Throwback to the Excitement of All The Small Things Extended and Creators’ Speed Dating
Jakarta Doodle Fest (JDF), a visual arts celebration spearheaded by TFR News, has announced its return in 2024. This year, JDF comes with a new theme: "Art to Cart," emphasizing the importance for artists to create and gain economic benefit from their works. Consequently, many of the programs featured in JDF 2024 highlight this issue, including a fresh program, All The Small Things Extended, which was held from June 8 to July 8, 2024.
All The Small Things (ATST) is an initiative by Muklay, a visual artist serving as JDF's Art Director, providing a platform for artists to showcase and sell their works. Interestingly, this year, ATST is part of the lead-up events to JDF’s main event from November 1-3, 2024. According to JDF and TFR News co-founder Christine Laifa, there is synergy between JDF's vision and mission and ATST. “JDF and ATST share the same vision and mission, which is to bridge the gap for illustrators or artists, whether new or seasoned, to get a stage. The hope is that this initiative can reach the international stage, like last year's collaboration between Gusdesidhi and Coldplay, facilitated by a promoter who attended JDF.”
The fifth edition of ATST, held in December 2023, attracted over five thousand visitors, and the sixth, extended edition took place at Artloka, Wisma GEHA, Jakarta. According to Muklay, the extended version differs from previous editions. “The difference between the regular All The Small Things and the extended version is that the regular one prioritizes invitations and open submissions, each comprising 50% of the participating artists. For the extended version, we invited artists who previously submitted, as we didn't want them to participate just once but twice,” Muklay explained. He added that works from artists who had never exhibited before were also accepted besides open submissions. “We even found artists exhibiting for the first time here at ATST. That’s why for the extended version, we chose a smaller scale.” Artists participating in the sixth ATST include Ahadi Bintang, Aliefya Stann, Arfie, Diana Rikasari, Ermisa, Irfan Hore, Isa Indra Permana, Jaimee Maulana, Jul Hendri Steven, Marrsudi, Miranda Pranoto, Muhiqballs, Muna Diannur, Mustafa Kamal, Naela Ali, Onkogx, Rei Fahrej, and Wickana Laksmi Dewi.
Beyond the exhibition, many activations and fun activities accompanied ATST Extended, including two exciting events held on June 22: a workshop with Varsam Kurnia and Creators’ Speed Dating. The workshop with Varsam Kurnia, themed “Astrology Inspired Art: Creating Illustrations Based On Zodiac,” was a collaboration with FOOM. Twenty-five enthusiastic participants attended this workshop, which began with Varsam explaining the intrigue of zodiac-inspired art. “I love symbolism myself; there are many ways people interpret a symbol, like the mirror effect. What they say about something often reflects more about themselves,” Varsam explained.
The day’s excitement continued with Creators’ Speed Dating, returning in 2024 after being enthusiastically received by the community during its debut in 2023. As the name suggests, this event is speed dating for creators to connect, get to know each other, and collaborate. Participants had the opportunity for brief conversations with their paired partners before switching to new partners after a set time. The SKSD (Sok Kenal, Sok Doodlers) cards created by TFR News also helped make conversations flow more smoothly. The series of events leading up to Jakarta Doodle Fest 2024 is far from over, with many more exciting activities awaiting.
