TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
inDrive-Gardu House creative collab empower users with free choice
International ride-hailing application inDrive has debuted its collaboration with Gardu House, a creative studio and artists management group.
Change Size
I
nternational ride-hailing application inDrive has debuted its collaboration with Gardu House, a creative studio and artists management group. Bringing together six Indonesian visual artists, the partnership painted wall murals themed “#SentuhanManusia” (human touch) along the Kendal underpass, located near BNI Train Station in Central Jakarta.
“Everyone is so busy rushing around, especially in a central hub like [Jakarta]. And what we wanted to highlight was the impersonal interactions between us and the apps that we use,” said Adrian Ho, creative team lead at inDrive Asia-Pacific (APAC).
“So, we hope to raise the question and make people realize that the interactions they have with their apps on a daily basis is lacking that humanity, that human touch. With our app, we are trying to bring that back,” he said.
What sets inDrive apart from other ride-hailing apps is that it provides an option for riders and drivers to negotiate the trip price to ensure fair and more affordable travel.
Speaking to reporters at a media briefing, inDrive said it aimed to incorporate and prioritize human empathy in its application to give both riders and drivers a chance to connect, instead of just buying and selling a service.
“The main difference is that inDrive is a peer-to-peer platform, rather than ride-hailing. Basically, it’s providing freedom of choice [through] peer-to-peer communication, and we are just the platform to connect the people,” explained Georgy Malkov, inDrive Indonesia country manager.
The company has been operating in Indonesia since 2019 and is present in 50 cities. In addition to negotiating the price of a trip with their driver, riders are also offered optional preferences in rating drivers, setting a pickup time and selecting the vehicle model.
To ensure user safety, inDrive provides a variety of security features, including the share trip feature and a safety button that connects users directly with emergency services.
“The rebranding is more than just a change of color or [dropping] one letter. It comes back to refocusing our effort and drive to bring fairness to people,” Ho said, regarding the company’s recent rebranding from inDriver to inDrive. He underlined that the brand’s main mission was to create person-to-person interactions.
Malkov added that inDrive had seen a significant increase in users this year.
The brand’s latest collaboration with Gardu House is intended to help empower local artists, with Ho revealing that he had been following the group for some time, and that he genuinely liked their past projects. It was hoped that the six artists, by telling their stories through their murals, would remind people that they can make their own decisions, free from the shackles of digital algorithms.
“[Street art] is definitely more accepted nowadays. In the past, it was an outlawed activity. But it’s about creative freedom and expression, and we support creative freedom,” continued Ho.
“Our company is based on fighting injustice, drivers fighting against monopolies. Artists are very familiar with control. We want people to be free, that’s why we wanted to work with mural artists because they create elements that allow people to interact with [them].”
Koma, one of the artists who appeared at the briefing, revealed that the inspiration for his art comes from the urban complexity of Jakarta, with people rushing about every day on a tight schedule. The hand in his mural symbolized technology, which restricted the freedom of people’s movement.
Gardu House art director Bima Chris said the collaboration presented a new challenge for its artists, as they were only able to work for a few hours at night because of the location of the project’s site, known as one of the busiest spots in Jakarta. He added that another challenge was to find a message that aligned with inDrive’s values, as this was the Gardu House’s first time collaborating with a technology company.
Bima expressed his appreciation for inDrive for inviting the group and giving them a platform to gain greater exposure.
They Gardu House artists’ murals are on a partition wall, covering two previous murals commissioned by the government. The work of the six artists will be available for public viewing until Jan. 4, 2022.
“You have seen the murals, that’s how we support [artists],” said Malkov.
“To be honest, creative projects and activities like that is one of the first [for inDrive], but I’m not saying it should be the last. We do a lot of social projects as well besides the business itself,” he said.
