Mission Accomplished: Unmasked Open Mic Vol.2

Dear Friends,

My friends and I have successfully put together another Unmasked Open Mic at Paviliun 28. Twas a great time. I am happy on how the event turns out, because we have one month to pull it off, unlike the first Unmasked.



Paviliun 28 at Jalan Petogogan is a very nice venue. Very classic and they are open to any art show in town. They have been kind and generous to us for letting us to borrow the venue. There are barber shop, bar jamu and cinema in one place, it is trully incredible.  Plus, I am happy to see all the performers being so all-out on Sunday. No one is being shy.

I do not know what to say. But it is a great evening.
Performers, guest poets and open mic-ers from Unmasked 2
Melizarani, guest poet from Malaysia performs her four poems
I am also very thankful and in awe that I can work with amazing people who are just enthusiastic as I am with poetry. They are Mbak Putri Minangsari, Pangeran Siahaan and Abdul Qowi Bastian. I am so blessed for meeting them. They are also talented people in their fields.

from left to right:
Qowi (host), Putri Minangsari (co-organizer), me (co-organizer), Pangeran Siahaan (co-organizer)
I first met Putri Minangsari when I was in Ubud for TEDxUbud 2013. She is a lovely and warm person. I first followed her on twitter on her account @PoetryReading. Back then, it was 2012. I was  a first-jobber with a job that I really did not like (I was an account executive), in dire need of writing escape. I found my resort in poetry, English poetry to be exact. I love how the words run in English. I love puisi or Bahasa Indonesia Poetry too, but I want to explore what is outside my comfort zone. Mbak Putri writes beautiful poetry. Her style has grace and elegance—apart from mine. So, in Ubud, I walked to her and I said, "Mbak Putri, hey... I am fan." and the rest goes until now. We maintain friendship. She even invited me to her dancing performance under family pass (I am in tears). Mbak Putri is a very talented Legong dancer and incredible multi-faceted artist whom I look up to. One time, after I left my big agency job, we sat down at Anomali Coffee Senopati casually. Then, the idea of Unmasked was born.

It was 2012, the same year when I had so much time to buzz the coolest Indonesian people in the internet. The same year I sent my crappy articles to The Jakarta Globe, but not so crappy anymore because I had someone who edited them for me haha—and that person was Qowi. Yup, we kinda met online through emails.  I had never ever seen him IRL until Mbak Putri recommended him as our guest poet for the first Unmasked. I did not know about him much, until he cracked the punniest joke as a host at Unmasked 2.  He also has the same passion and interest in poetry—and blog about it. Recently, we know Qowi is a certified personal trainer too. I do not know how poetry and physique building go together, until I meet him.

Who does not know about Pangeran Siahaan? He is the energetic host and newscaster, who shares the same passion as we do, especially in hip-hop and spoken-word. Actually, when I first met him IRL, I do not know how do I call him without sounding awkward. Because, Pangeran means 'prince' in Bahasa Indonesia—While, Putri means Princess/Daughter... surprise! So, yeah, I approached him on twitter to talk about Unmasked, unshamefully. I know he is kind of more important than the rest of us—or me, in the internet.  So I did talk to him, and we become good friends since—despite the fact he likes to show up late for Unmasked team meeting. Hehe. He has a very broad knowledge in politics. In Unmasked 2, he delivers a poem called "Orang-Orang di Persimpangan Jalan" and explains Indonesian history like fucking encyclopedia... which is super awesome.

So, yeah, that is basically how Unmasked was born and how this nerd gets to be friends with amazing individuals.

If you missed Unmasked, make sure you don't! Stay updated with my social media account!

Photo Credit : Putri Minangsari's Facebook.

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