Go Ahead Challenge Festival 2017 Made Its Second Stop in Yogyakarta
(9/13) Yesterday, Yogyakarta became the host for Go Ahead Challenge Festival 2017 at Lapangan Krida. The city which is known to be the home for creative environment and art witnessed the semifinalist of Go Ahead Challenge 2017 from Java. They exhibited their works which are divided into four sub-categories of art. Just like last year, the semifinalists are chosen to represent visual art, photography, music, and fashion. The competition format has gone through some changes this year allowing the semifinalists to participate in a series of exhibitions in four cities before finally announcing the top 12. “With the support from Sampoerna A which brings Go Ahead Challenge in four different cities, the creative workers now have the room to express themselves more and learn from other artists. Beside presenting the inspirational works from renown local artists, we also hold various exciting collaborations from emerging artist, creative community, as well as local and national musicians. GAC Festival also acts as an appreciation platform for GAC 2017 semifinalists,” explained Ade Darmawan, a visual artist who is also one of the curator of Go Ahead Challenge 2017.
On the exhibition area called “A Space”, we could see the works from the semifinalists ranging from installation, fashion pieces, music and discography as well as intriguing photography. They entered the competition by applying throuh goaheadpeople.com and one of them is Yahya Dwi Kurniawan, who is chosen for his visual art work from Yogyakarta region. “Becoming the semifinalist on GAC 2017 and getting appreciated by Sampoerna A through GAC Festival gives a sense of pride for me. My work is also exhibited alongside the works from Indonesia’s finest artists. Of course, this becomes a source of inspiration for me and pushes me ahead to challenge myself and learn from these role models,” said Yahya. Other than those from Yogyakarta and Central Java, there was also a representative from East Java named Agung who is chosen for his work in music with his band, Write The Future. The works from GAC 2017 curators like Ade Darmawan, Anton Ismael, Ajeng Svasitiari and Iga Massardi were also shown to the visitors. Previous winners of GAC like Yogi Kusuma (GAC 2015 for photography), Rebellionik (GAC 2014 for Visual Art), Oscila (GAC 2016 finalist for Music) also participated in the festival. Morfem, FSTVLST, and Diskoria Selecta made the festival more alive with their music.
After Samarinda and Yogyakarta, the semifinalists will show their works in Bandung and Lampung in October 21st and November 4th. The chance to showcase their works enable them to learn as much as possible from their mentors, fellow artists and semifinalists, as well as visitors who oftentimes gave encouraging words or suggestions upon seeing their works. From there, 12 finalists will be chosen to enter the final step of Go Ahead Challenge 2017 in a Artwarding Night which is planned to be held in Jakarta on December. The winners from those four sub-categories will have the chance to learn more about art with a visit to United States. All the best for the semifinalists!
