Zine Workshop: Meeting Point between Us and the Forest

Participant of the Zine Workshop “Meeting Point between Us and the Forest” with Ika Vantiani. Iqbal Ishlahiddin/LATIN\

BOGOR, LATIN.OR.ID – In the knowledge management system, there are various kinds of written knowledge products – such as books, policy briefs, papers, journals, magazines, and many more – that can be created by an institution as a medium for disseminating issues and informing knowledge to the public. LATIN as an institution that focuses on knowledge management (knowledge management system) intends to introduce one of the popular media used, namely zines. This medium was chosen by LATIN as an effort to create space to gather perspectives and articulations from the public regarding Social Forestry.

LATIN has released the first edition of a zine that collects the work of 14 contributors on the theme of Human and Forest Relations. The launch of this Zine was carried out in two series of activities, namely online discussions with contributors (11/10/23), and offline with friends from across ages and activities/communities through holding workshops with the title “Meeting Points between Us and the Forest” at LATIN Hall (15/10/23). This workshop aims to invite the public to learn more about Zines, as an alternative medium as well as discussing public perspectives regarding human and forest relations as expressed in the personal zine medium of the participants.

“This year LATIN took the courage to release its first Zine as an alternative medium alongside other scientific knowledge products such as books and papers. The zine that we created is a forum that accommodates various works from the public as a form of their articulation regarding Social Forestry. “We hope that this zine will be a bridge that brings LATIN closer to the public in looking at the relationship between humans and forests,” said Sastiviani Cantika, Deputy Director of LATIN when opening the Zine Workshop activities.

Sastiviani Cantika revealed that Zine was one of the mediums chosen because of its separation from standard rules in the production process. Zines can be a forum for friends to express ideas about the relationship between humans and forests freely in any form such as articles, poetry, paintings, photos to entertainment such as song playlists and interactives such as crossword puzzles.

Kegiatan workshop zine ini dipandu langsung oleh Ika Vantiani, seorang seniman, kurator, dan pengrajin asal Jakarta. Kiprah beliau dapat kita ulik pada kanal Instagram pribadinya, (at)vantiani. Ika Vantiani menyampaikan bahwa zine muncul pada awalnya sebagai media alternatif. Hal ini ditengarai untuk membongkar formalisasi media seperti majalah, buku, jurnal dan lainnya. Hingga hari ini, zine digunakan untuk menyiarkan gagasan sesuai dengan kreativitas tiap individu maupun kelompok.

“Zine gives freedom for each individual and group to imagine their ideas, including regarding forests. There are no binding standard rules. “So every zine edition with a forest theme released by individuals or groups has its own character,” added Ika Vantiani.

Each individual or group has a different interpretation of seeing the forest. The relationships can be multi-layered, such as part of religious-magical beliefs, food sources, various types of medicines, places for healing or refreshing, places for farmers’ livelihoods, life in the forest like orangutans, places to relieve longing for nature and many more. may not be revealed. Through zines, expressions — perspectives — about forests can be expressed with freedom of imagination. Then an exchange of perspectives can also occur because many ideas are finally revealed through this zine medium.

Penulis : Bambang Tri Daxoko
Penyunting : Sastiviani Cantika