The Jakarta International Photo Festival (JIPFest) 2025 curatorial team, consisting of Chelsea Chua (Singapore), Yoppy Pieter (Indonesia), and Program Director Irene Barlian (Indonesia), has selected 21 photography and multimedia projects to be presented at the festival’s Photo Exhibition, taking place from 12 to 21 September 2025.
The selected projects came from an Open Call, which ran from 21 May to 21 June 2025, as well as from curators’ invitations. The final selection was made from over 100 submissions representing artists from 22 countries.
This year’s theme, COEXISTENCE, offers a timely and necessary opportunity to reflect on how deeply technology has become embedded in the fabric of our lives. More than a mere tool, technology now shapes our perceptions, relationships, and even our sense of identity. It influences how communities form, how power is distributed, and how memory and meaning are constructed in both digital and physical realms.
The theme encourages critical engagement, not only to observe how technology is used, but also to question who controls it, who is included or excluded, and how we might resist its dehumanizing potential. At the same time, it opens the door to imagining a more equitable and empathetic future, where humans and technology can evolve together without sacrificing the essence of what makes us human.
Curator Chelsea Chua said: “The projects that we have selected present diverse mediations on technology in both narrative and form. We think of the technological as the new, the cutting edge, the modern; while I am excited by the futurism that some of the projects present, I am also taken by how some of the projects demonstrate the ways technology has enabled the expression of our emotional landscapes and histories, making the intangible, legible. The festival is an opportunity to bring these different sensibilities together in an important conversation about technology as a story about science, as well as a broader treatise on how it is integral to our art, our being, and our common humanity.”
“In my view, the essence of technology is not limited to the digital era that now occupies so much of our lives. It is not merely a tool that simplifies daily routines; technology plays a significant role in shaping our identities as human beings. It influences how we relate to ourselves and to others. It can be deeply destructive, and it can challenge or even transcend values that have long been considered taboo,” said curator Yoppy Pieter. “Most importantly, technology is not confined to this moment of digital obsession. It also exists in traditional forms that are often overlooked in today’s definitions of technology.”
“The relationship between humans and technology has never been more intimate—nor more complex. This year’s theme, COEXISTENCE, feels especially timely and personal as technology increasingly shapes how we live, connect, and understand the world. After a challenging and thoughtful curatorial discussion, we are excited to present a selection of works that explore this theme in surprising and resonant ways. These projects hint at the quiet, powerful ways technology is reshaping our lives—through moments both visible and hidden, familiar and unexpected.” Irene Barlian, Program Director.
The selected projects will be exhibited at Emiria Soenassa Gallery, Taman Ismail Marzuki, from 12 to 21 September 2025, in Cikini, Central Jakarta. Full details on the schedule and venue will be announced closer to the festival dates. Please find below the list of exhibiting photographers and artists:
Adlun Fiqri, Indonesia
Amina Kadous, Egypt
Angela Rincon, Colombia
Daisy Yang, Canada/Taiwan
Danielle Ezzo, USA
Ian Teh, Malaysia
Joanne Pang, Singapore
Kadir van Lohuizen, The Netherlands
Kenji Chiga, Japan
Lê Nguyên Phương, Vietnam
Mackenzie Calle, USA
Mai Nguyên Anh, Vietnam
Marco Garro Pardo, Peru
Marvin Tang, Singapore
Muhammad Fadli, Indonesia
Nikita Teryoshin, Germany
Reza Saifullah and Riska Munawarah, Indonesia
Rio Surya Prasetia, Indonesia
Sheung Yiu, Hong Kong
Woong Soak Teng, Singapore
Yoese Mariam, Indonesia
