Agustinus Wibowo

Indonesia is the Country Focus of Singapore Writers Festival 2015

https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/nacswf/nacswf/Country-Focus.html Country Focus 17,000 Islands Dreaming A literary focus on Indonesia Curated by The Arts House, with the programming support of Goenawan Mohamad The Indonesian archipelago spans the Equator and South-east Asian region, an eighth of the world’s circumference. A nation of 17,000-odd islands that began its journey as a modern state 70 years ago, Indonesia carries millennia of historical weight, contradictions and resolution. What are Indonesia’s aspirations for the world? How do 252 million Indonesians think and dream? Can we see continuities from ancient Srivijaya and Majapahit at work in the up-to-the-minute literature of contemporary Indonesia? If Singapore knew Indonesian literature better, would it change the way we see ourselves and our region? We turn our focus to Indonesia this year by exploring her long traditions of the word in the same ways Indonesians celebrate it – recited to the [read more]

October 10, 2015 // 0 Comments

Adventurer Agustinus Wibowo: A journey home

By Rory Howard China.org.cn, May 8, 2015 Agustinus Wibowo is a Chinese-Indonesian author. At first glance, he seems more like a traveler than an adventurer and more like a happy conversationalist than a philosopher. But just as my first impression of him is challenged by what I learn of him in our conversation, so too do we find in his latest book, “Ground Zero: When the Journey Takes You Home,” that his sense of self has been tested by his upbringing, his culture and his travels. Danger, charity, humanity Wibowo’s first two books – “A Blanket of Dust” and “Borderlines: A Journey to Central Asia” – tell of his earlier travels through Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. When asked what took him to these places, he answers that his journeys were governed by chance. “I wanted to be a journalist, but I didn’t have a background in journalism. The road itself is the best university,” he says. His [read more]

May 8, 2015 // 1 Comment

[Audio] UWRF13: Reflections of Afghanistan

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2013 Reflections of Afghanistan : Ben Quilty, Agustinus Wibowo & Michael Vatikiotis Forgotten wars & forgotten people. Hear from two individuals who have made the journey to Afghanistan to record the lives of the people there through their images. What does it look like through their eyes? Indus, 15 October 2013 http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/audio/reflections-of-afghanistan-ben-quilty-agustinus-wibowo-michael-vatikiotis/ Featuring: Ben Quilty Ben Quilty has been widely recognised for his artwork. Quilty’s paintings of his Holden Torana produced a sell-out show in 2002 and since then his work has been seen in many exhibits and art fairs. Some of his work can be seen at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Quilty won the Doug Moran Portrait Prize in 2009 for his painting Jimmy Barnes, ‘There but for the Grace of God Go I, no.2′. In the same year Quilty was named runner up in the Archibald Prize [read more]

December 5, 2013 // 0 Comments

[Audio] UWRF2013: Travellers

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2013 Travellers : Trinity, Don George, Tony Wheelers, Agustinus Wibowo & Lisa Dempster Travel – from the beginning of Lonely Planet to today, we track the journey of travel writing. Who are the travel writers these days, does what they say still have an impact or have we all become travel writers? Neka, 13 October 2014 http://www.ubudwritersfestival.com/audio/travellers-trinity-don-george-tony-wheelers-agustinus-wibowo-lisa-dempster/ Featuring: Agustinus Wibowo Agustinus Wibowo is an Indonesian travel writer whose travel experiences have taken him through Asia to the Middle East. He is fascinated by cultures and traditions and is curious about how the world works as one when it is constantly divided by history and culture. He prefers to travel overland when he can and once entered Tibet by pretending to be a Chinese citizen. He also volunteered to help victims of a natural disaster in Kashmir, before deciding on a career in [read more]

December 5, 2013 // 0 Comments

Travel and Escape (2013): Are Travel Writers Obsolete?

http://www.travelandescape.ca/2013/11/are-travel-writers-obsolete/ Not too long ago, travellers communicated with home via letters and the beloved blue-paper aerogram. Nowadays we text, email and update social media from even some of the farthest reaches of the world. It’s easy to tell our stories and the internet is flooded with blogs, Facebook updates and reviews from travellers worldwide. With this new information-sharing culture, are traditional travel writers and their stories going to become obsolete?This was the question asked of travel writing experts—Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet, Don George, editor of National Geographic Traveller, and Agustinus Wibowo, a leading Indonesian travel writer—at the 2013 Ubud Writers and Readers Festival in Bali. Here are their responses:Credit: Victoria Watts Tony Wheeler: I don’t think travel writers will become obsolete. People are still going to want information in a trusted fashion. However, the way we get that [read more]

November 27, 2013 // 0 Comments

National Geographic (2013): Literary Magic in Bali

http://intelligenttravel.nationalgeographic.com/2013/11/12/literary-magic-in-bali/ Literary Magic in Bali Posted by Don George of National Geographic Traveler in Travel with Heart on November 12, 2013 Last month I had the opportunity to participate for the second year in a row in the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival on the Indonesian island of Bali. At the six-day festival, I taught two travel writing workshops, spoke on a panel about the evolution of the genre, and hosted a luncheon conversation with the co-founders of Lonely Planet, Maureen and Tony Wheeler. Celebrating its tenth anniversary, this year’s fest was the biggest gathering yet, with more than 200 authors, musicians, and performers from more than 20 countries participating, and many hundreds of literature-lovers from around the Pacific Rim, Southeast Asia, and beyond attending. As with last year, I was exhilarated to encounter in panels and dinners and performances acclaimed and groundbreaking journalists, [read more]

November 12, 2013 // 0 Comments

Jakarta Post (2013): What Writers Think About Travel Writing

http://www.jakpost.travel/news/what-writers-think-about-travel-writing-SDjzu7QgZ6JLP83q.html What writers think about travel writing By Raditya Margi, The Jakarta Post, Ubud | Oct 24, 2013 The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (UMRF) 2013 in Bali brought several renowned travel writers such as Tony Wheeler, the founder of Lonely Planet publications, and Don George, who writes for many top-tier travel media like National Geographic Traveler. The two, along with Indonesian travel writers and book authors Trinity and Agustinus Wibowo, appeared on a panel discussion titled “The Traveler”, one of 75 main sessions on the UWRF. As the format becomes increasingly popular, masters such as Wheeler and George offered insights into what makes good travel writing. It is more than just a whimsical description of a faraway place. Wheeler said the content must be accurate, while Agustinus said that it must always be honest non-fiction. “Travel writing is fundamentally about a [read more]

October 24, 2013 // 0 Comments

Latitude.nu (2011): ‘Traveling is about Losing your Ego’

December 29, 2011 http://latitudes.nu/indonesian-travel-writer-photographer-agustinus-wibowo/ Indonesian Travel Writer & Photographer Agustinus Wibowo: ‘Traveling is about Losing your Ego’ By: Yvette Benningshof Passing borderlines is almost a daily routine for Agustinus Wibowo. The travel writer and photographer from Indonesia picked up his backpack at the age of 19 and started to travel throughout Central Asia. He has lived in Afghanistan for three years as a photojournalist and has written two bestsellers books about his borderless travels. Wibowo’s current latitude: Beijing, China. Agustinus Wibowo (30) left his village Lumajang in East-Java, Indonesia in 2000 to study Computer Science in Beijing. From there he started his travels to Mongolia where he got robbed on the first day. That didn’t hold him back to travel to even more ‘dangerous’ countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2003. As a true budget backpacker he took off with only 300 US dollars. ‘I [read more]

December 29, 2011 // 0 Comments