Public Program of “GoetheHaus Foyer: Living at the Urban Seafront”

Frames from the North: Exploring Jakarta's Shifting Shorelines

Photowalk organized by Goethe-Institut Indonesia in collaboration with Rujak Center for Urban Studies | 31 May 2025, 7 AM–2 PM | With Elisa Sutanudjaja and Irene Barlian
 
Jakarta’s northern coastline is a dynamic terrain shaped by the interplay of water, land, infrastructure, and community resistance. “Frames from the North” is a curated photography tour offering a rare lens into this shifting seafront, where urban transformation, environmental fragility, and social resilience collide. This tour is not only visual—it’s political. It captures the frontline of Jakarta’s fight for an inclusive urban future. It is also an invitation to sharpen your photographic technique and sensitivity—to train your eyes not only to see composition, light, and contrast, but to read between walls, water, and people. Participants will have the opportunity to reflect on how photography can document, question, and even shift the urban narrative.
 
Details:
Participants shall bring a digital or analogue camera, as smartphone cameras may not be ideal for this photowalk.
Meeting point:
Mushola Al-Ikhlas, Waduk Pluit
Route:
Starting from Waduk Pluit – NCICD Muara Baru – Kampung Luar Batang – Rusunawa Muara Baru – Kampung Akuarium – Menara Syahbandar Museum Bahari – return to Waduk Pluit


Past program:

Riding Stories: Water, Memory, and the City

Cycling tour organized by Goethe-Institut Indonesia in collaboration with Rujak Center for Urban Studies | 18 May 2025, 8 AM–1.30 PM | With Elisa Sutanudjaja and Sigit D. Pratama

Jakarta has always been a city shaped by water—engineered, resisted, and reimagined over centuries. This curated cycling tour traces that long-arching journey, offering a reflective ride through colonial canals, flood infrastructures, kampungs, and evolving riverside spaces. It invites participants to experience Jakarta as a living delta, full of contradictions and transformations. Participants will gain insight into Jakarta’s layered hydrological systems, histories of control and resistance, and current challenges in urban planning, climate adaptation, and justice.

Details:
Route: Starting from Goethe-Institut Indonesia – Kalipasir-Candu dan MH Thamrin – Pintu Air Manggarai – PAL Wastewater Plant dan Waduk Setiabudi – Banjir Kanal Barat – Waduk Melati – Jl. Latuharhary-Taman Sumenep (total ride: 19.6km)