•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Some might see Jakarta as frustratingly crowded but for graffiti artists, the town is a gigantic blank canvas.

Graffiti artists, also known as “bombers,” are giving Jakarta’s public spaces a colorful — if not always legal — make over. Their work can be seen under bridges, on walls and on abandoned buildings.

And Jakarta is hardly alone, cities worldwide get new coats of paint in the form of scrawls, swirls and initials from these unconventional artists.

Today, from the Big Apple to the Big Durian, throngs of street artists make a name — or a tag — for themselves and then spray paint it all over the city.

“The basic goal of graffiti is to get your name out there as much as possible by tagging your alias at various spots in the city,” said a Jakarta-based graffiti artist and graphic designer who goes by the tag “Kims.”

“Tagging,” the simplest form of graffiti, is a signature that each artist uses to introduce himself to other bombers.

“The most important thing for a graffiti artist to have is an individual style,” Kims said. “They should have a unique alias and writing style, so people can identify the creator.”

Kims and his fellow bombers are teaching the public that bombers are not vandals and that graffiti is an art form.

They have organized Kosmopolite Art Tour Jakarta, which brings together local and international bombers to provide free graffiti clinics, exhibitions, talks and a mural jam session.

European artists Besok, from the Netherlands, and Lazoo and Kongo, from Paris, are here for the event, which started on Thursday and runs until Wednesday. They will give talks and lessons for both beginners and advanced artists.

The closing party and “Kosmopolite Recap” will take place on Wednesday at The Goods Dept. in Plaza Indonesia. Visitors can see videos of the programs as well as the result of the mural jam.

This is the first Kosmopolite event in Asia; previous ones have taken place in Paris. Kims participated in the Paris version earlier this year with other Asian bombers, Nsane5 and Darbotz.

“From the trip, I learned that street art is very much supported by governments in Europe,” Kims said. “They have designed areas for the artists to paint. Some artists even have a studio and an office, provided by their local government.

“I believe Jakarta is going in that direction. That is why we are having the event, so more people will appreciate what we do.”

Graffiti has been around as long as there have been walls to scratch messages on. But some trace graffiti’s contemporary resurgence as an art form to a bomber known as “Taki.” In the 60s and 70s, the 17-year-old New York City messenger left his mark, “Taki 183,” all over the city.

At first, he was considered a nuisance, like the vandals who spray painted New York’s subway trains and caused the police to see red, but New Yorkers soon prided themselves on spotting his tag around the city. Other street artists joined in, including Keith Haring, whose work went on to become a pop culture staple.

Bombers use aliases because graffiti is illegal in most places. Each artist may have more than one alias, and some never want to be identified, such as the infamous English street artist Banksy.

Kims said that the higher appreciation of graffiti in Europe and the United States enables the best bombers to make a living through their work. For example, Kongo collaborated with luxury French fashion label Hermes to produce silk scarves with his signature graffiti style.

For Kims, collaborating with commercial brands is a way for graffiti artists to make their names, but he objects when advertising companies take advantage of artists. In Jakarta, for instance, some ad agencies ask graffiti artists to paint the names of a cellphone provider or a cigarette brand on the street, without any creative collaboration.

“My idealism tells me advertisements should go on billboards, not on the wall,” Kims said. “In my opinion, it’s a shame.”

Indonesia’s graffiti community started to form in 2003, when a handful of people began to share their works and Web forums popped up, namely, “Tembok Bomber” and “Indo Graffiti,” to talk about graffiti art.

“I think the urban atmosphere in Jakarta is perfect for graffiti art,” Kims said. “The city is always bustling, with a touch of chaos here and there. Graffiti is a form of street art, and the graffiti style in Jakarta is a bit rough, which I think matches the surroundings.

“There are so many abandoned buildings and the law enforcement is not very strict either,” he said.

Although the police may look the other way, making graffiti in public still gives artists a thrill.

“What I love about doing graffiti is the adrenaline rush,” Kims added with a laugh. “You find a location, and you stalk the location for days, take notes on when is the best time to come and where’s the best entrance. We do a lot of research.”

Nowadays, Jakarta’s bombers have more opportunities — they don’t have to spray paint a bridge at 3 a.m. They can spray on canvas and sculptures, and have them exhibited in art galleries.

“Switching media is a hard thing to do. There will be some serious adjustments, but art galleries are the new place for graffiti artists to show their works and make money,” Kims said.