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Pop culture and the rise of a creative economy
Avid fans: Visitors buy comics and merchandise of the Garudayana saga created by Is Yuniarto
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Avid fans: Visitors buy comics and merchandise of the Garudayana saga created by Is Yuniarto. (JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak) (JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)
Avid fans: Visitors buy comics and merchandise of the Garudayana saga created by Is Yuniarto. (JP/Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak)
What a decade ago was still considered a passing craze over global pop culture has settled into a resilient business in Indonesia.
The existence of comic artists, illustrators, game programmers, toy makers and animation filmmakers, all very much influenced by their Japanese and American counterparts, have gained momentum this year with the new government set to dedicate a ministry for the development of creative industries.
In the third Popcon Asia, held recently at the SMESCO Exhibition Hall in Pancoran, South Jakarta, 41 companies and 66 artists ' individuals and in groups ' took part in the three-day festival, the largest and the longest running of its kind in Jakarta.
Attendance figures were higher than in recent years, which, according to the event initiator Dennis Adhiswara, proved how local artists had turned the tables in their favor.
He said that while the first event in 2012 was more to introduce the work of domestic talents at the international level, this year organizers collaborated with international-class artists, aiming at the local market.
For example, Marvel Comics penciler Harvey Tolibao (X-Men, Psylocke and Silver Surfer) made a cover for a Volt comic, a creation of Marcellino Lefrandt and Aswin Siregar.
Also appearing at the festival for a 'jamstrip' and doodle battle with other comic artists was Ardian Syaf, the Indonesian penciler for DC, Marvel and Dynamite Comics (Batgirl, Miss Fury, Brightest Day, Captain Britain).
'The festival in itself opened possibilities of collaboration among artists. We're all friends here,' said Dennis.
Among the talents was Bandung-based Jun of Jotter Production, who had worked for foreign companies producing web games, and Yogyakarta-based Heru Jalal, who penciled Ignition-8 with creator Darren Gallagher.
'I was looking for an illustrator and received 20 works from different countries. A panel of judges picked the work of pak Heru,' said the Australian in eloquent Indonesian.
Although they only met in person for the first time at the festival for the comic launch, they have been long-term friends.
'We will collaborate again for the next series and other projects after this,' Gallagher said, adding that their comics would be clean so that his and Heru's toddlers could read them.
'We're not into politics and our works are just beyond the bilateral relationships of both countries.'
Popcon program director Mayumi Haryoto, the founder of illustrator agency Fabula, said that the event was aimed at promoting the intellectual property of domestic talents and at the same time finding a market for their works.
'Through this event, we want to encourage local creative workers with internationally recognized quality to upgrade their work,' she said.
It is not a far-fetched goal.
The Visual creative workers now have a place to showcase their work online for potential clients.
Kreavi.com, founded by Benny Fajarai in 2011 when he was only 21, has become a home for artist-curated works. The social networking platform currently has more than 20,000 users.
Among them are Renata Owen, a student at Ciputra University, who got a job to design the label for Aqua for its 40th anniversary edition bottled water under the theme of 'Temukan Indonesiamu' (Find Your Indonesia) and Tommy Chandra, who created the Indonesia Independence Day edition for Google Doodle this year.
