Modified Moped

Photo caption: A modified moped (underbones, motorcycle, or motobike) displayed in Balkot Festival 2012. This moped belongs to a member of FCMB (Forum Club Motor Bandung) or Bandung Motor Club Forum, one of creative community organizations that takes part in the festival.

About Forum Club Motor Bandung (FCMB)

FCMB is a forum 23 motor clubs. It was founded on 27 July 2006. Its mission, according the forum's blog whose link I gave above, is to provide a forum whereby the city's 'bikers' "can foster their potential and creativity and develop programs that benefit the community".

Reading and Creativity Cafe

Today I was invited for a photography exhibition and discussion at S-28, a bookstore cafe and an 'oleh-oleh' store (oleh-oleh = gifts/presents one brings home from a trip) on Sulanjana street.

The exhibition displayed the works of very young photographers aged between 8 and 15 years old. The discussion was on how children express themselves through the medium of photography and how photography education could benefit and help them explore and express their creativity. It was an interesting discussion.

But no less interesting was the place where the exhibition and discussion were held. It was filled with young people who came there not just to enjoy the coffee or snacks but to do some serious stuff too. I saw a couple of groups engaging themselves in what looked like creative project discussions - one over a laptop and the other over some posters of some sort. Then I also saw quite a few 'loners' reading books and scribbling what looked like some serious academic notes.



Frankly speaking, I was surprised and pleased to see this. The scene reminded me of some American university towns that I have visited, where cafes were not only a place for relaxing and socializing but also a place where students would come together to read books and have some serious discussions about their academic projects.



Then it came down upon me that this cafe was located near ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology) and a couple of other university campuses. That might explain why many of its visitors are engaged in what looked like some academic activities.

That aside, I was once informed by some students of mine that there were actually quite a number of cafes in Bandung that are quite popular among the creative youth communities: musicians, bloggers, web designers, and photographers. I have yet to explore them. But this and a couple of other cafes that I have often visited convinced me that cafes in this city are the nursery of creativity. It is part of the engine that makes Bandung one of the most vibrant creative cities in Indonesia.

By the way, here are some of the children's photographic works exhibited at the cafe.

Look who is (are) watching?

Do you sometimes feel that you're being watched by invisible eyes when you're walking pass a narrow urban alleyway at night?

That's eerie!

But look for the invisible eyes no more. In one of the alleyways on Kebon Sirih street, Bandung, the watching eyes are visible; and they belong to funny cartoon figures painted along the walls.

I don't know who painted them, but I think they add a nice touch to the otherwise grey urban concrete scene.

Here's another one:

Bandung Pinhole Community

This is the exhibit of photographs taken with pinhole cameras at the booth of Komunitas Lubang Jarum Indonesia (KLJI) Bandung at last Sunday's West Java Leather Craft Galery event.

KLJI is a member of Pinhole Indonesia, Indonesia's network of pinhole photography lovers.



Here is one of the cameras used to take the exhibit photos. As you can see, a pinhole camera is very simple. It has no lense and consists of a light-proof chamber, where you place a photographic paper or film, a hole the size of a pin (thus the name pinhole) to let in the light that is needed to expose the paper or film, and a lid that opens and closes the hole to control the exposure. The chamber may be of any shapes. In the above photo, the chamber is triangular. This kind of chamber will produce a wide-angle or panoramic image.

A pinhole camera can also have an zoom in and zoom out capability. To do that, the chamber has to have the shape of a rectangular beam and the medium of exposure (film or photographic paper) has to be placed on a seperate slider (see the above photo). If you are interested in making your own pinhole camera, this Kodak article may be of interest to you.

Origami in Bandung

A variety of creative communites was also taking part in yesterday's exhibition. One of them was Maya Hirai School of Origami.

Maya Hirai School of Origami was established by Maya Ismayanti, a housewife and a mother of four children, on November 11, 2009. Maya learned the art of origami from Takako Hirai San, one of the most respected origami teachers in Japan, when she accompanied her husband to study there.

Maya's origami school is the offspring of the origami internet community that she established (while she was still in Japan) to share her enthusiasm for this old Japanese paper folding art. The enthusiastic responses she received from the members of her community and the continuous overflow of invitations she received to conduct workshops throughout the country eventually made her decide to open her own origami school.

Maya, who is now considered to be a foremost origami sinsei (teacher) in Indonesia, is the holder of Nippon Origami Association (NOA) certificate. She now lives in Bandung with her family.



These paper dolls are some of the items that were exhibited at her school's booth at the exhibition.



An intricate and colorful paper cube chain. It's amazing what origami can do.

Accidental Installation Art?

While I was walking down the Asia Afrika street the other day, I spotted this interesting piece of - shall I say - art?

A painter was apparently trying to sell his painting on the pedestrian walk and hanged it on the steel bars of a closed shop. He also hanged his helmet next to it, therefore accidentally creating some sort of installation art (?). The vertical steel bars, the abstract painting, and the black helmet somewhat made an eye-catching composition that transformed the otherwise dull look of rusty steel bars on the sidewalk into something that's worth stopping and looking.

I don't know if the artist did it on purpose (he was not there when I took the photo, perhaps away for lunch). Being an artist, perhaps he did. If he did not, he certainly had accidentally and out of aesthetic instinct created an installation art display.

Installation art, as I understand it, is a three dimensional work of art that is designed to change/transform the perception of a space. It is usually made indoors. Those outdoors are usually called land art.

The Ninjas of Bandung

These authentic-looking Ninjas (Shinobis) in action are not real humans. These figures are only dolls made of pieces of cloth and bamboo sticks. They are made-in-Bandung souvenirs. They can be easily found on Cihampelas Street and other places of interest. They are inexpensive too. So next time you visit Bandung, you may want to get them for your friends and relatives at home.

Bamboo Fashions

These bamboo fashions are designed and made by a group of students of STSI or Sekolah Tinggi Senirupa Indonesia (Indonesian Higher School of Art) Bandung. They were exhibited at Paris Van Java at the occasion of the Bambu Nusantara Festival that I reported earlier.

Twelve pieces designed by nine different student designers were in exhibit. I'm showing you two of them here. The one in the top photo is entitled "Warrior" and the one at the bottom is entitled "Porcupine". Both are designed by Afridanessa Chita Dewi.

Creativity

Creative minds have no limits. Somebody with creative ideas and nimble hands has carved the remain of this fallen coconut tree into an interesting piece of sculpture.

Bandung Creative City: Creativity Nurtured

Creativity, a mental and social process whereby new concepts or ideas are generated, is a complex phenomenon. Different branches of sciece have studied it. However, up to this point, there are no unified authoritative explanations yet of how it is generated or how it can be nurtured. Some say, it's a Divine gift. Some others say it has to do with personality traits or social environment. There are even people who believe that it happens by chance.

Regardless of the theoretical debates, there is enough evidence that some communities are more creative than others as shown by the creative works they have produced. This phenomenon can probably show that creativity is to a large extent socially generated and nurtured. Based on this assumption, Nickerson (1999), for example, proposed some techniques whereby creativity can be generated and nurtured. Some of these techniques include encouraging confidence and willingness to take risks and providing opportunities for choice and discoveries.



Bandung Creative City is not just a title that has been awarded to this city for nothing. A lot of trend-setting creative products of fashion, designs, architecture, and music have been made in the city. 80 percent of Indonesia's top music groups, for example, originates from this city. Big names that are currently at the top music charts in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, such as Peterpan, The Cangchuters, and Kuburan - just to mention a few - are originally from Bandung.

The emergence of these groups does not come by chance. This city nurtures creativity by providing a lot of opportunities for young aspiring talents to experiment, show, and perform their creative works. These photos of young emerging music groups performing on stages set on Braga street sometime ago are just some examples of how the city nurtures creativity.

Bandung: City of Fashion

According to a recent survey, one of the things that makes Bandung attractive to visitiors is its fashion industry. Indeed, one of the things that one would not usually want to miss when visiting Bandung is the multitude of Factory Outlets (or FO) it offers. Here, visitors could literally shop clothing items and their accessories of all kinds till they - quite literally - drop, that is to say that you will need all the stamina you have to be able to explore the choices you have here, and all for prices that are so affordable to many.

The fashion industry, being part of the creative industry, is one of the things that has won Bandung the appointment as one of East Asia's creative industry centers. To encourage and support the growth of this kind of industry, the government and private sectors alike often organize events - big and small - towards that end. Some of the bigger regular events that I have previously posted here are The Helar Fest, Kemilau Nusantara, and The Braga Fest. In addition to these big and regular events, there are numerous other smaller events usually held at the local level. The photos I posted here, for example, are of a local fashion show recently held at one of the supermarkets here as part of Bandung Young Fashion Designers Competition, showing the finalists' designs.



Statistics shows that about IDR 79 billion (about USD 7.5 million at the current rate) of revenue per month is generated by the creative industry in this city. Futhermore, the creative industry absorbs about 650,000 workers of the city's work force working for the various aspects of it.

Night Butterflies

Still from the same place I wrote about in yesterday's post ... Here, the butterflies don't only fly during the day, but also at night. And yes, I do think they look more beautiful at night.

My World: Spiderman on Cihampelas

Jalan Cihampelas (Cihampelas Street), Bandung, is very well known for its apparel and fashion shops, but above all, jeans! That's how it got its nick name: Jeans Street. What's unique about the shops on this street is that they are decorated in such a way that they become an attraction of their own. It's probably the only street outside Hollywood where Rambo in action is positioned next to Aladdin and his flying carpet and other fictional heroes like Superman and, as I framed in this photo, Spiderman.

The fictional character spiderman (also spelled spider-man), by the way, was first introduced to the public in August 1962 in a Marvel Comics published comics book "Amazing Fantasy". His real name in the story is Peter Benjamin Parker. The superhero was created by Stan Lee (the scripter and editor) and Steve Ditko (the plotter artist).

This post is Bandung Daily Photo's participation in My World Tuesday meme. Too see other posts of the participating blogs of My World meme, please follow the link.

"Komunitas Kalangan Atas" Art Community

This sculpture is one of the art works exhibited at Braga Festival last December. It is crafted from the whole root of bamboo by Tedy K., the artist and craftsman and the copyrights holder of this piece of art work. Tedy K. is a naturally talented artist and a member of the "Komunitas Kalangan Atas" Art Community.

The "Komunitas Kalangan Atas" Art Community works and permanent exhibits can be found at their workshop at Dago Tea House on Jalan Dago Selatan 53A, Bandung.

I Love Traffic Jam?

"I love traffic jam!"

What?!!!

Yes! You did not misread it. That's the advertising slogal written on this car with wings parked on Jalan Diponegoro, in front of Gedung Sate gubernatorial office mansion, in Bandung.



What does it advertise and sell? Cell phones!

What do cell phones have to do with traffic jam? It's not that difficult to see.

I'm just wondering if this uniquely designed car is also found anywhere else.

Street Photography # 9: Bandung's Youth Culture

Look at the T-shirt this young man is wearing.

Terrorism is horrific, but to fight it and fall into that other thing written on his t-shirt is like escaping the mouth of a tiger and falling into the mouth of a crocodile.

However, I don't think this young man is serious about smoking the homegrown thing (I certainly hope not). Like any young people anywhere, the t-shirt he has chosen to wear may just be a rebellious expression of his young mind.

Rebellious and out of the league expressions are one of the many distinctive features of youth subculture. These expressions can be found in their behaviors, fashions, choices of music genres, vehicles, and even the slangs and language they use.

There are many theories that have been proposed or used by experts to explain about youth subculture. Among them, Stuart Hall's and Tony Jefferson's (1993) and that of the Frankfurt School of Marxist Theory are, I think, most interesting. According to the former, youth subcultures are the symbolic and ritualistic manifestations of attempts to defy the hegemonic power of the bourgeois by a deliberate adoption of symbolic actions that challenge the establishment. The latter theory, meanwhile, suggests that the intrinsically consumerist characteristics of the youth subculture is an inseparable part of the divide-and-rule strategy of capitalism.

I took this photograph at the HELAR Fest held in Bandung last August. The HELAR Fest, as I mentioned in a couple of my previous posts, is an annual event that celebrates Bandung as an emerging creative city. Creativity, as well as the HELAR Fest itself, is the domain of the youths. They are the powerhouse of the future.

Bandung Street Theater: Silverman

Being a creative city, Bandung nurtures and encourages a lot of creative groups. This silverman performing a theatrical act at Braga Fest is a member of Pasundan University's LISMA student art and performance club.

Braga Fest, as I said before, is one of Bandung's many annual cultural festivals. It's held every year at the last week of December.

Bandung Emerging Creative City

Bandung may not be perfect as a city. Despite its many flaws, however, it is a vibrant and lovable city; and one of the many things that its residents as well as visitors love about it is its creative atmosphere.

Bandung is home to some of Indonesia's top art and design schools, e.g. Bandung Institute of Technology's School of Art and Design, STSI (Indonesia's Academy of Art), to name but a few. Many of Indoesia's top artists, actors, actresses, and singers and music groups are also from this city. In addition to this, Bandung is also considered by many as Indonesia's fashion capital and trend-setter. What happens in this city in the ways of art, culture, design, fashion, and lifestyle is fast spreading to other parts of Indonesia and beyond.

As a recognition for its contribution to Indonesia's and the region's development of creative industry, Bandung was recently named as one of the two pilot project cities for the development of creative-industry-based economy in East Asia by an international conference of cities with creative-industry economy. This sculpture on the junction of Jalan Dipati Ukur (Dipati Ukur Street) and Jalan Ir. H. Juanda at Dago is one of the markers installed throughout the city to celebrate Bandung as an emerging creative city.

Bandung's Zebra Crossing

We all know what zebra crossing is and why it is named after that horse-like, native African animal. What most of us don't probably know is when and how this sign for pedestrian crossing began.

According to wikipedia, zebra crossing was first used in the United Kingdom (UK) in 1949. Originally, the stripes of the zebra crossing were not white as we now know but alternating stips of blue and yellow.

This true-to-name zebra crossing may not be the first in the world, but I personally think that, considering the name, this is what zebra crossing should look like.

I took this photo on Jalan Dipatiukur (Dipatiukur Street) at Dago, Bandung. This zebra-"zebra crossing" was painted by an artist to go with a sculpture that was put in place as part of the celebration of Bandung Creative City (BCC) project.

For your information, Bandung was named and chosen as East Asia's pilot project of crative city at an international conference of world cities with creative-industry economy at Yokohama, Japan, in July this year. The choice was made because Bandung was considered as a regional trend-setter in this kind of industry. In the past ten years, Bandung's creative industry products have set the trends among millions of young people in many other cities in the region.