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A creative outlet for women’s issues in Indonesia
The creative minds behind the comic strips and podcast Problema Nona tackle everyday struggles of Indonesian women.
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A panel from the comic strip showcasing a woman being asked questions about her relationship status during a family gathering - a relatable issue for most Indonesian women. (JP/Courtesy of Problema Nona)
B
eing a mother changed Sanchia Hamidjaja, a visual artist and illustrator based in Jakarta – not only as a person, but also in her creative output and in the way she approaches things.
“A few years ago, I won funding from the Ford Foundation through a project called Cipta Media Ekspresi,” she says. “It’s a graphic novel about motherhood, based on the life story of my friend who is married to someone from Brimob, the special forces of the Indonesian National Police.”
They met at their kids’ kindergarten, and Sanchia appreciated encountering so many different mothers from various backgrounds and loved listening to their stories.
“It was a precious time for me, and I became friends with many of them,” she recalls. “It also made me realize that I need to tell the other women’s stories as well. In addition to my graphic novel project, I decided to create smaller, shorter stories about these women as well.”
Sanchia teamed up with her friend Mar Galo, a copywriter and musician, and together they launched Problema Nona.
“It started as a comic strip on Instagram, where we highlighted short stories of daily problems that women in Indonesia have to face,” Mar explains.
She stresses that it’s important to remember that neither her nor Sanchia have a background in gender studies or move in academic circles, but that the issues they tackle are based on their own observations.
