PAMOR magazine...

[Alam Shah]

"PAMOR", the first Indonesian Tosan Aji magazine in Bahasa Indonesia was released. The first volume (September 2006, Volume 1, Edition 1) that is. It will be published every 3 months.

I would like to know the opinion of others about this magazine.

Imo, good quality glossy paper are used but unfortunately the pictures inside are in black and white only. The only colour pictures are the front and back pages.

Content and articles are informative with many examples of real keris blades.
Target audience is the general indonesian public.

[David]

Hi Shahrial. I saw some issues of this mag up on eBay. Wish i read Indonesian. It looks like a nicely produced "slick zine" and frankly i would not be put off by B&W only images as long as the image quality remains high. For the most part color isn't that important when looking at images of keris blades and sometimes it even allows us to focus on the patterns even better. But i have no idea of the quality of the information presented. Has anyone here read it yet?

[Pangeran Datu]

G'day,
Just my two-bobs' worth:
I reserve my judgement until a future date.
After all, it is still the first issue.
It is still finding its feet as a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions as well as related articles.
This inaugural issue contains material very informative to the novice. I hope it continues to be balanced and informative and not lean towards being Jawa (as in 'Urang Wetan')-centric.
Also, I hope that potential subscribers/contributors aren't too intimidated by the penchant for the display of decorations and prefixes/suffixes.

Cheers.

[Alam Shah]

Some more pictures for those who wish to see the contents.
http://gallerykeris.fotopic.net/c1142020.html

Pangeran Datu, Thanks for your comment. I'm happy with the contents, so far.
To me, as long as I can learn something from the magazine, it's money well spent.

Prefixs/suffixs are fine to me as it shows the source of info. Good references and useful for further reading, don't you think? I share your hope that it will be more academic and informational rather than dwells into javanese lore...etc.

David, the B&W pictures are fine with me, but I can't see differences in the metal color tones. (Btw, you can see image quality from the link provided.)

[A. G. Maisey]

Thanks for that Shahrial.

From the sample given it looks OK.

Personally, I wouldn't care if it tended towards supportable fact, or tended towards current belief, or even towards Javanese mythology. All the various points of view are useful, and all have their place.Provided we recognise what point of view has been adopted.

I prefer black and white for the images rather than colour, because colour is simply never true. Black and white with an adequate caption would be my pick every time for serious work on keris.

I intend to have a friend buy these for me as they are published, and I will pick them up each time I go over.

My biggest reservations would be on the accuracy of the writing. I have had several contacts with Indonesian journalists, and have been written about in Indonesian publications several times. What I was reported as saying was not what I said; what was written about me was either only a part truth or was straight out wrong.Some of my friends in Indonesia have had the same type of experience. One very notable, recent Indonesian publication that deals with the keris is so riddled with error, especially in respect of what it says about people, that it is a shame to realise that trees died to provide the paper to print this nonsense on.

This magazine could be a valuable addition to keris literature, provided it stays on the straight and narrow, and the people who write for it stay with fact, rather than what they may think their readers want to read.

[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

I prefer black and white for the images rather than colour, because colour is simply never true. Black and white with an adequate caption would be my pick every time for serious work on keris.

This is my point exactly. Believe me, as someone who works with photography in print journalism i can assure you that colors are rarely, if ever, accurate renditions of the actual object.

[Alam Shah]

Just a note: Vol.1 No.2 is now available (2nd December 2006).

[utami]

hi mate, actually keris is not my playground but i love to lurk around in this warung

Last sunday i'm going to rawa bening ( keris & gemstone market in jakarta ) to meet my carver in his shop. if i'm not mistaken, I saw the 3rd edition of pamor magazine.

IMHO about the content, i agree with other senior here that this maganize have some usefull information, like "Mendapat Pusaka Bagus di Rawa Bening" = "Getting a Good / Valueable Pusaka in Rawa Bening Market".

just my 2 cent

[Alam Shah]

Originally Posted by utami

hi mate, actually keris is not my playground but i love to lurk around in this warung.

1 kopi, for our friend...

Originally Posted by utami

... if i'm not mistaken, I saw the 3rd edition of pamor magazine.

I think you might be mistaken. The 2nd Edition is dated 2nd December 2006. It's published every 3 month. Therefore, next edition should be sometime in March 2007.