Joko Widodo Mural and Graffiti Removal (2024)

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Overview

Joko Widodo Mural and Graffiti Removal refers to a series of murals of Indonesian President Joko Widodo that were covered in graffiti criticizing the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. After each sighting of graffiti, local governments would repaint the mural, only for another mural to get graffitied elsewhere, leading to a Streisand Effect.

Background

Prior to July 23rd, 2021, Twitter user @ivrcryil, a protected account, uploaded a photo of an Indonesian mural that featured the phrase "Tuhan, aku lapar" (Eng. God, I'm hungry). The mural was related to a government program working to stem the pandemic called PPKM. On July 23rd, 2021, Twitter^[1] user @txtdaritng reposted the photo. It received 1,337 likes and 161 retweets (shown below, left). On July 26th, 2021, Instagram^[2] user @infotangerang.id uploaded a photo about the mural, located in Tangerang, Indonesia, noting it was already repainted. The photo received more than 5,400 likes (shown below, right).

Developments

Streisand Effect

The mural removal led Indonesians to graffiti more murals criticizing the government's work towards mitigating the pandemic. For example, on August 13th, 2021, Facebook^[3] user Eko Bayu Ariefianto uploaded photos of graffiti that crossed out Joko Widodo's eyes with "404 Not Found" written on it. The graffiti was soon covered after local police repainted it. The photos received more than 1,400 reactions and 2,400 shares (shown below, both left and right).

On August 18th, 2021, Facebook^[4] page Ｋｅｓｅｈａｒｉａｎ　ｄｉ　UM uploaded a photo of a mural in Malang, Indonesia with the graffiti "Merdeka atau Mati" (Eng. Freedom or Death). The mural seems to feature Joko Widodo. Their following picture showed the art removed, though the text remained. The post received more than 1,900 reactions and 425 shares (shown below, left). On August 19th, 2021, Indonesian artist Edi Bonetski via his Instagram^[5][6] uploaded his mural, on which was written "Hapus korupsi, bukan muralnya" (Eng. Remove the corruption, not the mural) (shown below, center). On August 22nd, 2021, he uploaded a photo showing the mural was removed. The post received more than 1,224 likes and 643 likes, respectively (shown below, right). On the same day, Facebook^[7] page Jakarte Punye Cerite reposted the photos. It received more than 804 reactions and 629 shares.

Online Reactions

Indonesian artists have criticized the police's response to the array of murals. For example on August 19th, 2021, Indonesian TV show Apa Kabar Indonesia Pagi held an interview with Indonesian cultural practitioner Sujiwo Tedjo. The video received more than 530,000 views in four days (shown below, left). On the next day, Indonesian media company JPNN posted a podcast episode with Indonesian artist Edi Bonetski. The video received 5,700 views in three days (shown below, right).

"Mural itu seperti kerinduan, kerinduan tidak bisa dihapus, mural bisa dihapus, tapi 'Tuhan Aku Lapar' semakin nempel di orang." (Eng. Murals are like longing, longing can't be removed, the 'God I'm Hungry' murals can be removed, but it will became stickier to the people more and more) Says Sujiwo Tedjo.

"Yang vandal itu justru yang hari ini orang lapar kemudian lihat sesuatu baliho-baliho yang besar, "gua sudah kerja, dia bikin balihonya banyak, vandal itu, vandalisme kekuasaan." (Eng. The vandal is precisely the one who is hungry today and then sees something big billboards, "I've been working, he (the politician) made a lot of billboards, that's the truly vandal, vandalism of power) Says Edi Bonetski.

On August 17th, 2021, Facebook^[10][11] page Komik Faktap uploaded a webcomic referencing the first "Tuhan, Aku Lapar" mural (shown below, left) and parodying it to "Merdeka?" (Eng. Freedom?). On August 24th, 2021, the same Facebook page uploaded a webcomic about two people who want to repaint their house but don't have money to buy paint. Another person suggests they graffiti their house with the phrase "Tuhan, Aku Bokek" (Eng. God, I'm poor), resulting in the house getting repainted by the government (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References