silaturahmi

silaturahmi
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The concept of silaturahmi (as verb and noun) originates from Melayu cultures, including Indonesia, encapsulates the essence of preserving social and familial connections. The idea has served as the foundation, emphasizing genuine connections and mutual respect rather than accomplishments and objectives.

Through such principle, Rakarsa and EMMA Creative Center have fostered the Bandung-Pforzheim creative culture network since 2022.

Indonesian dish nasi tumpeng made symbolizes

After the pandemic, the exchange in-person then took form during The Neighbourhood Festival 2022 where Vincent Rumahloine, Nuri Fatimah, and Endira F. Julianda from Rakarsa finally visited Pforzheim. Rakarsa participated in the festival, offering Indonesian herbal drinks to the visitors. The drinks were based on family recipes as a remedy for combatting summer heat. In return for the free drinks, the visitors had to leave a family recipe. The recipes were later documented in the Buku Rezept in 2024.

It began when an online fellowship by IFA brought together Alexandra Vogt of EMMA Creative Center and Rakarsa Foundation members. The encounter concluded with a mutual will to create a network of solidarity in nurturing ecological resilience and adaptation through creative practices and collaboration.

The residency concluded with a weaving workshop to upcycle the plastic waste collected regularly by the community—some from Citepus River, and a multimedia parade around the Cikapundung River urban village with Bandung artists Nanda Maulana and Shelvira Alyya.

Photo: Kosmas Dinh

In 2023, Johanna Heilig, Justus Lietzke, Kosmas Dinh, and Franzi Lyon of 4E collective joined the residency program for a month at Rakarsa Haus,Bandung. This time Komunitas Masagi joined as a co-host as a neighbourhood initiative in the Cibogo area, introducing the community initiative in managing domestic waste and river pollution.

Photo: Johanna Heilig

Photo: Kosmas Dinh

In the summer of 2024, the ‘Silaturahmi’ event took place at Pforzheim, presenting traces of the Bandung-Pforzheim collaboration.

The event listed many activities such as the Tempeh-making workshop; a walking tour to Monbach Forest with Galina Freund from Kulturküche; and a community cooking and dinner of Indonesian celebratory dishes. Central to the event is the exhibition of objects representing the exchanges; analog photographs, films, multimedia installation, ceramics made from soils found in Bandung, and woven plastic wastes by Komunitas Masagi. Titled ‘Kelindan (Interweave)’, the upcycle seeked not only a future creative economy, but also affect and knowledge-sharing potentials from an abandoned material.

Photo: 2R Filmproduktion

Photo: 2R Filmproduktion

In 2025 and 2026, the Silaturahmi has extended the network as the learning space with Accessory Design program of Hochschule Pforzheim, and later with Product Design program from Bandung Institute of Technology. Students from both schools developed new designs based on weaving techniques applied by Bandung’s Komunitas Masagi.

Komunitas Masagi continued to develop the weaving into prototypes of functional products: hats, sandals, a bench, a variety of bags, and even a woven portrait—marking a significant expansion from artistic to design and craft practice.