“Sjahrir is Here” is a project initiated by Isabelle Boon, a Dutch photographer. Starting from the previous project related to Banda Island, this time she returned with the aim of exploring the legacy of Sutan Sjahrir. This workshop was held for two days, starting on Monday, 22 May 2023, to Tuesday, 23 May 2023 in the Multimedia Room, Margono Building.
On the first day of the workshop, Isabelle opened the session by conducting a pretest using Kahoot! to test participants’ knowledge of Sutan Sjahrir. She also shared his journey on Banda Island by mentioning that her exploration there did not only focus on Sutan Sjahrir but also shared portraits of people living on Banda Island. She also showed a video containing a perspective from Siti Rabyah Parvati Sjahrir (Upik) who is the daughter of Sutan Sjahrir. The next speaker is Venessa Theonia, a student of the History Study Program, at UGM, who is currently pursuing her career as an artist. She shared her experience in compiling her own autoethnography using a historical perspective.
On the second day of the workshop, the participants were divided into three small groups. Each of them had a different focus but the goal was to apply what has been learned on the first day of the workshop. They also got the same task, which was expressing something through photos, videos, and sketches. The result of the second day of the workshop was a fresh start for Isabelle who will develop the “Sjahrir is Here” project into an art exhibition in the coming September-November.
