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About Silaturahmi

We are pleased to welcome you to our celebration of the ongoing cultural exchange between Rakarsa from Bandung, Indonesia, and EMMA – Kreativzentrum Pforzheim. This alliance, established in 2021, has evolved from its humble beginnings into a profound and expanding cooperation founded on the idea of silaturahmi. The concept of silaturahmi originates from Melayu cultures, in-cluding Indonesia, encapsulates the essence of preserving and cultivating social and familial connections. A mere meeting cannot be considered silaturahmi, because the intention behind the meeting is equally important. Throughout our con-versation, this idea has served as the foundation, emphasizing genuine connections and mutual respect rather than merely accomplishments and objectives. In our context, silaturahmi extends to include the intention of building relationships with fellow inhabitants—humans and non-humans—an awareness necessary in facing our future challenges. Looking to the future, we are thrilled at the prospect of taking our partnership to extraordinary new heights. The path we have been on, guided by the principles of silaturahmi, has reached a juncture where we intend to adopt a more institutional approach. How can silaturahmi and institutional approaches complement each other? How can we maintain a sense of personal connection while also broadening opportunities to work together on a larger scale? These are our initial follow-up questions that can only be answered through more interchanges. We hope that this exhibition can be seen as an invitation to broaden the spirit of silaturahmi as one of the principal foundations for sustaining respectful cultural connections.


Silaturahmi Exhibition

The silaturahmi exhibition presents traces of Bandung-Pforzheim collaboration and friendships from 2021 to 2024. This collaboration started from sharing the idea of co-existing with water and nature from the perspectives of different knowledge systems, and organically found its growth in many forms found in this exhibition. Find the installation ‘Kelindan’, 300 prototype pieces of woven plastic waste as a collaboration result between Rakarsa Foundation, 4E, and Masagi community in seeking not just creative economy, but also a ect and knowledge sharing potentials from an abandoned material. The exhibition also gathers memories of the 2023 ‘Ngawawaas’ residency where students of Bandung and Pforzheim co-created in responding to life on the riverside of the Cikapundung river through installation of objects and sounds, video art, photography, textiles, and ceramics.


Supper Tempeh Workshop

Join Vincent Rumahloine from Rakarsa Foundation in a tempeh making workshop. As a collective, you can make Tempeh in the Supper Tempeh workshop. Native to Indonesia, Tempeh is a delicacy made from fermented soybeans. Tempeh is considered a superfood because of its nutritional contents and bio active compounds. Soybeans are boiled, peeled, and processed in this workshop as participants share stories. After the 2.5-hour session, participants will be able to leave their Tempeh at EMMA to ferment. On July 27, 2024, participants will all gather at EMMA for a supper event, where the nished Tempeh will be combined with other ingredients. EMMA Creative Center is part of the creative industries department of Wirtschaft and Stadtmarketing Pforzheim and is a platform for Pforzheim’s creative professionals. Since 2014 the Creative Center offers 3000 m2 of workshop and coworking space, studios, o cesand exhibition areas. The aim is to support the creative industries in the region and to develop the city with creative and cultural projects. EMMA is hosting networking events, workshops, a design residency as well as public events like a neighbourhood festival, a design market and exhibitions.


Tumpeng Herb Tour (Pforzheim-Black Forest)

Join Galina Freund (Kulturküche Karlsruhe) and Endira F. Julianda (Rakarsa Foundation) for a Silaturahmi with herbs and plants around Pforzheim and Black Forest to discover local herbal wealth through the Indonesian palate. The 3 hour tour will introduce many locally growing herbs and will resource the herbs as ingredients to cook existing, or even new recipes based on the Indonesian palate. Make sure to join the community cooking and dinner the day after the exhibition opening, as the recipes will come to life there.


Community Cooking & Meal

Join us at the EMMA – Kreativzentrum for an evening of cultural mixture in a collective cooking and dinner event. This event marks the culmination of a week-long workshop, featuring tempeh cooking after a week of preparation and an herb walk where participants gather local herbs to create Indonesian influenced dishes. Together, we will prepare Tumpeng, a traditional Indonesian rice dish with various condiments, symbolizing celebration and cultural exchange. Starting at 14:00, the afternoon will blend culinary skills and community spirit, culminating in a shared feast at 17:00.