The anniversary of the country’s longest running cartoon magazine falls on, guess what, April 1.
No, it’s not an April Fool’s prank… Although the publication mostly deals with jokes and any other humorous material people use to laugh at others and, eventually, at themselves.
The magazine is aptly named Bogbog, a Balinese word meaning “a lie”.
“It is a complex, multi-layered lie, the one dirty politicians use to convince people to live a simple, frugal life so they can cope with the country’s economic hardship. They make that speech with a sincere voice and earnest face. Yet, one can’t stop laughing, or at least smiling at the fact that they make this speech donned in an Armani suit, chauffeured around in luxurious cars, and spend most of their time abroad doing ‘comparative studies’, believing that the people won’t notice the irony,” Bogbog’s founder Jango Paramartha once said.
That kind of irony is the publication’s most favorite raw material. Staffed by the island’s most cunning cartoonists, Bogbog has became a visual chronicle of many paradoxes, ironies, uncalled failures and undeserved victories of the nation and the island.
Unlike academic chronicles on the same topics, Bogbog does not leave the readers depressed and having lost hope.
What it does is incite smile, laughter and the courage for self-reflection, the first step in self-correction and development.
Earlier this month, the magazine celebrated its 10th anniversary in a two day-long party of community events hosted at Serambi Art Antida, an up-and-coming alternative cultural space in East Denpasar.
Founded by Bali’s own rising sound engineer Anom Darsana, it strives to promote contemporary arts created by local communities in Bali.
A cartoon exhibit “Cartoon, Creative and ConsisTEN” was the focus of the celebration. The exhibit featured Bobog’s 10 best covers, 10 best noted people caricatures, 10 best illustrations and the works of 10 cartoonists from 10 countries.
The latter shows the extensive global network the magazine and the island’s cartoonists have succeeded in establishing.
The celebration also featured a cartoon workshop, a drawing and coloring competition as well as a night of musical concerts showcasing local bands and musicians.
Surrounded by his close friends and associates, Jango Paramartha blew off Bogbog’s anniversary
candles.
“The magazine has survived for ten years and hopefully it has grown into a more mature publication,” he said.
The word “survived” was an accurate portrayal of the magazine’s journey. Bogbog was founded on April 1, 2001 with, in Jango’s words, “nothing more than burning passion and idealism.”
Its early editorial staff comprised a motley crew of students, right activists, amateur cartoonists and professional journalists.
“The country was still in the euphoric state of freedom in the aftermath of 1998’s reformation movement.
Yet, we gradually saw that little has changed. The corruption, bigotry, political and social hypocrisy were and are still there. Bogbog is our medium to remind the public to be vigilant to safeguard that hard-earned freedom,” Jango said.
Publishing a magazine is a tough business. Producing a visual media mostly consisting of cartoons is even tougher. Jango and his friends realized this in the early days of Bogbog.
People are willing to read Bogbog but unwilling to pay for it. Most companies and major corporations are reluctant to place advertisements in publications that treat things in a humorous manner and often portray important figures in a less than glowing brushstroke. Naturally, most of the country’s regular cartoon publications have died at a very young age, leaving the Sunday edition of major daily newspapers as the only available safe haven for the country’s cartoonists.
“We fought hard, very hard to sustain the magazine financially. With the help of several friends Bogbog managed to make it through these difficult early years,” Jango added.
Jango’s cunning business skills has also helped Bogbog survive. As the magazine’s chief editor, he has featured in each edition a main story related to a specific segment of the island’s lucrative tourism industry.
This decision enables Bogbog’s marketing team to sell ads to actors in the tourism industry, which offer an alternative way of promoting specific tourism activities.
Driving force: Kadek Jango Paramartha, the founder of Bogbog, poses in front of several caricatures created by Bogbog’s team. A gifted cartoonist and cunning business manager, Jango is the driving force behind the magazine’s ability to survive its difficult early years.
As the magazine’s business chief, Jango oversaw the diversification of Bogbog into a creative
design house and a booming merchandise producer. Bogbog themed t-shirts, key chains, mugs and
stickers are displayed in its official store in Jalan Veteran in downtown Denpasar.
Presently, Bogbog is a permanent, accepted icon of contemporary Bali. Bali Tourism Board (BTB) took Bogbog’s team on a 2006 tourism promotion drive to four cities in Australia.
Jango is now one of the close confidants of Denpasar mayor IB Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra who hoped Bogbog could be a model for the city’s other creative industries.
Yet, Bogbog’s most important contribution is probably its role as a training ground for a younger generation of Balinese cartoonists. The number of media outlets providing space for cartoons and caricatures is declining by the years.
Bogbog is the only regular publication that provides space, experience and a host of seasoned cartoonists for emerging cartoonists to hone in their skills.
“Creating and nurturing a younger generation of Balinese cartoonists is our challenge now. And it is
such a difficult challenge because the level of interest among youngsters to be a cartoonist is quite low.
It is a challenge but we will not give up,” Jango stressed.
— Photos Courtesy of ‘Bogbog’
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