Ubud Writers Festival poster comp

Bali, part of the Indonesian archipelago in the Pacific sea, is known as the Island of Gods, a paradise-like island where ancient beliefs still lurk, with a rich history of art and culture thriving even today. The capital of Bali, Ubud, will host its annual Writers & Readers Festival in October 2012, kicking things off early with an international poster competition for aspiring artists and designers.

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, or UWRF, a literary festival that began in 2004, encourages local and international writers as well as readers to visit the island to partake in discussions, workshops and readings. The UWRF is part of Mudra Swari Saraswati Foundation, an independent not-for-profit private organisation, which was first set up in 2004 with the aim of encouraging creative growth in Balinese and Indonesian communities. UWRF is one of the many projects of the foundation, coming into fruition following the first Bali bombings in 2002 to repair global connections and boost the island’s economy and bring healing to those scarred by the tragedies.

Since 2011, UWRF has taken another step towards the international plateau by expanding their festival with the offer of a competition for the design of the festival’s official poster. Open to anyone of any art practice in the world, the 2012 festival again offers a unique opportunity to present a poster that will become the face of the four-day event, in press releases, online, merchandise and on the streets of Bali.

Poster designers are requested to create a poster that relates to the UWRF’s theme of 2012: This Earth of Mankind: Bumi Manusia. The theme comes from the title of Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s book, The Earth of Mankind, the first book in a series named Buru Quartet. First published by Hasta Mitra in 1980, the book is set in the end of Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia, with a Javanese character fighting against the social injustices in the archipelago country.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer is lauded as one of Indonesia’s greatest writers, and he composed the epic Buru Quartet in the Buru prison camp, as a political prisoner himself during the upheavals in Indonesia during the 1960s. Not a stranger to jail, Praomedya was imprisoned several times by the Dutch colonial government and the Indonesian military, including being put under house arrest. The Earth of Mankind was first narrated orally to fellow prisoners as writing materials were not permitted to the prisoners. Eventually, Pramoedya gained access to materials and penned the tale that closely mirrored his own life, smuggling it out of the Buru prison for it to become a banned publication in its own country, but an acclaimed book internationally.

The organisers of the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival encourage people of any background to apply for the poster competition, with the design left to their imagination with the brief simply being: 'conjures up images of the ultimate vision - where you are able to expand your mind, and be changed forever.'

The winner of the competition will receive Rp 5.000.000 in prize money, including transport and accommodation costs to attend the festival for four days in Ubud with a no-holds barred pass, all worth Rp 2.000.000 (US $2,000). Submissions can be made online via a form, before 5pm on the 17th of February.

For further information, please visit http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com