Appreciating Culture Through ?Si Put On Comic Installation?

It is mandatory for every student to complete a Final Project before they graduate and get their Bachelor?s degree. Final Projects and its requirements differ between universities. Some are in the form of projects, and some others are in the form of scientific papers.

UPH Visual Communication Design Department (DKV UPH) specifies that Final Projects should not only design projects, but they have to be accompanied with a report on the designing process, based on scientific research. The explaining of the design process should also be based on the student?s understanding of the content and context of the scientific research. Finishing this Final Project takes a lot of time, hard work, and perseverance.

DKV UPH has a unique way to appreciate its students? hard work on their final projects ? exhibiting the final projects to the public, like the one in the UPH gallery on the 9-16^th of May 2018. There are 12 final projects exhibited in this gallery. One of them that stole the visitors? attention is the ?Si Put On Comic Installation? by Averini Carissa, UPH Visual Communication Design specializing in Graphic Design, 2014.

The ?Si Put On Comic? Installation gains its inspiration from the Design and Culture course, which talks a lot about family heritage. This comic?s story and theme talk about culture, and this is extremely legendary because this is the first comic of the like in Indonesia.

The idea for this Final Project emerged from seeing the acculturation happening in society. Usually, a nation is built as a result of a similar culture. However, in Indonesia, this nation is built on the basis of cultural diversity.

As a result, Avi decided to make this ?Si Put On? comic installation to deliver this crucial message to the community. ?So, not only is this simply for nostalgia but also to introduce the Peranakan Chinese culture to the young generation,? Avi explained.

The initial process in making this comic installation is to gather and analyze data. The data aggregation is done by visiting Museum Benteng Heritage, from Myra Sidharta?s essay, questionnaires, and also an array of books about comic design and theory.

Avi admits that she often faced difficulties when making this comic installation, and because of this, she needs the support of people around her, including her lecturers.

The part she enjoys the most is when she started her digital illustration. Here, Avi had to review materials previously taught in class, but those that she had not dug deeper into. Because of that, as her college days come to an end, she chose to deepen her knowledge of the material and make it her final project.

The message conveyed through the ?Si Put On Comic Installation? final project is so that the young generation has a willingness to know, love, and appreciate the cultures in Indonesia that are waning away through the years. (dl/rh)