Jakarta Jakarta! (To the Moon & Back #1)

Jakarta Jakarta!
a sonic portrait of Indonesia’s global city
by Vincent Moon

I remember the smell of kretek. That was my first memory of Jakarta, as the team of the Ruangrupa Collective picked me up at the airport, offering me one of those large clove cigarettes so typical of Indonesia as they drove the van towards their Ruangrupa Art Space. Ameng and his artistic collective were not so renowned back in the day; a few years later they would top the Biennals everywhere around the world. Not that our work was involved in that – I think they mostly remember me as a weird hyperactive filmmaker who didn’t sleep enough and pushed the limits constantly.

At the time of my filmmaking research, I was still highly under the influence of not only Baraka and those 'film-mondes' but I was especially fascinated by the less-known work of Michael Glawogger –​ and his Megacities' documentary in particular. A sonic film to encapsulate an entire city...

It was with those ideas that I embarked the young team of Ruangrupa in this collective work, giving ourselves only a week (God only knows...) to wander everywhere, from Sufi ceremonies to street musicians (and there were so many!), from pop bands to punk ones, from experimental music to food stalls, and even to a football game (Indonesia losing against Qatar in what I remember was a delightful vibe).

Here then is Jakarta Jakarta! – a sonic portrait of Indonesia's global city – enjoy the smells.

For other sonic adventures, go to vincentmoon.com where more than 1,300 films are released for free under a Creative Commons license.