How to Steal a Book (and Translate It)
Are books precious, does their form hold value, do we need to protect them?
These are amongst the many questions that David Horvitz explores in his seminal work “Eighty ways to Steal a Book”, released by Edition Taube. Its first iteration was written in English and is known as the ‘blueprint’ that originated the act of rupturing the book; inviting audiences to react and reflect on the conventions of its format and consumption. Since its launch, this seminal work has birthed over 30 translations.
On a rainy Thursday afternoon (24/4), we attended a talk at Studio22nya gallery to commemorate the launch of its Bahasa Indonesia edition entitled “Cari Cara Curi Buku”. Zarani Risjad, founder of Studio 22nya, moderated the conversation between Januar Rianto, Ibrahim Soetomo and Almer Mikhail of Further Reading Press. The gallery space is transformed as an altar for Horvitz’s work, as we are surrounded by its different iterations that span from India to Japan to Australian English. They were displayed on a wooden shelf that signified the starking colour of every iteration, establishing that each language held a life of its own: blue was designated to the first American English iteration, followed by two varieties of green amongst its Malayalam and Australian English varieties and further on to yellow, pink, red, orange that belonged to Maltese, Japanese, French, Mandarin and so on. The Bahasa Indonesian version bore a similar template in its design, but its distinction was marked by the choice of a soft purple for its cover which Januar addressed as the winning choice amongst the selection of colours that was considered— hinting that red was its closest competition.
The journey to producing Cari Cara Curi Buku was very organic, which began from a chance encounter at Further Reading Press’ participation in the 2024 New York Art Book Fair. Januar shared that being the only Indonesian representative (at the book fair) brought them a stroke of luck, as this piqued Edition Taube’s interest for an expansion of Cari Cara Buku’s repertoire and to adopt an Indonesian twist on Horvitz’s work. Almer and Januar, then, approached Ibrahim as a co-conspirator, to which Almer joked that Ibrahim had been the “most accessible” choice because of their history of collaboration. Together, Ibrahim and Almer were in-charge of translating and Januar was tasked with the publication’s design and operations.
“We were given creative liberty to explore,” Ibrahim said about their approach to translation. He articulated that the translation process did not require a precise, word-by-word technicality (in its translation), but it is a continuation of localising context. It is here that we witness the nuances of translation that demands for language to be experimented with, rather than just merely accepted. “It was natural for us to agree to have a deadpan approach in the tone (of translation),” Almer said and identified that it can be communicated amongst Wes Anderson characters. Ibrahim continued on to list a plethora of inspirations for their research: event scores created by fluxus artists, Yoko Ono and even the language amongst Indonesian advertisements in the 1970s that is an ode to the culture of sopan santun (extreme pleasantry and politeness). “We are not just mere translators of text, but we are translators of contexts.”
Upon hearing about their translation, it is about reflecting on the culture (i.e. beliefs, norms, values) of books, material culture and their consumption throughout the decades. The vastness of references can be felt in the word choice that tends to each act of stealing– for example, Ibrahim and Almer teased that in one of the English translations, there is mention of breaking glass and they both interpreted it as a reference to the infamous Ada Apa Dengan Cinta? (What’s Up With Love?) scene and they exchanged halloween for Jumat Kliwon. “Ultimately, the act of translation is a labour of care.” Ibrahim continued.
The extensive research that was poured into producing Cari Cara Curi Buku was perceived as an enjoyable process amongst Januar, Almer and Ibrahim, to which this project is established as a milestone in their collaborative journey. “This whole process has been enjoyable, we were always joking and poking fun at each other. Upon reflection and approaching the project with a more ‘distant’ perspective, we had realised that we truly had fun doing this.” Almer mentioned. They explained that due to their conflicting schedules, they often brainstormed and exchanged interpretations via Google Docs and in the times where they were graced with each other’s (physical) presence, they tended to their work as a lighthearted conversation. Ultimately, they were in a mutual agreement that they intended to reach a vast Indonesian audience and treated it as an extension of the richness of Horvitz’s already-existing translations: “They’re all OG’s- (all the translations) are a bunch of OG’s and we emerge in production of a new OG that is rooted in Bahasa Indonesia.”
Cari Cara Curi Buku is available to purchase at Further Reading Press and Studio22nya.
