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Jakarta makes bid for UNESCO titles in literature
Capital home to nearly one-fifth of all of Indonesia’s publishing houses
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Gisela Swaragita
The Jakarta Post Jakarta
Jakarta is seeking international accolades to brand itself as a city with a deep appreciation for literature and the publishing world, but readers and publishers alike have suggested that administrators go get a reality check.
The city aims to become UNESCO's World Book Capital and City of Literature, two prestigious titles that celebrate cities with an extraordinary dedication to publishing and literature, respectively.
“Over the past few years, Jakarta has championed improving citizens’ literacy levels as one of our main programs. We also provide books in many locations in public places to be read on-site,” Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said in a recent press statement.
“Jakarta is ready for the two [titles].”
The capital city is the seat of nearly one-fifth of all of Indonesia’s publishing houses and has registered close to 15,000 unique book title identifiers under the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system.
The city also hosts a number of literary festivals such as the Indonesia International Book Fair (IIBF), the Jakarta International Literary Festival (JILF) and Jakarta Content Week (Jaktent).
The Jakarta Book City Committee, which Anies formed in 2019, submitted the World Book Capital proposal to UNESCO last month and is working to send in the City of Literature proposal before the deadline in July.
It is the second time the book committee has submitted a proposal for the World Book Capital, after losing out in last year’s nominations. Guadalajara City in Mexico won out as 2022 World Book Capital.
“Last year [we took part] but we lost. However, it is quite common for a city to make a bid several times before it wins,” said Laura Bangun Prinsloo, executive director of the Jakarta Book City Committee, last week.
“Sharjah [the United Arab Emirates’ third-most-populous city] finally won in 2019 after bidding nine times,” she said.
With the tagline, “Eja.kar.ta: Everybody’s Reading”, the Indonesian capital is confident that the proposal will work better this year, as the capital has seen a bump in book readership following pandemic stay-at-home orders.
Organizers of the UNESCO proposals are already showcasing images and quotes from Indonesian literary heroes such as Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Wiji Thukul and Sapardi Djoko Damono in public places such as MRT stations and billboards across the city.
But it will likely take a lot more than that to get the nod from UNESCO.
Read also: ’We are preparing canon of RI literature, music and film’
In order to be named World Book Capital, a city must be able to prove that it maintains a certain scope and quality for literary events, and show to what extent these activities involve writers, publishers, booksellers and libraries in promoting books and reading.
The city is also expected to show that its programs respect the principles of freedom of expression, in accordance with UNESCO's constitution.
To be named City of Literature, a city is required to show an outstanding level of quality, quantity and diversity in publishing, as well as a range of educational programs on domestic and international literature.
It must also show that literature, drama and/or poetry play an important role in the city’s development and that there are libraries, bookstores and cultural centers that promote, preserve and disseminate literature.
In short, Jakarta must be able to keep up with the likes of Edinburgh in Scotland, Melbourne in Australia and Prague in the Czech Republic, all of which feature first-rate libraries, bookshops and public places that support their citizens’ reading activities.
Creating a literary-friendly city
Devina Yo, a 26-year-old avid reader hailing from West Jakarta, did not hide her pessimism when she learned about the city’s bid to become a World Book Capital.
“Jakarta as a World Book Capital is quite the oxymoron. We might have a lot of libraries and bookstores in the city, but among the millions of residents, only a handful actually read out of habit – be it for work, learning or pleasure,” she told the Post.
Devina, who aims to read 52 books every year, said she was a paying member of an American library instead of a local one, mainly due to convenience in sourcing books.
For her, developing libraries is the key to creating a city that is more reader-friendly. “I wish the government would think of libraries as public spaces rather than just some place to store books,” she said.
“Reading corners or libraries should be more accessible so that reading is no longer considered an intimidating thing reserved exclusively for intellectuals.”
Jakarta, home to over 10 million people, has around 100 accredited libraries, according to data from the National Library. For a third of Jakarta’s population, Yogyakarta has three times as many libraries.
The biggest state-sponsored library, the National Library in Central Jakarta, has seen flagging visitor numbers due to COVID-19. From a total of 847,000 visitors in 2019, the library saw just 222,000 people last year.
Read also: Books and bricks: Building cities with literature
The capital’s Library and Archives Agency (Dispusip) supervises seven regional libraries (Perpusda), all of which are closed during the pandemic. Data from the agency show that its online library services only see around 100 people per day on average.
Even then, these libraries are set up primarily for archival purposes rather than as a community service.
Teddy Kusuma, owner of the independent publisher and bookshop POST, which is situated within the traditional market complex of Pasar Santa in South Jakarta, said Jakarta’s campaign to promote literacy should help solve the problems of local publishing communities.
Among his ideas are the elimination of the book tax, enforcement against piracy and making distribution outside Java easier to do. He also called for the city administration to empower local libraries and host more events such as book discussions, meet and greets with authors and writing classes.
“Literature enthusiasts do it all the time with their own limited resources, but the government should have better means and more impact to help create and empower these kinds of events,” he said last Wednesday.
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Pradewi Tri Chatami, editor of indie publisher Marjin Kiri, said Jakarta’s campaign to promote literacy should be holistic and aim to bridge Indonesia’s literacy gap.
“I used to live in Soe in East Nusa Tenggara, and there I did not find any books written by NTT authors. Instead, I encountered only pop novels from Java,” she said.
“If the government is serious about this campaign, it should ease [the process of] permits for selling books [...] and guarantee that there won’t be any more book raids.”
In Jakarta, as is also still common in the rest of the nation, book raids are used to snuff out Communist propaganda and other issues considered a violation of Pancasila, the national ideology, as well as conservative religious beliefs.
In 2019 alone, there were at least three known military- and police-backed book raids of small bookshops, community libraries and even a store belonging to one of Indonesia’s biggest bookstore chains, Gramedia.
