2025
MA Graphic Communication Design, Central Saint Martins
In Indonesia, we pride ourselves with a glass of Jamu, a traditional herbal elixir tailor made by mainly women to suit each person’s bodily needs. The elixir rejuvenates the body and heals various ailments. This traditional drink has been drunk since the 9th century in our archipelago, as seen on reliefs of the kingdom’s walls of old. This is still practiced today, and a version even manifested in a mass produced sachet to heal Masuk Angin, a folk belief illness of wind entering the body and creating flu-like symptoms.
The Project starts by translating/reimagining, in different cultures, an Indonesian famous herbal medicine for “masuk angin” (entered wind) folk-illness.
In contrast to western medicine, in medicinal world, Jamu seems to lose credibility. This domination by western standard medicine could be seen as a form of cultural hegemony, according to Gramsci. This implies the constant power struggle between eastern and western medicine in my country, that there can be no peace and coexistence between them. This idea violates our national ideology and principles, Pancasila, of harmony and pluralism. So combining adhocism and a method inspired from the conditional design manifesto, I attempted to create a system that could create a connection or communication, at least formally, between eastern and western packaging aesthetics, representing Indonesia’s principle of unity in diversity.
Some more stuff