Rimba Kisah (Story of the Jungle) Art Exhibition

Every jungle tells a story, and Pulitzer grantees, artists, and changemakers have a special one to share about Indonesia's forests and what you can do to help preserve them at the Kisah Rimba (Story of the Jungle) art exhibition starting December 8, 2023, at the DNA Art and Creative Hub in Denpasar, Bali.

From the highest mountain peak of Puncak Jaya to the deepest lake of Matano, Indonesia is home to 12% of the world's mammals and holds second-highest level of biodiversity in the world, with Bali situated in the region of the world’s highest marine biodiversity.

But thanks to industrial plantations, mining, and food estate programs, Indonesia, which has the world’s third-largest tropical forest, lost 4.12 million hectares of forest cover from 2001-2022, according to Global Forest Watch.

Reports conducted by the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Journalism Fund and Rainforest Investigative Network have shed light on how children in remote villages experience hunger after rainforests are felled for food estate programs.

Balinese artists Made Bayak and his son, Damar, Gus Dark, Menk Gen, and Slinat have created art inspired by Pulitzer Center climate crisis reporting, addressing the issues of Indonesian rainforests.

Join us for a series of talks, with speakers including Bali-born changemaker Melati Wijsen, a 22-year-old who co-founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags who has been leading the youth-driven environmental movement since she was 12. Wijsen will discuss how Indonesian youth can join the ranks of changemakers to protect our rainforest after we screen her film Bigger Than Us. We will also feature music by Deliana Winki, Aik, and Made Mawut and poetry by Pranita Dewi.

"Through journalism, we bring critical issues to life, much like art does with pressing matters, including rainforest protection. Living in an increasingly urbanized world, we can't deny that forests are our lifelines—they provide food, reduce carbon emissions, and preserve biodiversity. Through visual arts and poetry, Balinese artists in the Kisah Rimba exhibition respond to investigative journalistic works supported by the Pulitzer Center, expressing our shared concerns over the rapid loss of forests, vanishing local food sources, and the threats to Indigenous people's rights. A dialogue between journalism and arts, this event is an opportunity to spark discussions and actions to protect our forests and demand accountability from those who should be protecting them.” —Intan Fabriani, Director of International Education and Outreach.

The exhibition is part of the #ShowMeYourTree campaign, a call to action for everyone living in the Mekong region and beyond to defend our vital rainforests. 

As part of the launch event, the Pulitzer Center will also organize a panel discussion: "What We’re Not Talking About When We’re Talking About Forests" on December 8, 2023.

The panel discussion will be joined by Ahmad Arif, SEA Rainforest Journalism Fund (RJF) grantee, curators Made Bayak and Ismar Patrizki, and a corporate worker-turned-sustainability entrepreneur, Irma Sitompul, ​​founding partner at Innovation for Sustainability. The panel will be moderated by Intan Fabriani, director of the International Education and Outreach program at the Pulitzer Center.