Salihara's Literature And Ideas Festival Analysis

Salihara’s Literature and Ideas Festival (LIFEs) 2017: Here are a few things you need to know! 

Running for three weeks, Literature and Ideas Festival (LIFEs) 2017 will be held from October 7 to 28 at venues across the Komunitas Salihara in Jakarta. Before the event takes place, here are a few things you need to know.

1 — This festival evolves out of The Salihara International Literary Biennale (Salihara Biennale), which began in 2011—Utan Kayu-Salihara Biennale 2011 (Oct 8-29, 2011), Salihara Biennale 2013 (Sep 20-Oct 27, 2013), and Salihara Biennale 2015 (Oct 3-25, 2015). 

Whereas Salihara Biennale featured more reading-related programs, LIFEs aims to put emphasis on discussing ideas and thoughts.

Long before that, this biennial literary festival was known as Utan Kayu Literary Biennale, held by Komunitas Utan Kayu since 2001. Collaborate with Winternachten of the Hague, Netherlands, it was an unprecedented international literary event with authors and poets from Indonesia and nine other nations performing for audiences in Jakarta and Jogjakarta. The fifth event—and for the first time held in Komunitas Salihara, Utan Kayu Literary Biennale happened in 2009, and brought the theme “Traversing” (Merandai).

2 — After
McGlynn and Aldo Zirsov, and followed by book launching and readings of The Lontar Anthology of Indonesian Poetry (LAIP) and The Lontar Anthology of Indonesian Short Stories (LAISS), in the evening.

There is also a series of Diskusi Sore: Tamu dari Seberang, during the festival.

Klub Buku Foto, on Oct 7,14,21, and 28;
Indonesian Millenial Forum in LIFEs**, on Oct 14;
Tamu dari Seberang: Memoir Revolusi, with Héctor Abad Faciolince (Colombia) dan Tosca Santoso, moderated by Ayu Utami, on Oct 21; and Tamu dari Seberang: (Her)story, with Veronica Stigger (Brasil) dan Carmen Boullosa (Mexico), moderated by Lisabona Rahman, the day