Everything Went So Fast for Poetry Slam
This has been three days after the Poetry Slam happened. Yet, I wish I could relive that because I was not really in the moment.
I was busy organizing the set and making sure that everything went alright. It was an honor to be invited to feature our poetry slam program as a part of Salihara Literary Bienalle 2015. It was a big thing and required a big preparation, and at some points even on the day--at the moment where I sat next to the DJ, it almost felt like I could not handle it.
You know theater Anjung or better known as the Annex Theater is located at the highest point of Komunitas Salihara? I felt like I was ready to dive as I messed up my welcoming speech.
I was representing team Unmasked Open Mic who are me, a self-employed 23 year-old who is obsessed with adult-coloring book and still talks with her teddy bear, Bosi; Putri Minangsari is an amazing artist, a talented dancer and a passionate poet and Pangeran Siahaan, a giant internet TV personality and a rapper. I was so embarrassed, my speech was slurred. It has been a long time since I did not embarrass myself that way. It felt like I have just dropped my panties, and well at that point I was wearing a light knee-length dress and a pair of grey pantyhose and it was windy... I was like, why.... why... God....
But nevertheless, what made me truly happy is that.... everybody was entertained.
We had a full house of watchers, crazy performers, new talents who are brave enough to step and take the stage. Nobody needs to see all the messy preparation of event details. Because literally there were 3 of us, with Pange as a hosti and Mbak Putri as a judge and I was basically a runner--I was the timer, the half-time host and then the welcoming speaker--but with just a small team, we did a really good job. There were rooms of improvement, of course. I could not thank Pange and Mbak Putri enough for their solidarity and patience to keep me calm and organized.
Check out my writing about the slam in Rappler.
The Community
The response of the slam was amazing, people start to ask about Unmasked Open Mic. Some event say, they want to join 'the community'.
It has always been like this. I do not know what is going on with the Indonesian literary scene, everybody is clustered, there is community A and community B until community Z. But Unmasked, was not even meant to be built as a community. It was first coming to the public as an open mic show but then we grew as everybody would like to know more. We are not exclusive, but it does not mean we do not curate talents too.
You may join our show and read, and just keep on coming. If you have idea to collaborate then do not be shy about it. This is not an organizational work, let alone a monetized show. I am myself happy if I get paid for every breath I take, reading and writing my poem. We are not yet to get to that level yet.
So feel free to read your poetry out loud!
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