Banner image by David Cook.
Indonesian photography special
On Friday 7 August we’re thrilled to present an evening devoted to Indonesian photography led by specialists Ben K C Laksana and Rara Sekar Larasati and featuring award winning photobook designer Jordan Marzuki. Held at Massey University’s gracious Tea Room the event will also include Indonesian nibbles. This a free event.
About the event
Arkademy Project is a photography collective from Indonesia made up of documentary photographers, educators, researchers and curators. Together, they explore everyday life, social change and the power of photography to shape how we understand the world around us.
Arkademy Project’s Ben and Rara will conduct the special Indonesian photo projection night. The evening will present a curated selection of works that engage with critical issues shaping contemporary Indonesia, including land struggles, labour conditions, environmental change, urban inequality and community resistance. The images bring forward lived realities and collective efforts that often remain unseen.
This will be more than a projection. Ben and Rara, representing Arkademy Project in Wellington, will share the stories behind the photographs and reflect on how the projects came to life. They will also be in conversation with Jordan Marzuki from Jordan, jordan Édition, discussing documentary practice and the craft of photobook publishing. The discussion will also include Indonesian documentary photographers joining online to share their work and perspectives directly from Indonesia.
Jordan will speak about building an independent publishing house and supporting photographers to develop long term projects into books. Publications from Jordan, jordan Édition have received international recognition. Angan-Angan Harsa by Farid Renais Ghimas was shortlisted for the 2025 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards in the First PhotoBook category. A Kind of Magic by Juliana Tan was selected for the 2025 Lucie Foundation PhotoBook Prize shortlist. The Banda Journal by Muhammad Faldi and Fatris MF won the Aperture PhotoBook of the Year Award in 2021.
Join us for an evening of powerful images, open discussion and insight into contemporary Indonesian photography and publishing. All are welcome.
Ben K. C. Laksana recently finished his Ph.D. at Victoria University of Wellington, with a focus in the intersection between sociology, critical education, youth and social movements in Indonesia. He works as a researcher and community educator and has worked with various international and local organizations in Indonesia. He is also the co-founder of Arkademy Project, an organization that focuses on using photography as a tool for critical political education by engaging the public in social issues through the use of photo-images.
Rara Sekar Larasati is a musician, multidisciplinary artist, and researcher whose work focuses on rural youth, the anthropology of development, and visual ethnography in Indonesia. Her interdisciplinary practice spans documentary photography, ethnographic research, sound installation, and curatorial projects.
She is the co-founder of Arkademy Project, a photography collective dedicated to critically engaging the public with social issues through visual storytelling. Together with Ben, she teaches classes on critical photography and the importance of research for visual storytelling.