KARBON 2010

The online format of Karbon Journal was launched in 2007 with the publication of Focus, a discussion on an overarching theme presented in several essays, published a few times annually. In 2008, we introduced the Article page and held a series of off-line discussions and exhibitions in collaboration with other institutions. From 2009 onward, we have been publishing a new Article as well as a new Photo page every month. We hope that the latter could give us an insight into a variety of issues in a number of Indonesian cities.

With our Article and Photo pages, we wish to introduce and discuss a myriad of issues in Indonesian cities, to include cities other than Jakarta and Yogyakarta—about which our writers and contributors have often discussed. We envision a future Karbon Journal that might serve as a door to richer and shrewder debates about the urban issues in Indonesia—especially those related to public spaces and visual issues—involving a variety of view points. To achieve this, we are planning to collaborate more with other institutions. Should you wish, you might also assist us in this process by sharing information with us, giving us advices and criticism, or embarking on collaborative projects with us.

We are aware that it might take a while before a form of mass media reaches a certain level of relevance and significance and remains in the public eye. A period of three years constitutes merely an introductory phase, to test the water as it were, while a period of five years will serve as a new phase in which one gains a higher level of relevance for a larger public. From the time Karbon Journal went online in 2007, we consider it to be a truly active journal only in 2009, when it reached its latest stage of development in which the journal finally acquired the shape that we expected it to have. This means that Karbon Journal has just reached its second year in 2010. This is the beginning of a new journey, on which we will certainly encounter many challenges.

This year, Karbon Journal will clean up its act. We have a new editor on board: Farid Rakun, an architect who will be our forceful discussion partner and tough colleague. A new monthly column by Ifan Adriansyah Ismail, a writer who will grace us with his witty musings on the urban issues in relation with Indonesian films and television programs, smartens up our site starting this year. We also have a corresponding editor in Yogyakarta, Yoshi Fajar Kresno Murti, a writer-cum-architect, who will be our ears and eyes in Yogyakarta and observe everything important and interesting that takes place there.

We will still publish the Focus Page bianually, in the middle and end of the year. Through our newsletter, we will inform you about the themes that we have chosen to discuss on Focus, and how you can contribute your writing. Unfortunately, this year we will have to remove from our agenda the offline discussion events as well as other collaborative programs. This slimming down of our programs must take place due to our limited budget. We still have not managed to secure funds from any funding agency and so far ruangrupa as the publisher still acts as the sole sponsor for Karbon Journal. This is just one of the problems that we must overcome with optimism and hard work. We will, however, warmly welcome your participation or proposals to do such events as discussions or other collaborative work that does not require any funding.

One collaborative project that we will do this year is the publication of a new page on this site, titled “Our Movie Theater”. This page results from our collaboration with Kineforum, an alternative cinema in Jakarta. On this page, we will present profiles of various cinema houses in Indonesia. This page serves as a supporting program for the yearly exhibition of “Sejarah Bioskop Indonesia” or “the History of Indonesian Movie House”. You can also participate in this program by taking pictures and collecting archives or old pictures of the cinema houses in your city, writing a profile of the cinema as well as your experience with it, whether the cinema still exists or has been pulled down. This project will allow us to have a record of cinema houses all across the country. This is an important archiving project because a movie house is a place where spectacles, encounters, appreciations, and discussions take place. It is a place of memories. We also welcome further collaborative work for the page, whether on the institutional or individual level.

In line with all the developments taking place on Karbon Journal, we have also refurbished our website, making it more interesting, comfortable, and interactive for you, our readers. We are grateful to all the writers who have contributed their essays, and to those who still faithfully write for us. We hope that all these changes will take place smoothly and assist us to present the best articles for you, dear readers.