Graffiti may be perceived as a form of vandalism to some people, but residents living in a dense, crammed alley in South Jakarta have a different perspective.

Walls along community unit (RW) 03 on Jl. Jatayu in Kebayoran Lama are graffitied with dozens of images by local and foreign artists invited by Jakarta-based graffiti community Gardu House for its “Project Kampung.”

Graffiti of animals, flowers and even skulls were painted in 19 spots in the area, mostly on the walls of residents’ houses, for two days starting on Dec. 12. Children, teenagers and women alike were seen taking photos with the graffiti as the background.

The idea to graffiti the alley was initiated by RW head Ratnasari after she saw an alley in October located near the Gardu House office in Ciputat, South Jakarta, decorated with graffiti.

She then tried to do the same thing for her neighborhood.

“This is a positive thing that can inspire youngsters around the neighborhood so that they won’t paint in random places,” Ratna said.

Ratna also felt certain that graffiti could adorn the street and provide a different scene for passersby.

Gardu House is holding a street culture festival, Street Dealin XI. One of the events is a Project Kampung, but RW 03 does not have to prepare spray paint or tools to do the graffiti.

Joined by 33 artists from Asia and Europe, the event may be one of the biggest graffiti-related projects in the country. Twenty-five artists out of 33 painted the wall, of which nine are from China, Thailand, the Philippines, Germany and Belgium.

The Indonesian artists came from several cities, including Medan, North Sumatra; Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan; and Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

Street Dealin XI project manager Bima Chris said the community began to paint graffiti in a neighborhood last year to show residents living around their office their skills.

“The project is expected to change the stigma of street art, [to show] graffiti is not always vandalism,” Bima said.

Therefore, he hopes that other graffiti communities will follow suit and create their own project. Gardu House does not want to focus only on graffiti on their project, but also wants to develop spaces, like skate parks, for young adults to express themselves.

Gardu House is willing to assist other communities in the next few years if they want to do something similar.

“It’s nice because the residents are supportive and so friendly. They even give us snacks and drinks when we’re around their house painting the walls,” Bima said.

A resident, Erna, 53, said her house wall had also been painted, and she was excited because she liked the artists’ work.

“I honestly don’t understand the painting, but it looks good and makes our neighborhood look cleaner. We should’ve done this long time ago,” she said, adding that other community units were inspired to do the same thing.

RW 03 on Jl. Jatayu is a narrow street and a dense area, consisting of nine neighborhood units (RT) with about 500 families.

Therefore, when the artists painted the wall, plenty of residents, especially children and teenagers, could see their process.

One of the artists, Kai “Raws” Imhof, from Germany, said it was his first time painting graffiti in a neighborhood in an Asian country.

He was amazed with the support and excitement from local residents, as they were enthusiastic to see him paint. “I’ll definitely participate in more events like this in Asia,” Kai said.

Popular

Cambodia and Thailand agree to ASEAN observers to ensure ceasefire holds

'Kebaya': Living history, modern elegance

Two Chinese nationals die in Bali boat accident