Sewon Photogaphy Week #11
“After Hours”
In celebrating the 38th Anniversary of the Indonesia Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta in 2022, the Faculty of Recorded Media Arts (FSMR) organized several events including the Pekan Fotografi Sewon – PFS (Sewon Photography Week). Pekan Fotografi Sewon has become a regular event since 2016 and it has now been held for the 11th time, hence the event was named Pekan Fotografi Sewon #11 (PFS#11). This time, “After Hours” was the theme. Pekan Fotografi Sewon is a ceremonial event to showcase the students’ photographic artworks from their final project for the undergraduate thesis at the Department of Photography, Faculty of Recorded Media Arts, Indonesia Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta.
The name ‘After Hours’ means “after many hours”. It refers to the photography students who have studied and struggled so hard for several years to finally embrace their graduation with success and become an expert by a lot of trial and error experiences. The implementation of PFS#11 was a benchmark for the students to start their respective stages of life after graduating from college. There were 34 students who participated in this PFS #11 from the college years of 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. It is such a blessing for them that at this moment the pandemic situation has been slowly looking up, especially in Yogyakarta, where the government had already announced the downgrading of mobility restrictions to mild level (level 1). This meant that PFS #11 – After Hours exhibition could be held. However, a strict health protocol is still enacted for a good cause.
PFS #11 exhibited photo creations and photo studies. The creations of photography were made by the students themselves and the photographs were displayed in the exhibition, while the photo studies emphasis was on analytical studies of photography presenting the mind map of the research.
Overall, the exhibition promoted creativity products in the field of photography which are keeping up with the spirit to rise and stand tall against this pandemic situation. Most of the students participating in the exhibition of PFS #11 are those who have already experienced hard times of the learning process during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, they acknowledged that the pandemic should not have become a barrier to them spreading their wings and keeping creativity alive by creating high quality photographs. They could also present their achievement in photographic skill as part of preserving “arts for life recovery” which will keep us all moving forward and making more innovations.
Pekan Fotografi Sewon #11- After Hours did not only display the photographic artworks. An audience was invited to understand photographs through several side events, such as artist talks and discussions presenting professional photographers and artists as well as practitioners. By doing so, it could be considered as realizing the vision and mission of the exhibition to become the medium for communicative dialog amongst artists, academicians, and the public in general. It was hoped that the diverse theme for the photographic works would open a broader dissemination of art discussion and dialectics to formulate a fresh idea of photography in the scheme of the creative industry. Such togetherness will surely highlight the existence of photography discourse in the society, either in terms of education or appreciation in a much broader spectrum.
The Artist Talks were casual discussions about photography with the exhibitors. All exhibitors had their own schedule to deliver a talk about their creative process along with the methods employed in working on their works. The “Sharing Sessions” involved some guest speakers, artists and professional photographers, who were invited to share their experiences in the art and photography world. They were Kiky Anharizal from Baby Skratta (commercial photography), Arnold Simanjuntak from PFI (photojournalism), and Alex Luthfi (fine art photography). The Sharing Sessions were open to the public.
PFS #11 exhibition ran from 1st July until 7th July 2022 at the Department of Photography Building and Galeri Pandeng of the Faculty of Recorded Media Arts, Indonesia Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta, the gallery of which serves as a FIAP Exhibition Centre.
The exhibition was also online through the website of Galeri Pandeng www.galeripandeng.isi.ac.id