Visual Political Communication in Contemporary Indonesia Politics: The Red, White, and Black of the Jakarta's 2017 Gubernatorial Elections

Abstract

Clothes have long communicated more than just comfort or class in Indonesia, a vast and diverse nation with a mix of languages, cultures, and religions. So it is perhaps unsurprising that politicians have also turned to sartorial branding to distinguish themselves. Red, white, and black are three colours that have spread around the Asia Pacific coast. In Indonesia, these three coulours represent scared values in Indonesia ethnic communities. For example, in Indonesian – Hindu community, red, black, white symbolises traditional values such as courage, purity, and solidarity. These three colours also have been traditionally used in other ethnic communities such as in Borneo, Batak (North Sumatera), and Papua. These colour patterns are also seen in Aboriginal communities. But do these colours play similar functions in Basuki Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat's political communication throughout the past election campaigns? What political messages were they trying to convey? And how do their political supporters agree on these patterns as the representation of their political ideologies? This paper is divided into three parts. Firstly, it will layout the theoretical background behind the semiotics of visual ideologies of political colours. Secondly, it will provide an outlook of the ongoing contemporary politics of the Jakarta election. Lastly, it will discuss the visual ideology behind the campaign of Basuki Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat's colours of their political campaign: red, white, and black.