HOLLAND FESTIVAL: JIWA JIWA RECORD SHOP IN THE INTERNATIONAL THEATRE AMSTERDAM

Back in 2017 Jiwa Jiwa had the honour to host a space inside the International Theatre of Amsterdam. Holland Festival invited us to participate at this years festival which had a focus on Indonesia with lots of artists who came over to Amsterdam from all over Indonesia. The Jiwa Jiwa record shop was only a part of the contribution to the festival Jiwa Jiwa did.

Jiwa Jiwa

Records

A ‘shop’ modeled after Indonesian record stores.

I recreated what it felt like for me to go digging in Indonesia. The Jiwa Jiwa ‘shop’ wasn’t actually a shop because none of the records and tapes I had on display were actually for sale, it was all my personal collection.

I mostly went digging in Jakarta but I went to a few other places around Indonesia, North Sumatra, Java and Bali. You can’t go digging without the people that sell the records so I made sure to also picture them in this installation. It also gave a good insight into what kind of spaces they were in, and how I recreated this.

Hospitality is a big deal in Indonesia. Which translates back to every aspect of life. I was always welcomed with open arms and a cup of kopi tubruk or a bottle of Teh Botol, which is a sweetened jasmine iced tea. It felt only right to serve the people who came to hear my stories on the process of Jiwa Jiwa and Indonesian recordshop culture to welcome them in the same manner. Needless to say there were hardly any left at the end of the night.

Teh botol

A staple drink.

Records are nothing without their musicians so I made sure to picture them too. Some legends in their own right, within rock, pop and soul and all the blends and subgenres they moved between. Mostly unknown to the public outside of Indonesia, but very well known household names inside the archipelago. With the exception probably being the diaspora scattered all around the world who brought tapes and cds back when they visited their homeland. As did my grandparents.

If you look closely on the left picture below you can see a pack of cigarettes. I used these more as an incense since I don’t smoke anymore. The smell of kretek is omnipresent in Indonesia, this also holds true for record stores. I used the boxes from the teh botol as record crates. Being inventive is something you will see all around you in Indonesia, regardless of social status or so called ‘wealth’.

I unfortunately don’t have any pictures of when the shop was fully packed. Which was a good representation of how I usually felt in the small and cramped stores. A beautiful project in my eyes and something we’ll be doing more off in the future. Collaborating with museums, galleries and other interdisciplinary places and spaces to create an experience always linked to music, but with a deep cultural understanding. To get a feel for the space see the video below.