From 2 With Love : Artwovesa

I didnt't hope much back then, but still I have to say that it brought a memorable sight for those who up that night. Fourth of February, 2023. From 2 With Love :  Artwovesa 

Above was one of my collection of recorded clips in the area. It shows Faiz Novascotia Saripudin from the band group Reality Club presenting their single "Alexandra". It was recorded near the time of dusk so the lighting was unexpectedly good from almost any angle. I took it from the right side relative to the main entrance and by the time this band performed, it seemed that a large part of the audince was waiting for the performance of this one group.

OK. So starting from the event itself, maybe it is more convenient to know what is From 2 With Love Festival, instead of jumpoing right in.

From 2 With Love is an annual festival usually held in the City of Bandung which shows the creative side of SMAN 2 Bandung students as well as many more performance from various artists. The event first held by Dewi Lestari along with Candil and under guidance of late Wing Pandoe in 1993. Then, it was held in an art-show-style uintil 2009 where F2WL integrated the idea of bazzar and art show which resulted in a such rousing festival. The tradition was then kept alive until this very day where F2WL once again produced a great show in 2023.

This year, From 2 With Love Festival come with a new style and a new subtitle. F2WL : Artwovesa . It was held on the field of Infantry Weaponry Center of Indonesian National Army in Bandung. For the exact position, it is located on the Hegarmanah Street, 152. The festival was held on the fourth of February 2023 and was part of a trilogy event. The first one is the pre-event Evesthara. The second one is under the title of Voustrait and the last one, yet the most waited for, Artwovesa. 

 Here, Artwovesa offered an art show as well as a culinary ecperience around the site. By going into the event, it was allowed with the price of Rp.150.000,- at my time and you can get more of the rousing atmosphere and performances from local artists. For this event, the gate was opened from afternoon, around 3 PM, and it has no closing gate time. For those who want to enjoy your Saturday, Artwovesa might be your option.

Before we get into the line up, there is a helpful little scheme to understand the passage inward and outward the main festival. For the sake of explicit information and understanding the rest of the page, you can see it below :

Next, the lineup. Artwovesa showed a great deal of talents and as an art show, it also invited local artists to have their own performances. The first artist lineup is Maliq and D'Essentials. This band group was one of the hits in the early 2000s. The release of some of their singles, such as "Dia", "Untitled", and much more, made their own way to national awards. Next one is Ardhito Pramono. This one is a jazzy one. He came to public with his first single "Bitterlove" and kept making work of art till this very day. One of his latest creation was the album Wijayakusuma which contains a wide range of genres, from city-pop to a serene yet thoughtful one.

Ardhito Pramono's "Cigarettes of Ours"

The third on the lineup was Reality Club. This band is the exact same band mentioned at the very first of this page. They formed in 2016 and released their first album Never Get Better with the hit single "Is It The Answer?" The band consists Faiz Novascotia Saripudin as lead guitar and singer, Fathia Izzati, lead singer, Era Patigo, main drummer, Iqbal Anggakusumah, Rhythm guitar, and lastly Nugi Wicaksono as main bassist. Their journey seemed far from rest with the release of their new single "Desire" with its crunchy-crisp tone and unique harmony from Fathia's voice. For those interested, check them out!

The fourth was TBA, stands for Teuku Rizky, Bastian Steel, and Aldy Maldini - former member of Cowboy Band Junior. TBA first was created to treat the longing of Cowboy Junior Fans since its breakup in 2017 by joining once again, but without Iqbaal Ramadhan. In the festival, TBA performed many of their old songs in CJR, such as "Kamu", "#Eaaaa", and many more. I caught one clip from my phone, but their performance was started at nighttime, so the constrast of the light may cause the blurriness of the video.

Next one, there is the one and only, Afgan. Here, the act took place near 7.30 PM and was opened by one of his latest original song. On the stage, it was seen that he was wearing a thin shaded brown cardigan with a double necklaces. As a growing fame, He first debuted in the 2000s and hit the top charts with his single "Sadis". Not a surprise to me, He closed his performance with that very single and, from my perscpective behind the crowds, such a change of mood in a short period of time. 

And actually, there was also two more artist : Yura Yunita and Feel Koplo, but I didn't get myself the chance to watch them. From my own friend's testimony, Yura Yunita performed at 9 PM and the event still lasted till 11 PM with a clear area time at 1 AM. Nevertheless, such a spectacular show from SMAN 2 Bandung. Congrats for such achievement and my gratitude for the availibility of this event.

Personal Impression

Well, talking about my experience, I'd say that it was playful and the performances couldn't be categorized as 'common'.

Since I arrived at the place at around 4 PM, the line to the gate could already be seen from the parking lot. I was expecting a little more from the performances, but the weather at the time was near perfect, so I thought it was worth it to exchange my expectations. From the line, I could, though barely, hear that familiar voice. Ardhito Pramono was on the stage. If I'm not wrong, He brought the song "Daun Surgawi" at the time and cheers were heard throughout the field until it reached my position. Determining from the way the cheers was likely distributed gradually across the field, I thought this event was aboout to take its rush hour.

Ardhito Pramono was seen on the stage. Personally, it was such a relieve to see Ardhito have his time again on a stage. The renowned yet rare jazz enthusiast was such a waste if his talent was to be doomed after a case. As an artist who came to debut in not too long years, I've always seen Ardhito Pramono as one of the best chance and talent to introduce jazz once again to youths. "Daun Surgawi" - the song he was singing at the time - was one of the best orginial rendition in pop-city genre after his hiatus. But, throughout his time on the stage, He also brought his old jazzy-light songs, such as "Bitterlove" and "Cigarettes of Ours". Nevertheless, He was awaited by audiences since the crowd was getting larger after time.

Another thing I wanted to mentioned about is the culionaries. I personally didn't that much pasion in culinaries, but the range of food in the area was so diverse. As per my plan was to map every corner of the field with main objective was to find a prayer room, I passed so much food stall and foodtruck. From what I remembered, there was a steak smoke-fried and served from a food truck and there was also a japanese food stall which served some of the Japanese goodies, like fish cakes, ice cream matcha, and many more. But unfortunately, I didn't take much chance to feel how those tasted at the time. So, regarding those who would want to participate in a big event like this, hope you enjoy your time trying along those foods and drinks.

Next up, maybe I should talk about the performance of group band Reality Club. Well, I can assure you that at the time, this group was right on point to be the last performance before rest time was up. I still remembered from 5 songs they brought, the audiences would almost always be heard shouting and following the gesture of the artist. From the first video above, it can be seen that audiences was waving their hands with their phone. Another like-so example was the ending of their perfomance which was followed by a sing-along phase and a final thank you the main singer, Fathia Izzati.

As time passed by, TBA then had their time over the stage. Seeing them on their way to the stage was a little off since they were the main sound of Cowboy Junior and now they were brought up with the title TBA. However, each still had their own unique characteristics and performed energetically. They also still have their touch of how to relate to audience. Their presence made my old memories came back. One of the things I remembered was that CJR used to be so popular - at least in my city. And then I was watching them - even without Iqbal Ramadhan - in a sense generated a nostalgic yet calming because the original members had already grown up and still able to perform.

After TBA, it was Afgan. His turn made me up a little in such crowded place because his voice refreshed the crowd after the energetic performance from TBA. From the start, I unexpectedly had diverted my attention to the singer and since then, I had no wonder why he was called handsome.

In his first song, He performed an original song that I wasn't expected from Afgan. His first song have the genre of post-modern style with dominant beat and backing synths, but still use the harmony induced from supporting singers. From then, his shows progressed forth with songs that was getting harder to be sing-along-ed by audience. And as his final built-up around the show was over, He closed the performance with his renowned song, "Sadis". From my perspective, his planned act was so smooth that it was tempting for me to go with the flow. His last song was placed on his last such that it will make those who didn't knew earlier songs could relate back to the performer by his older songs. And, I have to admit, this last song induced many feelings for me, such as nostalgic, light-composured, and relaxing - it was like I was being prepared for another great performance after him. In the end, I have to say that He was and is a reliable performer.

The next associated performer was Yura Yunita and Feel Koplo. , but unfortunately I couldn't have the chance to record any footage and watch her. Yura yunita is an artist, local to West Java, who was brought up to be more famous after her collaboration with the late Glenn Fredly in the song in 2017, "Cinta dan Rahasia". After then, she dropped more of her songs and even an AMI award in 2022 for Best Pop Female Solo Artist. If you're from Indonesia, I believe you've known her, and for those who haven't, I'd recommend to try listening to her originial arts.

Another performer was Feel Koplo.. This duo was a specialty in "Koplo" section, but for those who haven't known what 'Koplo' is, it refers to the style at which dangdut genre are being played. This playful duo was formed in 2018 and have their own right to present in festival-like events. Their work consisted mostly of their own arrangements over older songs and inserted their own intrinsic elements which resulted in the same song, but in koplo genre. But just like they said, culture cannot be bounded, I think it'll be fun to check their style on Youtube.

Critics and Recommendation

In this section, I'll be talking about my own personal perspective over the period of my visit then. 

So First, I'll talk about the ticketing system. The tickeitng system for Artwovesa more or less ilustrated like this : You saw an ad for Artwovesa from the net or your friend; You direct yourself to the link of personal informatiion regarding the booking of the ticket; You buy the ticket online and get yourself a receipt; Later, you need to turn the receipt over to the collection points to exchange it over with the ticket physical form - a paper bracelet. Honestly, it is nice to see that covid policies still running and the incorporation of modern tech to relieve a few worries. But if I may ask a question, I wondered about the purpose of QR code that's embedded with the bracelet. As long I was there, I didn't see any sensors to check on it, except on the first check-up. Besides, after I scan the QR code myself, I only get a series of numbers. However, still a neat job to plan the ticketing like this.

As per time since I arrived to the area, it would sum up roughly to 4 and a half hours in which I saw a few accident occurred. From here, I'll be taking notes from my own experience about what had happened and give some clues to you if you'd like to participate in such event

Hygiene aspect throughout my period there

OK. Maybe this issue is regarded as "common", but still I think it is still needed to be cpnsidered enough since the are was getting more crowded since afternoon. This critic may be split into two categories : hygiene aspect in the open area and hygiene aspect in enclosed space.

If we're talking about hygiene aspect in open area, it is obvious that the larger the dirty area is, the larger the percentage of participants can be be affected within a certain period of time. Since the time I got there, I can confirm that dirty are was getting doubled in roughly two hours - approximately at 6.30 PM. On my first visit to the left side of the field relative to the main entry, I saw a collection of drink container and dry waste in certain places, but it was somewhat "acceptable" for me because I saw that the people was still using one or two from it, thus it was still used by people and not considered rubbish for me - at least for that time being. A few hours passed and as I was getting my wudhu for my prayer, the then collection has 'evolved' into a pile of rubbish. And that is when I stsrt to notice that there was a lot of the so-called 'collection site' scattered around the field. After I examined more of the area, I concluded that the pile of rubbish was motivated unintentionally. I meant by 'intentionally' was that in the first place, there was a collection of drinks and dry snacks that is still being used that the time. As the show progressed further, most owners of the snacks were goig to the front stage and in the same time, forgetting their own snacks and drinks. Therefore, when people see the collection of drinks and snacks, they saw a right inclusively to pile their own trash to the collection site. Therefore, when the owners got back to get their things, they didn't recognize which one was theirs and then it was abandoned as it is. As time progresses, the pile grew larger.

Aside from the open area, enclosed area such as prayer room and portable toilets were clean at the early part of the show, but it became dirty once the number of people was growing too. In toilets, it was getting dirty because when the participants used it, they didn't rinse the floor with water and along time, puddles also formed, resulting in splashes to near wall. Meanwhile, it could regarded as clean in the prayer room, but I wished that there was a tap installed near the prayer room since the show was conducted on a field.

The incident of which a person passed out because of too much exhaustion

If I remembered correctly, it was around 7 or 8 PM. As the MCs were carrying sensational vibes throughout the night, it was seen from the screen that there was a people calling out to the MCs. It was to say that their friend had passed out. I unfortunately didn't get any chance to see the condition near the person, but the MCs had heard their calling and ask the comittee to get their hands on the victim.

I personally didn't see the comitee making their way to the person, but I expected this earlier in the event since the there's a lot of audiences were asking for a drink from the stage comittee from 5 PM. Another than that, I also saw that most of the audiences in the center had roughly gone outside the crowd to get themselves a rest or even a drink. Since that accident happened and the cause was more or less obvious, I personally suggest that if you'd like to participate in an event, I hope you'd get yourself energized drinks or ionized drinks. I also encourage to have a rest by sitting or getting out of the crowds when the guest star was not on the stage.

The portable toilet incident.

I believe The accident happened unintentionally, but it was more than enough to affect surrounding area.

It was around 6.30 PM and the event was scheduled to be halted for rest and prayer maghrib. As participants around the event was starting to disperse around to enjoy culinaries, they also used the portable toilet almost at the same time because they were watching artists's performances and didn't get the chance to go to the restroom. From 6 PM, there were queues to toilets which spans over 30 meter from the actual restroom. Then, as time went on, one of the portable toilets might had an issue which cause a leak to nearby area. Unfortunately, even after the participants saw the leak, they still used the restroom anyway and the leak caused a filthy puddle outside the restroom.

From this accident, I hope this will be an evaluation if such event was to be held again. I would recommend for the comittee to have their way or solution to fix the main cause or even just to divert the effect for the sake of participants. And from the perspective of participants, I'd recommend for those who would like to go to the restroom in a such event, to go for it between artists performance. Or if you'd like other option, I'd recommend to leave right before the artist last performance.