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It’s about time 🙂

People are lucky when their first is special. His first kiss with that prettiest girl in school, or her first job with that dream company.

Well, I feel a lot more than lucky because our first photography exhibition is going to be about Indonesia Mengajar.

For those who come in late, me, Henry and Handry (a good friend who is now shooting under his own name) went to the remote places in Indonesia to take pictures of Indonesia Mengajar. Read the whole thing here and here.

We brought home amazing images.

I still remember presenting them to Mr Anies and the Jakarta team. It was the first time they’re going to see the real conditions of the field, since this was the very first batch of Pengajar Muda.

Almost all of them cried seeing the pictures. Me and the team told our stories while trying so hard not to get choked in the middle of our sentences, since the stories was so inspiring and beautiful.

Since that one time, I haven’t shown the pictures in public.

Not in my blog, Facebook or Twitter feeds. You’ve seen some of them in Indonesia Mengajar website, since that was why we left in the first place, but most of the hidden gems remains unseen. I was biting my tounge to keep the pictures in the dark until the right moment. It was a dream to have them hanged in the right place, in an exhibition that tell the story of change, hope and inspiration.

But things got busy, the timing wasn’t right, and both of our organizations (IM and ESP) haven’t found quite the right way to do it.

Until now.

So with this, I am inviting you to our first ever solo exhibition, titled “Lagu Baru”, or “The New Song”.

Why?

There’s an expression in Indonesian for negative things that so repetitive and predictable: ‘lagu lama’, or ‘old tunes’ – it’s said kinda like: ‘we so know the lyrics of that tune’.

I see Indonesia Mengajar as a fresh voice, a new tune in Indonesia.

When so many bad things are so predictable: corruption, violance, racism, discrimination, ignorance, selfishness, scandals, Indonesia Mengajar with their stories and their leader and their young people and their dedication and their heart and their competence has made thousands upon thousands turns their heads: “Hey, I did not know this tune?”

This exhibition is about sharing that tune. That there’s a new one, that you too, like me, could probably hum.

This exhibition is about sharing that tune. That there’s a new one, that you too, like me, could probably hum.

We’re going to display pictures from that trip, along with a lot of events during our three day event.

We’re planning to screen my long awaited documentary film on my trip to Halmahera. It’s going to be as close as you can get viewing on my trip with Francy. We’re also planning the have meetups with Pengajar Muda that has returned from their assignments, and hosting a travel photography sharing session for those of you who are interested. We’ll be sharing how we planned the trip, what challenges that we faced, and a step-by-step on how we captured some of the photos displayed.

And here’s what I’m excited about: All of the photographs displayed are for sale. We want you to come home bringing something that will look good on your wall, remind you of this new tune, and also support this movement. We even have an auction on our last day for a few of our special photographs, hosted by Mr Anies Baswedan himself. All proceeds from the sales, of course, will be going to Indonesia Mengajar as a donation. Details on all of these events are coming soon.

* * * * *

Coming back to my first point:

I am more than lucky to have something as beautiful as it is meaningful as my first solo exhibition.

Never been a project is so personal.

Lots of people who know this long waited dream messaged me, “Finally ya, Ward :)”

Yes, finally.

🙂

Please come.

Please help share the word through the sharing buttons below or with the Lagu Baru Facebook Event page

UPDATE: Trailer Lagu Baru
[youtube id=”BQkDrecHm7w”]

Click the event list below to see it bigger