These days you can find all sorts of Indonesian YouTubers, from travel vloggers, makeup tutorials, to those specializing in pulling pranks. While these videos might be entertaining – addictive even – there’s more to life than on-point makeup or adventurous travel or silly stunts.
Enter Frame and Sentences, a YouTube channel created by two Indonesians currently living in the United States. The peeps behind this channel are graduate student of public policy at Harvard University, Andhyta Firselly Utami (Afu) – who is also a repeat contributor to Magdalene – and her husband, part-time video editor at a non-profit organization focusing on education issues IniBudi.org, Wikan Anantabrata (Wikan).
In their vlogs, the couple discusses wide-ranging issues from how it feels to have an intelligent, more educated wife to the controversial revision of the Criminal Code. Some of their videos are personal, but essential and vibrant, while some others sharp and scrupulous when tackling serious issues.
Magdalene has the opportunity to do an email interview with both Afu and Wikan, who are currently living in Cambridge, USA.
The pair, who are both in their mid-20s, explained that the channel was initially a project to channel their thoughts and creativity. It is “a marriage” of what they are “respectively ‘somewhat’ good at, making videos (frame), and putting words together (sentences).”
“We’re both surprised that the responses had been extremely positive so far!” Afu said. “I’ve been told so many times that we need to ‘dumb down’ our content because nobody wants to watch a serious video. But after six months, I’m proud to say that our decision to ‘elevate’ the discussion had been the right one. I think our audience also noticed this conscious choice and appreciated us for it. They’re the reason we keep making videos.”
“There had also been people who disagree with some of the things we say, but it’s exactly why we created the channel! We want people who disagree with us to come out and give their own arguments rationally. Basically we want to shift the ‘method’ and ‘perception’ of disagreement from hateful commentaries on social media to a more productive discussion,” Wikan added.
Both mentioned that the channel was “a more productive way” of reacting to common Indonesians’ problems that “triggered” them, but the channel eventually turned into a space to exchange ideas.
Read more about the brains behind Frame and Sentences on Magdalene.
ArtsEquator Radar features articles and posts drawn from local and regional websites and publications – aggregated content from outside sources, so we are exposed to a multitude of voices in the region.
