Print is not dead: the 2022 Jakarta Art Book Fair talks about their reslate from 2020 and the elements that constitute an art book.

Similar to how fairs and festivals lined up for 2020 were delayed or pushed to the brink of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Jakarta Art Book Fair (JKTABF), which was slated for 2020, also went silent after the pandemic hit. It stayed that way until July, when it announced an open call for exhibitors.

Taking place at M Bloc Space Jakarta’s Creative Hall in South Jakarta from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2, Indonesia’s very first art book fair will feature 41 exhibitors from Indonesia, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand—from the more-established, gloss-laminate-worshiping booksellers to the indie, wabi-sabi zine-makers or even individual illustrators—offering a baffling number works that are constituted within the wide spectrum of art books or artists’ books. Print is not dead indeed.

Finding the silver bindings: Their previous 'road to' event was held at Dia.Lo.Gue Artspace in Kemang, South Jakarta. JKTABF 2022 will be held at M Bloc Space Jakarta's Creative Hall in Blok M, South Jakarta. (Courtesy of RIOP) (Courtesy of RIOP/Courtesy of RIOP)

Beating around the bush

“Yes, actually we were not too confident back then in using the name Jakarta Art Book Fair’,” said Jakarta-based designer Fandy Susanto speaking to The Jakarta Post on Aug. 19 as the JKTABF PR manager. Fandy was looking back to the moment when he organized PRESSENT, an event that he dubbed the 2018 Jakarta Publications and Records Fair. 

“We even added ‘records’ there because we were really not confident,” Fandy snickered.

“Well, because we weren't really knowledgeable about the publication ecosystem in Indonesia—the rather-independent ones, I mean—or how large the art book community was, we did not have any idea. We only knew a couple of our friends so we were practically winging it,” Fandy continued. The PRESSENT turnout rates were unexpectedly high.

“So then we thought, why not wing it further? It was really fun,” Fandy recalled. He then claimed that he's in it for the fun, going through the topics that he loves and getting to be with like-minded people. “Then we mustered up the courage to really take on the name.”

“Anyone can take on the name, really. That's why I have never considered [JKTABF] as something private that belongs to us,” Fandy continued. 

“This might be a cheesy thing to say, but it would ultimately be a way for us to give something back to the people in the community [...] so that the ecosystem can sustain itself, so that our friends that are doing the publication business independently can go, 'Oh, so there's really a market for this,' or 'Oh, so we can be serious about the industry.’ Something like that, maybe.”

While the idea of the fair stemmed from the PRESSENT in 2018, now-Bandung-based designer Januar Rianto, who is also the program director of the JKTABF, remembered the 2018-event as something that was a little disorderly. 

“No inventory, whatsoever. There was no consignment as well, I think. Fandy and Jeff pitched in their own money,” Januar recalled. He was referring to Jakarta-based designer Jefferson Edri.

“There wasn't any [consignment system]. All the profit purely went to the exhibitors and merchants,” Fandy noted about the PRESSENT seemingly-punk idealism. “Then Jan [Januar's nickname] got involved organically in our Road to the 2020 Jakarta Art Book Fair pop-up shop at Seek A Seek #2.”

“We reworked the system for the 2019 Road-To event. At least there was some money going in,” noted Januar. 

“Well, we can't really say that it'd be a non-profit initiative, because the end purpose for the profit is for us to be able to organize another one in the future. Sustainability—and maneuverability too, for instance, we can make smaller scale events, no need to wait for the yearly event and so on,” said Fandy.

“The satellite events can be used to narrow the main themes later, if any”, Januar noted on how they would position satellite events in relation to the main ones.

Toward the JKTABF

“We started working intensely [for the JKTABF] in May or June,” said Fandy. Januar also noted that the team started talking with each other about the fair in February.

“Binatang Press! also contributed for this year's JKTABF,” Fandy noted. The Jakarta-based independent publisher Binatang Press! lent a good pair of hands to the committee in terms of project management, seamlessly blending into the team.

The current, which is also the first JKTABF, however, has no particular main theme and would pretty much act as a, roughly put, preambular course for the hoi polloi to the odd subject of an artist's book.

“The emphasis is more towards its diversity,” said Januar. “This year, we want to demonstrate the wide spectrum of art books. There are going to be people from the zine crowd like Jakarta Zine Fest and book publishers like Afterhours. Theory textbooks, fine art books, children books, design books, illustration zines and typography zines.”

The very definition of an art book itself might be a bit murky, although often it would be easier to recognize an art book based on visual observations, in which we then make evaluations that a certain level of attention (usually on the higher side) was given in the process of its making. But what constitutes an art book, really? Does the art lie within the book or is the book itself the art?

“I see art books as a publication product that has an orientation toward personal or collective thoughts. Contextually, it is a manifesto and not an adaptation. The difference might be that independent books are more relevant because, in terms of the number of copies, its number is way less [compared to major publishers], so content-wise they are more flexible,” Fandy said. 

“It's a very wide subject”, Januar said. “In my opinion, if we're not looking to complicate things more [laugh], art books are books that are thought-provoking. Not about the quantity, but more about the intention.”

Parsley, sage, rosemary and art books: Jakarta Art Book Fair's pop-up shop at graphic design exhibition Seek A Seek #2, held as a 'road to' event towards their supposed 2020 main event on Nov. 29 to Dec. 1, 2019. (Courtesy of RIOP) (Courtesy of RIOP/Courtesy of RIOP)

Programs

The 2022 JKTABF will be hosting a plethora of programs over the course of three days, aside from its hulking list of 41 exhibitors, such as discussion sessions, book talks, presentations, workshops and even art performances.

Talks and discussion topics range from the how-tos and the A-B-Cs of independent publishings and distributions on Day 1 (Sept. 30) to meddling with the taboos and looking beyond food in a cultural perspective on Day 2 (Oct. 1). The 2022 JKTABF closes with dissecting Indonesian popular music and listing the don'ts of independent publishing on Day 3 (Oct. 2).

A number of book launches are also hosted within the 2022 JKTABF, presented by publishers such as Gang Kabel, Further Reading Press and Jordan, Jordan Edition, among others. A workshop by Ika Vantiani and Andini Cahyaning Putri, where participants upcycle journals, is to be held on Day 2 while another that caters towards children and hosted by Acip & Ipul from Jakarta collective Cut and Rescue is to be held on Day 3.

On each day of the fair, a performance-based installation will be held by Dika+Lija, titled Budayakan Membaca Yang Tidak Benar (normalize reading in an improper way), an effort of learning through unlearning. 

Find out more about the 2022 Jakarta Art Book Fair and find the full list of exhibitors on the Instagram account @jakartaartbookfair.

The 2022 Jakarta Art Book Fair is from Sept. 30 until Oct. 2 at M Bloc Jakarta’s Creative Hall, South Jakarta.