The ever-growing waste generated by the community as well as the increasingly limited capacity of landfills shows that there is a very crucial issue. This issue occurs due to some basic problems in the community, namely an improper waste management system. The current conventional waste management system of collect – transport – disposal is not enough. Not only that, 80% of the waste in Indonesia is spread over a various areas, in open fields, rivers, oceans and parks, with 1.3 million tons of plastic in Indonesia ending up in the ocean every year. Something needs to change!

With increasing economic growth, the challenge of solving the waste issue is also increasing. Therefore, there needs to be an innovative solution in reusing and recycling the waste. To meet the focus and educational needs on the importance of waste management, the Greeneration Foundation together with Lookats Project and Bandung Clean Action as well as support from the Danish Embassy for Indonesia, Coca-Cola and other partners, plans to host the Art Up Festival (www.artupfestival.com) at Cikapundung River Spot from 28-30 October 2016.  This activity, which has been held since 2012 in Seoul, was initiated by South Korean art organization Weenu (www.weenu.com). The concept behind this activity is a competition between artists to create art installations using consumable materials together non-stop for a period of 30 hours.

 “Art Up is a shout from us, the people of Indonesia, who are concerned with the urgent and critical waste situation. We are shouting in a creative and thoughtful way through our artists’ hands to voice our hope that if waste is properly managed, it may become materials that are useful to other processes in an artistic manner as well as from a production system and sustainable consumption standpoint, in other words: Circular Economy,” said M. Wise Junerosano, Chairman of the Greeneration Foundation.

The Art Up Festival was first held in Vida Bekasi on 2015, with this year being the second iteration and deliberately hosted in Bandung, taking on the theme of “Circular Economy”, a global concept which directs the economic system to where no materials are wasted, but utilized upstream to downstream. All artworks will be designed and created with the concept of reusability in mind, so that the economic and environmental systems can support each other where the economic activities undertaken possess little to no impact on nature.

With Cikapundung River Spot serving as the main venue, a total of 4 art groups will be competing. They are the student representatives from the Bandung Institute of Technology, National Institute of Technology, Parahyangan University and Semipalar School. They are selected after being curated by artists Heru Hikayat and Ali Robin from various teams who have signed up prior to the festival. 12 artists from South Korea will also be attending alongside the Weenu team. In addition, there are workshops by various artists, environmental activists and seminars which bring various stakeholders together to talk about the practice of “Circular Economy” in the community in order to provide further understanding about this concept. This seminar was also attended by the Ambassador of Denmark to Indonesia.

"In Denmark, more than 90% of waste is reused, recycled, or used to generate energy. We want to become Indonesia's main partner in waste management and want to share our waste experience in Denmark. We are delighted to support the Art Up Festival and present Danish waste experts to discuss about the circular economy in Denmark, where waste is treated as a resource," said the Danish Ambassador to Indonesia, Casper Klynge.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Coca-Cola Foundation Indonesia Titie Sadarini said, “It is important to create a holistic approach in Indonesia. The golden triangle partnership is a collaboration involving 3 parties, which consist of Corporate, Government & Civil Society. These three aspects can then mutually educate, inspire and facilitate, because waste is a complex issue that requires a holistic and integrated approach. For that, Coca-Cola will continue its commitment and also provide attention to this waste issue. At the seminar, Titie Sadarini also gave examples of how Coca-Cola has implemented this waste management initiative in its products, work environments and merchandise upcycling, such as the 111 Navy Chair made of 111 recycled PET plastic bottles designed by Coca-Cola and Emeco.

Art Up Festival activities will continue to various cities as a form of support of the Indonesia Bebas Sampah movement, The festival actvities will also serve as a place for artists to work and channel environmental issues through their work, as well as a platform for providing environmental education to the general public through creative and fun activities.