Indonesian and international graphic designers expressed their excitement and hopes over the reelection of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo through 45 posters unveiled at an exhibition in Jakarta on Thursday.

Held at the lobby of Epiwalk Kuningan, South Jakarta, until Saturday, the 2019 Joko Widodo - Ma’ruf Amin Poster Exhibition is organized by Alumni Menteng 64 (AM64), a group of Kolese Kanisius Catholic high school alumni that publicly supported Jokowi and his running mate Ma’ruf Amin in the presidential race.

The exhibition is held in collaboration with Worldwide Graphic Designers (WGD) and features 22 Indonesian and 22 foreign designers. The latter are from a range of countries including Australia, Greece and the United Arab Emirates.

The number 22, seen throughout the exhibition, refers to May 22, the day when the election result was announced.

AM64 chairman Irlan Suud said they had initially planned to open the exhibition on the same date but then decided to delay it, owing to the widespread unrest and the Supreme Court appeal filed by rival candidate pair Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno.

The posters vary in style and message, ranging from a floral composition emblazoned with the words Indonezi Taika Joje (Indonesia, Peace in It) by Lithuanian Anastasia Kulazshenko and a maze placing Jokowi and Ma’ruf on the road to peace by Luis Yánez of Mexico to an 8-bit style rendering of the pair by Elham Khodabandeh from Iran.

Indonesian participants include Elwin Mok, who was the communications director of the Indonesian Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC), as well as Hari Prast, whose Tintin-style renderings of Jokowi catapulted him into the public eye during the 2014 presidential election.

Hari’s submission for the exhibition depicts Jokowi alongside Ma’ruf greeting a crowd, with two doves and the Indonesian flag visible in the background. The president-elect in a speech bubble thanks his supporters, adding that the true winner is Indonesia.

Meanwhile, Ronald Gunawan’s poster is a hand-drawn comic showing Jokowi and Ma’ruf pictured alongside Indonesians from all elements of society. The poster features the names “Tokomedia” and “Gojok” — alluding to the real-world brands of Indonesian unicorn companies Tokopedia and Go-Jek.

Those looking to own one of the posters can acquire them for a donation of Rp 1 million (US$71.11) per poster, with the proceeds going to fund future events by WGD and AM64.

In his speech to open the gallery, Creative Economy Agency (Bekraf) head Triawan Munaf noted that it was high time for the creative economy to support Jokowi for the next five years in modern ways.

“If we look at these posters, they symbolize how the freedom under Jokowi’s administration has advanced the creativity of individuals. In the next poster exhibition, the theme can be criticism of Jokowi, because we shouldn’t always praise him but also criticize the government,” Triawan said.

Triawan said the medium of posters should not be confined to Cold War-style propaganda but should be used by artists to promote positive values, like tolerance and democracy.

Also present at the ceremony were pianist Ananda Sukarlan and Eko Sulistyo, who is in charge of political communication at the Executive Office of the President.

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