WISDOM Photo Exhibition by PannaFoto Institute, an in-depth exhibition celebrating their 10-year anniversary
PannaFoto Institute is a non-profit organization based in Jakarta, Indonesia. Founded in 2006 with the support of World Press Photo Foundation in the Netherlands, PannaFoto serves as a platform and space for the education and the development of Indonesian photographers, photojournalists and communities through interdisciplinary programs. Panna, which means ”wisdom” in Sanskrit (Pañña), will, to celebrate its 10-year anniversary, showcase works form mentors, alumni and friends in a photo exhibition entitled “WISDOM”. Alongside the exhibition, other events such as public lectures, photo presentations and discussions on contemporary issues related to photo documentary and visual storytelling in Indonesia will be held. The exhibition runs until 23 August and it’s open for public free of charge.
We had a chance to visit and attend the Photo Slideshow presented by Kurniadi Widodo, Eko Prihariyanto Wibowo, Muhammad Fadli, Gyaista Sampurno and Sari Asih. They presented their short/personal/long-term project. They shared values behind the shoot and photographs, their feelings during the creative process, the reasons and objectives of the project, and also what they learned from it. For example Muhammad Fadli, who collaborated with his college friend who is also a writer, Fatris MF, in “The Banda Journal” project. He was interested in history and later told that Banda used to be known as a prestigious place since Banda produced precious spice called nutmeg, which was really expensive at that time. We can visit thebandajournal.org to further dwell on his experience and his view of Banda.
Another presenter, Eko Prihariyanto Wibowo, alumnae of Visual Literasi 2014, known as officer in Ministry of Finance introduced his photobook project called ”Traditional Market”. He found similar moments of traditional market in different places. He was interested in traditional market which teaches him a lot about local customs and values. ”If you want to know the culture of society, just go to their traditional market” said Wibowo. Photography is his platform to express his emotion and he shared that feeling with depth and beauty on his photographs. He later makes a story out of his shoot. He also pointed out that we need to know what is the output and outcome of our creation. He quoted, ”everything is beautiful on its frame”. Kurniadi Widodo, or friendly referred as Mas Wid who is currently staying in Yogyakarta was interested to show another side of Yogyakarta with his photographs. He later planned to make his projects onto a book.
Overall, WISDOM by Panna Institute was well exhibited with simple layout and powerful messages in some of the pictures. It is also equipped with bi-lingual photo description which tells the story behind the photographs. One unique thing that we noticed was WISDOM corner, which has a little drawer with photos in it. Those photos were taken by Panna photographers, and visitors can design their own layout, discuss the photographs, or even capture their designed layout and upload it on their social media platforms. The exhibition is still ongoing, so for those who are interested in photography you should drop by WISDOM Photo Exhibition (Date, Schedule and Venue can be found on the poster above).
Written by: Muhammad Audy Prasetya
Edited by: Novita Widia R.
