaces,” says the author, Putri Asriyani and Ajeng P. Andani, who are part of the staff at the Nadim Alternative Media Documentation Center (PSDMA).
“The idea for creating the book series “Visual Documentation of Citizens’ Expressions” originated from the desire of friends within the UII Communication Science Study Program to archive the diverse ways that residents express themselves, which extend beyond verbal communication. We have come to recognize these expressions as an important form of communication, and as a way to capture the deepest aspirations of residents in public spaces,” says the author, Putri Asriyani and Ajeng P. Andani, who are part of the staff at the Nadim Alternative Media Documentation Center (PSDMA).
“Memory in visual form was perhaps a luxury when photographs were still in the era of roll film. But now, visual memory can mean not only a flood of information but also a riot of emotions. Likewise with this photobook.” – Sulistyawati and A Pambudi W.
“This photobook has the spirit of ‘healing to create, and creating to heal’, not only for yourself but for everyone who sees this book. ‘Healing’ from a ‘wound’ doesn’t have to be through bad things, in fact, many good things can be born from a ‘wound'” – Desyatri Parawahyu Mayangsari.
By watching the presentation of unique works, we can gain various insights and inspiration. Moreover, experiencing each work presented through interactive and sensory exploration in this exhibition space can lead us to understand certain issues and emotional landscapes that we might not have imagined before.