Apa kabar? (What’s newspaper?)
On May 6th 2018 during an episode of Saturday Night Live, Childish Gambino’s new music video went into premiere. It only took a few hours (...) Read more on page 16!
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Our exhibition Apa kabar? (What’s new?) explores the relationship and tensions between mainstream culture and local remixes. For the duration of the exhibition MAMA’s showroom becomes an accessible research space where you can check for yourself whether cultural exchange and the remixing of mainstream culture is problematic or liberating.
Within the framework of Apa kabar? (What’s new?) programme maker Maria Lamslag approached Oana Clitan to create a newspaper. The result is a remix of this traditional design elements, supplements by modern visuals inspired by the world wide web.
The Indonesian phrase ‘apa kabar?’ literally means ‘what’s the news?’ but is used to ask ‘how are you doing?’. In Indonesia this expression rarely gives rise to confusion: everyone answers, ‘good’ or ‘not so good.’ The English exhibition subtitle ‘What’s new?’ is a nod to the common literal mistranslation of ‘Apa kabar?’ and refers to how ‘what’s new’ and ‘how are things’ seem to be interchangeable, especially in the online context of never ending news stories and news feeds. The Apa kabar? (What’s newspaper?) plays with ideas of mistranslation, cultural appropriation and a global remix culture. Come pick up your physical copy at the showroom!
Or read the online version of the Apa kabar? (What’s newspaper?) by clicking here.
Preview of the Apa kabar? (What's newspaper?) (2019)This story is part of Apa kabar? (What’s new?), which is open from March 29 – May 26 2019.
The design of the Apa kabar? (What’s newspaper?) was done by Oana Clitan.
